Page 55 of The Vengeance You Crave
I awake with a start sometime later, blinking against the darkness and lifting the heavy weight of the book I fell asleep reading from my chest.
"Holy shit," I screech when I look forward and find Luca watching me. My hand covers my racing heart as I try to calm down. "Did you just touch me?" I ask, noticing that my skin is burning.
He shrugs, the indifference on his face causing anger to explode inside me.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Luca?" I scream, jumping up from the couch and storming away from him. "You're acting like a fucking psycho locking me in here like some prisoner." I throw my arms up in frustration and begin pacing, needing to do something to expel the energy that's racing through me.
"You didn't seem to mind so much last night," he mutters, his eyes following my every move.
"Last night I was drunk, Luc. I was fucking wasted and—" I slam my lips shut, not wanting to allow the next words out of my mouth free.
"And…" he prompts, lifting a brow.
"And…" I sigh. "And I thought it might help. I thought you might fuck me and—"
He throws his head back and laughs. It's not the response I was expecting. "Fucking hell, P. You really must have a high opinion of your pussy if you think a night of pounding it was going to make me forget everything." My lips part in shock. "I mean, it was good. One of the best I've had in a while." His words are like a knife through my chest, and I fight to keep my expression blank so he can't see how much he's hurting me. "But it wasn't that fucking good."
"Fuck you, Luca. Fuck you." I take off running toward the bedroom, needing some distance from him after ripping my chest wide open with his cruel words. But he's faster than me and his giant hand wraps around my upper arm, stopping my retreat.
"No, Luc. No," I scream, my arms hitting, slapping, and punching any part of him I can reach.
He allows me to hit him for a few minutes before he takes my wrists in his hands and slams me back against the wall, pinning them above my head.
"Are you about done?" he snarls.
"No. Nowhere fucking near," I hiss.
Both our chests heave as we stand only inches apart, staring at each other.
I search his eyes in the hope I'll find just a flicker of the boy I used to love hiding within the angry depths, but there's no sign of him.
"What happened to you, Luc?" I whisper, regretting the words the second they pass my lips.
His jaw tics and a muscle in his temple pulsates.
"You," he spits. "You happened to me."
"I didn't fucking do anything, Luc. I just told you the truth."
He shakes his head. "No. No, he wouldn't do that."
"Okay," I sigh, totally defeated by all of this. "If that's what you want to believe, then fine. But let me go, let me get on with my life. Spend the rest of your life living in denial and wondering if you should have believed me all along."
His eyes narrow at me. "It's not that easy, baby."
That final word rolls through me, causing goose bumps to erupt across my skin but I refuse to let it sink any deeper.
"You've done your worst, you dished out your punishment. We're done."
Taking both of my wrists in one of his hands, he grips my chin with the other and holds my stare.
"We'll never be done, Peyton. You never should have come back here."
"You think I put myself in this position by choice?" I laugh but it's bitter, full of pain and sadness. "My mom died, Luc," I confess, my knees threatening to give out as the words pass my lips. "I sat by her side and held her hand as she died."
His eyes soften slightly, but it's too late. I don't want his pity now that he knows that tiny bit about my life.
"I watched her take her last breath and leave me behind. I had no choice but to walk away from my life and start over. I'm drowning in medical debt." Most of them aren't from Mom, but he doesn't need to know that right now. "All I'm doing is trying to survive. Trying to put one foot in front of the other and ensure I have a future. What I don't need is this bullshit from you. I'm sorry you don't believe me, that's your choice. But I get to choose too, and I'm fucking done, Luc." Tears burn my eyes but I refuse to let them fall, to allow him to see just how fragile I am right now. Putting on a brave front has been my coping mechanism for weeks. I don't want to finally shatter in front of him. "What we had is dead, I see that now. All I ever did was be the best friend I could to you, but clearly, that didn't mean as much to you as it did to me."
