"Shut up!!! Shut the fuck up!."I scream. My voice cracking loud enough that it echoes. "You ruined it."
For a second, his expression shifts from Confusion, then anger again, deeper this ti.
"You ruined my only chance," I spit, tears burning my eyes now. "My only chance to make it right. To take sothing back."
His brows knit together. "What are you talking about?"
I point toward the empty space behind him. "Bring him back, bring him back right now."
He stares at like I’ve lost my mind.
"You’re not touching him," Zane says flatly.
"I didn’t ask for your permission," I scream. "I asked you to bring him back!."
The room feels like it’s spinning. I can barely breathe.
"I needed that," I say, my voice breaking. "You don’t understand what you took from ."
Sothing in my face must change, because his expression hardens in a different way.
"I’m not letting you do whatever you wanted to do herr," he says.
"You don’t get to decide what happens to ," I snap.
That’s when he moves.
Before I can react, he bends, hooks an arm around my legs, and lifts clean off the ground. My stomach lurches as I’m thrown over his shoulder like I weigh nothing.
"Put the fuck down," I scream, pounding my fists against his back. "Put down right now."
He doesn’t even flinch.
I hit him again and again. My blows land uselessly against his shoulders, his spine, my nails scraping fabric.
"You can’t do this," I sob. "You don’t own ."
He pushes through the crowd, people scrambling out of the way, muttering, staring. Som soone whistles.
I hate them all.
I slam my fists harder, rage and grief pouring out of . "You took my revenge. You took it from ."
His grip tightens around my legs.
"Stay still," he growls.
The cold air hits my face as we burst out of the club doors. The noise cuts off abruptly, replaced by night sounds and distant traffic.
I keep hitting him until my arms ache, until my throat is raw from screaming.
He doesn’t stop, doesn’t slow, doesn’t let go either.
And sowhere between the doors and the pavent, the truth settles heavy in my chest.
Whatever I ca here to do, whatever I thought I could control, it’s gone now
He shoves into the back seat like I’m nothing more than cargo.
I land hard, shoulder knocking against the door, the impact rattling my teeth. The door slams shut right after. The sound echoing inside my skull.
I look up and I find Aaron is already in the driver’s seat. His hands are tight on the steering wheel, he doesn’t look back and doesn’t say a word.
Zane climbs in beside , the car dipping slightly under his weight.
I curl in on myself and turn toward the window, folding my arms tight across my chest. My jaw aches from how hard I’m clenching it. I don’t want to look at him. If I do, I might actually break.
The car pulls away from the curb.
For a few seconds, there’s only the sound of the engine and my breathing, uneven and loud in my own ears.
"What were you doing in that club today?" Zane asks.
His voice is controlled. The kind that ans he’s barely holding it together.
I don’t answer.
My eyes stay fixed on the dark blur of the city passing by. Neon lights streak across the glass. I focus on them because if I don’t, I’ll start shaking again.
"Elaine." He says my na this ti. Sharper. "What were you doing there? I’ll ask you one last ti."
"Nothing."
The silence that follows is heavy. I can feel him looking at , like pressure against my skin.
"I asked you a question!!" he says, louder now. "Answer ."
Sothing snaps in .
I turn so fast my neck hurts. The anger that’s been sitting in my chest all night finally breaks loose.
"Don’t raise your voice at !!" I scream.
The sound surprises even . It tears out of my throat raw and ugly. Aaron’s shoulders tense in the front seat.
Zane’s eyes darken.
"I said answer ," he bites back.
My hands are shaking now. My whole body is buzzing, like I’m about to co apart at the seams.
"You want to know what I was doing?" I shout, leaning toward him. My face is inches from his. I don’t care anymore. "You really want to know?"
He doesn’t flinch. "Yes."
"I was there to kill him," I scream.
The word finally cos out broken.
Zane stares at , stunned for half a second before fury crashes back over his face.
"Don’t say things like that," he snaps.
"I an it," I yell back. Tears blur my vision but I don’t stop. I can’t. "I had it planned. I had him alone. I was ready."
His jaw tightens. "You’re not a killer."
"You don’t get to decide that," I scream. "You don’t get to decide anything about ."
Aaron clears his throat quietly from the front, uncomfortable, but neither of us acknowledges him.
Zane leans closer, his voice low and dangerous. "You were going to destroy your life."
I laugh, sharp and hysterical. "What life?"
"I’ve been dying slowly while everyone pretends not to see it," I continue, words pouring out now, unstoppable. "I wake up sick and go to sleep so exhausted. I count my days whether I want to or not. And that man gets to walk around breathing like he didn’t ruin everything for ."
My chest heaves. I wipe at my face angrily, saring tears away.
"You dragged out like I was a child throwing a tantrum," I spit. "You disrupted my plan. The one thing I needed to do for myself."
Zane runs a hand through his hair, pacing energy trapped in a seated body. "That wasn’t revenge. That was suicide."
"Maybe but I don’t care," I shoot back.
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