Page 157 of Craving Venom

My rage explodes.

“Don’t you fucking dare.”

“You ignored me.” His tone hardens, losing its edge of amusement in an instant. “After everything we shared, after the way you screamed my name, after I gave you—”

“You gave me trauma!” I cut him off, pacing now. “You gave me terror. You gave me sleepless nights. You made sure it was your face I feared most in the dark!”

He lets out a sigh, as if I’m the one being unreasonable.

“You cheated on me.”

I stop dead in my tracks.

“What?!”

“You kissed someone else, Faith.” His words come measured now, as if every part of this makes perfect sense to him. “And then you ignored me like I was nothing. Like I hadn’t already made it very clear that you belong to me.”

My jaw drops. The audacity makes my skin burn.

“First of all—” I hiss, gripping the edge of my desk. If it weren’t for a phone in my other hand I might’ve thrown the whole thing. “We are not in a relationship.”

He stays silent.

“Second of all,” I press, my words spitting out like venom, “if youthinkI cheated on you, then LEAVE. Leave like a fucking adult.”

“You really think I’d just walk away?” I clutch the phone tighter as his words snake through the speaker. “That I’d bow out like one of your college boys with soft hands and softer dicks? No, good girl. You stitched yourself into my skin the second you looked at me like I was something you could survive. So don’t play brave and talk about leaving. I’ve killed for less than the thought of losing you.”

“That wasn’t choice, Zane.” My jaw locks as the words come out. “That was me trapped under you while you pretended consent was optional.”

I know I’m not being fair. I know it, and I don’t give a shit. He warned me. God, he warned me more times than I can count. He told me to stay away, told me I didn’t want to know him. And I didn’t listen. I thought I could handle it.

Turns out my cheap thrills cost me more than I bargained for.

They cost me looking into lifeless eyes.

He starts to speak, probably some twisted excuse or mocking deflection, but I don’t give him the chance.

“You want to know why you never learned to handle rejection? It’s not because no one ever said no to you. It’s because the one person who would’ve taught you how to respect it, you put her in the ground.”

The line goes dead silent.

And for once… he doesn’t have a comeback.

I hang up.

My finger hovers over the call back button, even after the call ends, because I want him to reach through the fucking speaker and pull me back in.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

THE MONSTER

The faucet keeps vibrating.

I lean forward and splash cold water onto my face, then press my palms to my eyes until the sting sets in. The porcelain beneath my hands shudders again, as if trying to get my attention, but I refuse to give it the satisfaction.

It’s because the one person who would’ve taught you how to respect it, you put her in the fucking ground.

Those words won’t leave me alone.

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