4. Emmett
Emmett
A bolt from the blue.
It always strikes instantaneously, like misfortune and trouble, attacking when your guard is at its most vulnerable.
If the world ended at this very moment, I wouldn’t be able to notice it.
This girl just stole my entire focus, my cognitive awareness, and every facet that makes me a living, breathing human.
Of all the things in the world she could ask for…
She could’ve demanded I give her all my wealth—which is already hers anyway whether she knows it or not—and I’d give it to her.
She would’ve asked for me to get her brother back.
Or better yet, to deal with every shithead that attacked her, hurt her, and broke her heart. That’s a given.
And yet, she surpassed my near-perfect calculations of her, demanding for something that is beyond my imagination…
Mute and unable to move, I can only stare at the twinkling lights of mirth starting to sparkle in her soul-sucking eyes.
Like a fresh new painting of the sky after a storm, she stares back at me with sharp curiosity born out of the dare she’s just given.
Because this is a dare. What else can it be?
“Is there a problem, Mr. Easton?” she asks sassily, cocking her head to the side, the tears she was just shedding now dried up and inconsequential to her scheme.
Angel and I just ‘dealt’ with each other, after I had to administer a form of release she and I have never explored, and she responded the way I knew she would… And now, here we are, with her making a demand that has me frozen in place.
“Angel…” I stare into her brown eyes, the thing in my chest swiftly kicking into overdrive.
“Seeing as we have already bled and signed, there’s no going back now,” she says in a smoky tone that makes me want to shift beneath her.
She has me firmly in her control.
“I—”
“Let’s discuss the logistics later,” she says, gingerly bounding up and away from me before I can respond to her demand. “I’m still a virgin. That can be a gift for my soon-to-be husband. Then after, you can give me what I want.”
Anger like a thick, red fog immediately descends down on me.
“What did you just say?” I slowly get up, my fists clenched tightly as an attempt to control myself.
“Oh, don’t get it twisted,” she says with a chilling gaze that freezes my heart. “It’s your DNA that’s impressive, and I want it! Along, of course, with those rare, fine features of yours.”
I don’t miss the cold, calculating way she says that, as if she’s discussing the weather nonchalantly.
“God willing, my baby will get your intellect and ability to gain impressive advantages from people and businesses. I never want my baby to live like me or think like me. Evidently, it’s a one-way ticket to suffering, but you, on the other hand, your ruthlessness, cunning, and lethal ability is what he or she will need to survive this cruel world, so it’ll have to be you. ”
“You must be joking.”
“Look me in the eye and reassess my seriousness,” she snaps.
We stare at each other, with the weight of an impending explosion heavy between us.
Angel and I have never been so at odds with each, so angry, so…
“You’re asking for trouble,” I warn in a short, clipped tone.
Control, I need control right fucking now!
“Oh, but there’s no asking here,” she says with a cold smirk, then points at the piece of paper still lying across my desk. “This is an exchange with no saving graces, no quits, no outs! You made sure of that.”
She throws my terms in my face with a shrug, like what she’s demanding is simple.
“I guess we both get what we want, after all.”
“And this is what you want me to be? Your baby-making machine?” I seethe. How can she not see the disaster of that? And why the hell is she treating me like I’m nothing?
“Well, yes,” she says simply. “Are you worth anything else?”
That stings, badly, and she knows it.
“Falling for you was never an option,” she states in a tone so foreign, I’m practically looking at a stranger. “But picking myself up out of the misery that is you is my choice, and for that, I should thank you!”
“What?” I reel back.
“Thank you, Emmett, for finally waking me up and opening my eyes. It’s sad that it took such an extreme measure like offering me up like a prized calf to your enemy for me to realize just how rotten to the core you are!” How the hell could she think I’d ever…
“But regardless, thank you for this opportunity to take back the shreds of my dignity!”
Unable to take it, I stride over to her. She watches me coming, visibly bristling, but I need her to never know just how much over the edge she’s pushing me.
“Sorry to burst your little bubble of misplaced hope, Angel,” I say, slowly leaning closer to her. “It’s already too late.”
She visibly shudders, a chill going through her.
“That was then! This is now!” she bites out angrily. “I’ll never give an unrepentant asshole like you an inch of my soul! And it’s Ivy, you jerk!”
“Well, Angel .” I make sure to grind out the nickname I gave her. “You say you’ll never give me an inch of your soul, but guess what? Your soul is already mine! With or without that damn contract!”
