Page 123 of Fake Out Hearts

Shawn moves his face closer to mine, so close that our foreheads are almost touching.

“We both know that’s a lie, baby girl. I know how to read you. I know what you really want to say. So just say it.”

He moves in to try to kiss me, but I turn my head away and slam my shoulder into his chest, trying to break free of his grip.

Milo erupts in loud barking as Shawn grabs me roughly by the upper arms and shoves me against the island. Fear spikes inmy chest, but I try to shove it down. I can’t let it win. I can’t let him see how scared I am.

“Get your fucking hands off me and get out,” I snap.

He stares at me contemptuously. “What are you gonna do, call the cops? I thought you loved me.”

“You’re sick, Shawn. Get. Out.”

He opens his mouth to say something, but he never gets it out. He whirls away from me, and I close my eyes and scream because I think he’s going to hit me, but when I re-open them, I find Theo dragging him away by the back of his shirt.

Chapter 38

Theo

All I see is red—bright, burning red—as I haul Kaplan away from Becca and slam his back against the wall. I crash my fist into his face, connecting with his jaw and making his head snap to one side. But Kaplan’s not going down without a fight, so when he swings back at me, Becca lets out a little shout of shock, but it barely registers as I jump out of his way.

Kaplan roars and charges at me like some kind of ’roided-out bull, but I sidestep and kick his feet out from underneath him. He might be stronger than me thanks to the juice, but he’s a terrible fighter, and I’m fucking pissed.

He spins at the last second but still goes down hard on his back, and I’m on him again, straddling him so he can’t get away. He glares up at me with raw fury in his eyes when I lift him by the shirt, but my fist rains down on his face again with a sickening crunch and he goes slack. I’ve been wanting to beat him into a pulp for years, and I’ve never had a better excuse to do it than now, so I slam my fist into his jaw again. And again. And again.

All I hear is the crunch of his bones, my grunting with each punch, and Milo’s distant, shrill barks in the background until Becca shouts.

“Theo, stop!”

I freeze with my fist drawn back, ready to continue making meatloaf of Kaplan’s face, but the look of fear in her eyes snaps me out of my rage. I throw Kaplan down, and he groans with his bloody face in his hands while he writhes in pain. He’s lucky Becca was here to stop me, otherwise I probably would’ve killed him, my career be damned.

Becca’s crying with her hands over her mouth, so I stand and approach her and she lets me pull her into my arms. As soon as her chest meets mine, she dissolves into tears, and a fresh kettle of rage boils in my stomach. I knew Kaplan was a shitbag, but I never thought he’d dare put his hands on Becca. So when I spot bruises on both her upper arms, I lose myself and charge back over to him.

I lift him by his torn, bloody shirt so his lolling, unfocused eyes face mine. I slap him once to bring his attention to me.

“Look at her,” I command, pointing at Becca. “Look at what you’ve done. If you ever go near her again, I’ll fucking kill you. Do you understand me?”

I give him a chance to nod or gurgle an answer, but he says nothing, so I slap him again. “You will not speak to her. You will not look at her. And you will not go anywhere near her ever again.Ever. Do I make myself clear?”

This time, he nods, so I sling him back to the ground and go back to Becca. It takes a few minutes, but eventually Kaplan gathers himself enough to crawl off the floor and stumble out of the condo, leaving a trail of blood on the floor.

As soon as he’s gone, I slam the door shut and lock it, then pull Becca close to check her for other injuries. With Kaplan out of the picture, my heart hammers against my ribcage and I feel sick with worry. If anything happened to her, I’ll never forgive myself. And I’ll never let Kaplan escape my wrath. I’ll fucking ruin him.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” I ask, but she just shakes her head and presses her face into my chest. I stroke her hair, careful not to get blood on her. “What happened? Tell me everything.”

Whining, Milo cautiously approaches us and sniffs Becca’s dangling hand before he licks it gently. I’m so glad he was here to protect her in case I hadn’t gotten home in time to do it myself, so I pat his head and he whines again.

“I—I was making something to eat and giving Milo a treat when someone knocked on the door,” Becca starts. “At first I thought maybe it was Valerie coming back or something, but it was Shawn. He wouldn’t go away. I just thought he wanted to talk, to say whatever bullshit he needed to say, and… I’m so sorry, Theo.”

Her voice break as she lets out a soft sob, and my chest squeezes.

“It’s not your fault, princess. None of this is your fault,” I assure her as I squeeze her and rub her back. “How did he get in?”

“He forced his way in. I cracked the door at first, and he just shoved through.”

My entire body tenses with anger at her words, but I have to keep myself under control for her sake. The only thing that matters right now is comforting her.

“What the hell did he want?” I ask, although I’m not at all sure I want to know or am ready to hear the answer.

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