Page 199 of Hateful Games

Yet Nova did.

Without a second thought. Without fear.

I could only watch, speechless. It was all I could do not to pull him aside and kiss him senseless. I felt every emotion under the sun in the span of a few hours. All evoked by my ruthless husband. I saw different sides to him, layers that I didn’t know he possessed. At least, not toward me.

He’s fogging my head, my rationality, and slicing through the walls around my heart.

The possessive and protective look in Nova’s eyes is haunting me still. I’ve been avoiding him ever since.

He knows about the scars.

He saw them.

And I was none the wiser. I always hid them with makeup that it has become second nature. Like brushing your teeth or bathing every morning. The resoluteness darkening Nova’s eyes will keep him digging until he uncovers the whole truth. And why? Because he wants to avenge me? What’s done is done. I’m not the damsel in distress I used to be.

Not anymore.

I don’t ever want to think about that period of my childhood.

Honestly, it doesn’t matter. Punishment was served, albeit not in the way I craved. I survived it and in the past years, I’ve been healing from the leftover damage—mostly mental—in my own twisted and depraved ways.

My phone pings in a rapid string of texts.

BIANCA: Pack your bags for a few days.

IRIS: Where are we going?

BIANCA: Girls’ trip.

BIANCA: Belated bachelorette party for Ro.

ME: Shouldn’t it be yours? Since your wedding’s in a couple months.

BIANCA: Yet neither of you thought to plan for it. So, I had to take the reins.

ME: I was preoccupied with my own. Speaking of which, what about our husbands?

BIANCA: They can survive a few days without us.

IRIS: Look who’s talking.

ME: Are you confusing minutes with days, Bee?

BIANCA: Shut up. Meet me at my house tomorrow.

ME: Better plan a kick-ass trip, Bee.

IRIS: See ya tomorrow, girls.

A few days away from Nova is bound to clear the daze in my head. Excitement thrumming in my veins, I run into the closet and start to pack.

***

“LAS VEGAS?” screams Iris in utter shock and awe, peeping out of the window as though she can make out the glamourous city from hundreds of feet in the sky. We’re still three hours away.

We’ve been in the air for over eighteen hours with a short layover before settling in the private plane again, yet none of us are tired. The second I got on board with my best friends, my troubles quieted and peace replaced it.

Bee and I exchange a glance, amused by Iris’s cute reaction. Her nose is smashed against the glass as she continues to stare in wonder at the clouds and the blue hue.

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