Chapter 28 #2
The lift dings open and I step inside, pulse drumming in my ears, heart syncing with the hum of machinery.
Each passing floor is a countdown, each number a tease pulling me closer to her.
By the time the doors spit me out on the top floor, my fingers are already circling the key card Liam slipped me when the girls were preoccupied with their spa treatments—his stern instructions ringing in my head, don’t fuck this up.
Trust me, mate. That’s the last thing I want to do.
I press it to the scanner and hold my breath until the green light flickers. The door swings open and I’m met with both the best and worst sight imaginable.
Lily, a pink strand of hair curled between her fingers, paces the room, all careful control and raw tension. The moment her eyes catch mine, she freezes; her expression teeters between fury and want, a contradiction that twists my gut.
“Get the fuck out.”
Her words land in my chest, sharp enough to cut, but they don’t stop me. I step forward, slow and deliberate, every movement tethered to her.
“You think I can just walk away?” I rasp, my voice low and dangerous, the need between us pulled tight. “I can’t, Lil’. Not like this. Not when it was always meant to be us. I’m not doing that again.”
“Doing what?” she snaps. “Kicking me out of my home? Relieving me of my family?” She scoffs, venom threading every word.
I swallow hard. “I know I didn’t fight for you before. I regret every second of it. But I’m here now to try and make things right. And I swear to you, I won’t let anything stand between us again. Not fear. Not them. Not me.”
For a vulnerable split second, her features soften and her breath comes out in a tiny, jagged sound.
She stands like she could flee if she wanted, as if the next heartbeat might send her running.
Instead, her fingers tighten around that pink strand of hair until the tip blanches.
Her jaw works as I close the last few paces and stop so close I can see the fleck of gold in the corner of her iris.
My hand hovers, shaking with restraint, then drops to her hip, light as a dare.
Her eyes flash, and I see the war raging in her—fury, fear, want—all tangled into something dangerous and impossible. My stomach twists, heat pooling low, pulse spiking. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be feeling this. But fuck, I need her. And I’m not walking away again. I can’t.
She clenches her fists against my chest, jaw tight, and for a second, I swear she might actually strike me. And part of me wants her to, wants her anger directed at me, wants her fire to burn me raw. I want to feel it all. Because I’m the son of a bitch who deserves it.
“I made the mistake once of letting what others think drive us apart, and I’ve spent every day since twisted up inside over it, trying to find answers,” I confess, voice breaking under the weight of desire and desperation. “I don’t care what it costs me… I need you, Lily.”
Her chest rises and falls, and for a fraction of a second, the steel in her gaze falters. But she doesn’t move. She doesn’t give me permission. And that—fuck—that makes the ache in me burn hotter, more viciously.
“You think you can just show up and that fixes everything?” she hisses, eyes blazing, hair sticking to her damp forehead. “You think your presence, your… your touch means I’ll just forgive you? That I’ll forget how you stood there and let them cast me out?”
I can’t say a word. I can’t even argue, knowing every word out of her mouth is true. I stood there, silent, unable to look at her when I should have fought for her. Standing in front of her, how the hell I ever doubted her is beyond me.
Every inch of me aches, every nerve ignited, every memory of her beneath me twisting me tighter than sanity allows. I want to claim her, press her against me, make her mine again but she won’t yield, and that denial fuels the wildfire consuming me.
“Lily—” I start, but she cuts me off, voice sharp enough to sting.
“Don’t. Don’t you dare,” she snaps. “I’m not some girl you can just… claim when it suits you. I’m not yours, Matt. I don’t think I ever was, how could I have been, when you were always hers?”
The words slam into me, brutal and deserved. But the tremor in her voice, the way her fingers curl like she’s holding herself together by force, God, it ruins me.
I move in anyway, slow but unstoppable, my voice a rasp.
“You think I wanted that? Any of it?” I shake my head, breath unsteady. “Lily… you know I’ve never wanted to marry her. That contract was my worst nightmare. It was never a choice, never a future I wanted.”
I take one more step, close enough to feel her breath ghost across my lips.
“You were the only thing I ever wanted. And losing you—letting them push you out—has gutted me every day since.”
Her shove sends me back, but it’s weak and hesitant, almost betraying the way her body reacts when I near her.
