Page 145 of Dare To Live

“Is that supposed to be an insult because I see it as a blessing?”

Brad touches his wife’s hand. “Baby, maybe we should go.”

Snatching her arm away, she tosses her hair back over her shoulder. “Go grow some balls. This little bitch is not standing in the way of what I want.”

Brad’s face flushes, deepening when he catches my pitying look, before glancing nervously at the floor.

“Go back to your room, Lacy.” My voice is cool.

She shakes her head. “Why don’t you return to yours?”

There’s a deafening silence for a split second. I’m not even sure which one of us moves first. She lunges forward and grabs my shoulder. As she shoves me into the side of the door, I seize a fistful of her hair. Lacy’s high-pitched screams ring in my ears, and they fuel the pent-up emotions I’ve been carrying for all these years—the hate toward this woman who had pretended to be my friend.

I embrace the tension and adrenaline rushing through my body. Nails bite into my shoulders and claw at my neck. I yank her head down and bring my knee up and ram it into her stomach. She makes a pained sound, but it doesn’t slow her down. A fist to my ribs makes me grunt, and we stumble together across the hallway.

“I’m going to fuck you up.” Lacy goes for my face, her nails dragging against my cheek.

I bring my arm back and punch her hard. “Bring it, bitch.”

I’m not even sure how we end up on the floor. The woman I’m pinning tries to buck me off as we fight. I punch her again, this time in the face.

Blood explodes out of her nose. Shrieking like a demented banshee, she goes for my eyes, but I turn my head away. Pain sears my right cheek. My fury escalates until all I see is red. I swing for her again, but arms wrap around my waist and haul me up. Kicking and snapping, I fight to get to her again.

Lacy crawls up onto her hands and knees, blood pouring from her nose. Baring her teeth, she lunges at me with a hiss.

Brad grabs his wife from behind. “Baby, enough.”

“I think she broke my nose.” Lacy doesn’t stop fighting him, her eyes burning with hate. “She hit me. She fucking hit me.”

“Ari, calm down.” Eli’s voice is close to my ear.

“I’ll break more than her fucking nose if she ever dares to talk to you again.” I spit the warning. “You hear me, Lacy? I’ll be watching you.”

“I suggest you get your wife out of here,” Eli tells Brad. “And don’t even fucking try to come near either of us again.”

With that, he hauls me back into the room and kicks the door shut behind us. The second he lets me go, I stalk across to the bathroom.

“I can’t believe them. Did they think you were going to say yes? They must be out of their minds.”

I’m shaking with the force of my anger. Adrenaline is still pumping through me. A quick glance in the mirror shows me four red bleeding scratch marks down my right cheek.

I touch the wounds gently and wince at the sting. “She better not try anything else while we’re here. I swear I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

Eli doesn’t reply.

Stepping out of the bathroom, I find him in the middle of the room.

My brows lift. “What?”

He’s staring at me, eyes blazing with an emotion I can’t define.

“That’s the second time you’ve staked your claim on me today, Hellcat.”

Chapter 82

Eli

She scowls at me, fury still spitting from her eyes. If she was truly a cat, her fur would be up on end and her claws out. I can visualize the angry wag of her tail as she stalks toward me. My fingers itch with the desire to set the image down on paper.

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