It’s only fair. After all, she’s had a hold over my heart, my soul, my life, and everything in between since forever. Why can’t I have a small grip on her too?
“You're right,” I continue, tracing her bottom lip with my still bloody finger. “I’m undeserving of any mercy in this life, but so are you!”
Knowing that I shouldn’t touch her at all, I slowly trace her jaw with my still bleeding finger… so slow as if I want to savor this moment, this feeling… savor her .
She gasps, her lips parting open in a way that almost disarms me.
“If I’m an unrepentant asshole then you are a sinner and, guess what, Angel?” I whisper. “That makes us the same! Do you really think a child will survive that?”
“It’s my child!” she snaps. “You’re just a glorified sperm donor. Just like I’m just a puppet, a sex toy you’re using in your schemes of power against your family!”
Heartbeat.
Heartbeat.
Heart-fucking-beat.
I count to hundred in my head, trying to breathe and calm down, but she’s making that impossible.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I grit out, my chest aching like hell.
“Why is that, Emmett?” she demands. “Am I too stupid to understand? Am I too daft? Too pathetic because I’ve pined for you?”
“Angel—”
“Let’s make it clear now and forever. I hate you, Emmett Easton! Whatever feelings I had for you are now long dead, and will never resurrect, so help me God!”
A freight train could come out of nowhere and crash me, but that wouldn’t hurt as much as her words.
"What makes you think you're better than me?" I whisper hoarsely because of the agony in my chest, the squeezing of my lungs, and the twisting of my veins all due to the pressure this girl exerts on me. “You’ve been doing all sorts of crap behind my back and yet you’re still breathing. I’ve taken out people for far less than your level of treachery!”
She holds my gaze without flinching.
“This is the real you, isn’t it?” she says coldly, not scared or backing away at all.
“All these years, you've pretended to be so refined, indifferent, and unbothered by the world like an iceberg submerged in deep waters. But, of course, that was all just a pathetic facade. Finally, you’re unmasking your sinister, unhinged true self.”
Unable to help myself, I smirk.
“Don’t pretend like you didn’t see the real me all along, Angel,” I warn. “Everyone else can be na?ve to my nature, but not you.” I snake an arm around her waist and pull her flush against me. “It’s always been you who’s seen me. The real me. So quit acting blasé, it’s an ugly color on you!”
Angel's fragile, small, warm hands smack against my chest, demanding that I let go. I ignore her.
I notice her finger is still bleeding, so I reach for her hand and suck it in my mouth. She hisses, her pupils dilating again.
I reach into my pocket for the Band-Aid I prepared earlier and apply it on her finger, all the while we both breathe hard and fast.
Angel is glaring at me with so much resentment, it's almost stifling.
Her soft but rigid body against mine is also triggering memories from last night and reigniting a hunger for her that I’ve fought tooth and nail against for years, but no matter how many ice baths I've taken, miles I've run, the hours I've spent trying to numb myself in the boxing ring, I can’t seem to let go or be immune to this hunger.
It's even worse in this moment.
“Are you not willing to do what I asked?” I demand. “Is that why you’re retaliating like this?”
She scoffs, pushing me away. I let her go simply because if I keep her close, it’ll be over for both of us.
“Retaliate? Please,” she scoffs, and then turns on her heel to leave. “This isn’t about you.”
“Yes, this isn’t about me, this is about you!” I growl. “This is about you being a hypocrite, a liar, and a malicious, self-deceptive wallflower!”
“What?” she gasps.
I’ve kept a lot of shit buried deep inside because I didn’t want to hurt her further.
There’s nothing I can do about the thing in my chest, but I can, at the very least, try to leave this world having done less harm to this girl as I possibly can, including eliminating my cursed DNA.
“All these years you’ve claimed to have feelings for me, and yet you and your family have been planning to move against me, creating shit to implicate me, but now you still want to claim that I’m the one who hurt you? Then what about me?”
“Emmett…”
“What about the hurt you inflicted on me?” I ask coldly.
“What about the trust I gave you, because, Angel, you already know, I'm not Noah who trusts after testing someone's drinking capacity.
I'm not King or George who take their time with trust. For you and I, it was just a moment. You put your hand in mine that night we went over a cliff and I gave you something I've never given anyone after my mother. But what have you been doing? You’ve been trampling all over that shit since the day I first saved your pathetic life!”