Page 98 of The Catalyst

“No,” I respond in kind.

“Princess,” he groans and I stop, rage building inside me.

I’m not his princess anymore. I’m not anything to him. He made that perfectly clear with his vile words and heartless expression.

I snap around and point my finger in his devastatingly handsome face. “Don’t you dare call me that. I thought I was pretty fucking clear, but maybe I need to be blunt. I want nothing to do with you or your friends or your fucking town. I’m done. You and everything that happened between us mean absolutely nothing.You are dead to meso, go ahead. Go back to the pits of hell you crawled out of and stay the fuck away from me. You got what you wanted and I got what I wanted–away from you and your best friend. Simple as that, Oliver. Clean this up and get the hell out ofmytown.”

I turn on my heels and walk away, my heart hammering against my ribs with every step I take.

Why the hell was he here in the first place? Was this just some stupid coincidence or did he track me down? Is he going to tell Nigel where I am?

I honestly don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. Maybe it never did.

* * *

After a showerand washing my clothes, I get started on trying to throw something together, but I don’t have a lot of ingredients. I might need to settle for chicken alfredo with chicken nuggets as the protein.

Yup. That looks like what I’m going to need to do.

I’ve barely turned off the stove when I hear the front door open.

I actually like the quiet of the house and how I can always hear the air conditioner switch on or the creak of the floorboard beneath my feet.

“Hey,” Martin announces as he walks into the kitchen.

“Hi.” I smile as he walks over, wearing that business casual wear I’ve slowly gotten used to.

“You know, you could’ve called me to let me know that you were released early. I was worried when they told me you weren’t there.”

Oh. My. God.

“I’m so sorry,” I mutter as I walk the rest of the way to him. “I completely forgot. He just got into my head and I’ve been spiraling since I got off work.”

His eyes narrow. “He who?”

I let out a long breath before crossing my arms over my chest. “Oliver. He showed up at the diner.”

His eyes widen a fraction, but he doesn’t say anything.

“He didn’t even say much, but him being there just pissed me off. I was so mad that he was there and he had no reason to be. I just hope he doesn’t tell Nigel where I am.”

Martin runs his fingers through my hair, dragging my attention up to him. “Listen to me. I won’t let him hurt you again, okay? I’ll make sure my cousin knows to keep his mouth shut. You don’t need to worry. He and O’Reilly don’t seem to be on the best of terms anyway. There’s clearly a lot of tension there.”

He pulls me into his chest and I cling to him. I would be lying if I said I’m not scared of Nigel. I am, especially since I’ve done a lot of things lately that would piss him off.

Maybe the sex tape wasn’t the best idea.

“He’s not going to hurt you, okay?”

I slowly pull back and nod. “‘Kay.” I’m not so sure he won’t, but Martin has earned my trust.

“Let’s eat and then we’ve got somewhere to go.”

My head tilts with confusion. “Where?”

He grins. “You’ll see.”

Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

---