Chapter 1 #2
“You really are a spoiled fucking princess, aren’t you?
Taking what you want whenever it suits you, and then the minute you no longer need it, walking away.
” I shove my face close to hers, all the unresolved feelings of her betrayal years ago consuming me.
“Maybe I should have just left you to fend for yourself… yeah, I probably fucking should have, but it’s not in me to stand by and watch a woman being treated that way.
” I take a step back and blow out a harsh breath, frustrated to be in this situation again.
“Christ, Chelsea”—I rake my fingers through my hair as I look away from her for a moment before bringing my gaze back—“just tell me he doesn’t lay his hands on you these days. ”
She stares at me in silence for a moment too long. It’s a moment that tells me everything I need to know. And then she opens her mouth and feeds me bullshit that pisses me off even more. “He’s my father, Mason—”
“That doesn’t give him the right to hit you!” I thunder, unable to keep my anger in check another second.
Her eyes widen at my outburst and before I know what she’s doing, she grabs my hand and pulls me down a hallway. When we come to a door, she quickly opens it and drags me inside.
“The fuck?” I demand as she lets my hand go.
The fact I instantly miss the contact does not escape my attention and I do my best to ignore that.
Fucking hard to do when I’m standing this close to her.
We’re in a small room, surrounded by chairs and tables and a few whiteboards, but all I can see is Chelsea.
She’s all I can fucking feel, too. Not with my hands, but deep in my soul.
This girl may have exited my life eight years ago, but as much as I tried to force it, she’s never left my heart.
“He doesn’t hit me like he used to, okay? You need to get that thought out of your head.” She jabs my chest. “And you need to stop losing your shit like that in public.”
I grab her hand, startling her with my strong grip. “How does he hit you, then?”
“He doesn’t hit me, Mason.” She looks down at the floor. “He gets his way using other methods these days.”
I’m not sure if it’s the wobble in her voice, or the way she’s avoiding looking at me, or her confession that does it, but the walls I’ve built around my heart when it comes to Chelsea experience the first crack in eight years.
I tilt her face back up to look in her eyes.
“Do those methods slay you as much as his old methods did?”
She swallows hard while holding my gaze. Chelsea appears to be just as proud as she always was. Fiercely so if the glint in her eyes is anything to go by. “I’m not the girl you used to know. I’m stronger and able to deal with him.”
I recall a part of the conversation I overheard between Chelsea and her father. “He’s trying to force you into marrying a guy you don’t want to?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to stand your ground?” The fact I want her to say yes irritates the hell out of me.
She nods. “I’ll do a lot for my family, but I’ll never give up the chance at love by marrying an asshole my father tries to force upon me.”
“Good.”
Her eyes trace my face and she smiles, and fuck me, when Chelsea Novak smiles I feel it in my bones. Not even the years sitting between us or how she cut me from her life can dull what she does to me. How she makes me feel.
“You’re even better looking than you were four years ago, Mason. And that’s saying something because you took my breath away then.”
She threatens to take my breath away.
Suddenly we’re too fucking close.
I need to get out of here.
Chelsea is fire and I’ve already been burned; I won’t go back for seconds. But when she’s this close and she’s saying shit like that, she threatens to wipe my memory clean of all reminders to avoid her.
I reach for the door handle. “I hope you stick to your guns about not marrying that guy. Politics and money aren’t everything in this world.
” Even after everything that went on between us, I still want her to be happy, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned since leaving the world she still inhabits, it’s that money and power don’t make a person happy.
She doesn’t respond to that; she simply watches me leave.
However, I’m unable to open the door. It’s locked, which is odd because it wasn’t when we entered.
I jiggle the handle, trying to get the damn thing to open. “How the fuck did it get locked?”
“Shit,” Chelsea says. “The door wasn’t fully closed when I opened it. The lock hadn’t caught. I guess when it closed behind us, it locked shut then.”
Fuck.
I bash on the door to catch the attention of anyone walking by. “Hey! We’re stuck in here!” I’m hopeful a hotel staff member might be around, but anyone will do. My efforts intensify as I think about being locked in here with Chelsea.
I need to get out of this room.
Being trapped with Chelsea for any length of time is not something I want right now. Not when I’m feeling the shit I’m feeling. Shit that might make me say or do something I’ll regret later.
Chelsea Novak is the girl I loved in high school.
She’s the girl I never got the chance to make mine, though, and I’m not looking to change that anytime soon.
Hell, I’m never fucking looking to change that, because if she could break me when she didn’t know she owned my heart, I can only imagine the damage she’d inflict if she did know she owned it.