I take a single step closer, and she spins, swiping at my chest, nails grazing my skin.
I don’t flinch. Every hit, every shove, every spark of her fury only draws me in deeper, fires me up in ways I can’t control.
“Stop,” she hisses, voice trembling between steel and want. “Stop! You—”
Her words die as I close the distance, fingers curling around her wrists, holding her just tight enough to keep her from lashing out again.
Her chest presses to mine, shivering under the weight of her rage and something darker, something needy.
I can feel it, smell it, taste it. My body betrays me, my cock already hard, my pulse hammering, my hands aching to claim every inch of her.
“You don’t get to push me away without even hearing me out,” I growl, voice low, rough, and raw.
“Not after everything. You’re mine, Lily.
You’ve always been mine, even when you try to fight it.
I know I fucked up, okay? But I’m here to try and fix this mess because I refuse to let one more day pass without you being mine. ”
Her breath hitches. Her eyes flash, but there’s a flicker in them—desperation, fear, desire all tangled together.
She struggles, but her body leans into mine despite herself.
I press closer, jaw to jaw, chest to chest, and the world shrinks to the heat between us, the pulse of her heartbeat echoing mine, the ache I can’t deny.
She shoves again, harder this time, and I let her—just barely—before catching her by the waist, pulling her into me. Her back hits the wall with a soft thud, and she freezes, chest heaving, eyes wide and blazing.
“Matt…” she hisses, her voice trembling, a warning and a plea all at once. One I’d be a fool to ignore, but fool might as well be my middle name when it comes to her.
Her fists press against my chest and she trembles, eyes flickering between mine.
I press closer, letting my heat consume hers, my hands cataloguing every curve I’d memorised, cursing myself for missing them.
Every gasp, every bite of her lip, every sharp intake of breath whips at the tattered remains of my restraint.
“You can fight me tooth and nail,” I rasp, my jaw brushing hers, breath shaking with everything I’ve held back for a year. “You can throw every truth you’ve got at me but I won’t walk away. Not this time.”
I edge closer, voice dropping to something rawer, truer.
“Give me your worst, baby. Break me if you need to. I’ll still come crawling right back.”
My fingers flex at my sides, fighting the urge to touch her.
“I’ve been living a nightmare I never chose. That contract, that marriage, none of it was mine. You were the only thing I ever wanted, and I’m done pretending otherwise.”
I tilt my forehead to hers, barely a breath between us.
“I’ll burn everything down to keep you, even if you can’t say you want me yet.”
Her nails rake across my chest, leaving scratches that sting, but I barely notice. I tilt her chin up, forcing her eyes to meet mine, and the look in them—anger, fear, want—pushes me over the edge.
I claim her mouth with mine, teeth grazing, tongue teasing, the heat and desperation between us exploding in a heady rush. She tries to pull away, twists, shoves but her body betrays her. Hips pressing into mine, hands tangling in my hair, trembling against me despite the fury in her eyes.
“Don’t lie to yourself,” I breathe between kisses, teeth nipping at her jaw. “Not about this.”
She gasps, swallows, shakes her head but when she finally breathes my name, the tremor in her voice splinters something inside me.
I lock my arms around her, heart hammering, pulse crashing against hers until the world narrows to fire, want, and the feral ache I’ve been strangling back for too long.
“I didn’t want you here,” she whispers, raw and shaking.
“I don’t care,” I growl. Every word tears its way out, like a confession I can’t take back. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. Not until every card is on the table and we rip this shit open.” I press my forehead to hers. “I’m not leaving room for doubt to keep us apart.”
She shoves me hard, fierce, trembling, and I feel the force of every ounce of her fury and fear. Her body is a storm pressed against mine, a mix of anger, hurt, and something raw I can’t name—something that twists my gut and ignites a hunger I can’t control.
“Stop,” she whispers, and it’s not just a command, it’s steel wrapped in silk, fragile and unbreakable all at once, a warning laced with trembling desire.
“Lily—” I start, my voice rough, and throat tight, desperate to soothe, to reach her, to erase the tension wedging its way between us.
“Don’t.” Her voice cuts me off before I can speak, sharp and clear, full of fire and fragile edges. “Don’t say my name. Not like that.”