Page 20 of Heartfelt Pain
Or I can get her back.
I already know deep down in my soul, she’ll never let me take her heart again. Simply, because she no longer has one since I shattered it to bits five years ago.
The statement isn’t said out of overconfidence. If my chest is hollow then I know hers is too.
I assumed our affair was over. I’ve waited all these years for the lingering wound to scab over into a scar.
Dima’s voice urges me on.Get her back.
Except the twisted soul in me changes the words until they feel right. Until they feel better.
Take her.Take Ren Callahan and make her mine. Something softer whispers back to the needy, vengeful beast inside me.She already is.
CHAPTER 5
Ren
Ren: Are you almost here?
Ipeer out my window like I’ll somehow magically spot Isolde walking up to the building.
Isolde: Please don’t hate me. I’ve caught someone.
I frown at the phone. It’s a euphemism of sorts but not in the way most would think.
“I’ve fucking told you,” I whisper as I type the same words.
Ren: I’ve fucking told you. Stop with the vigilante shit!
My best friend is going to get fucking killed if she doesn’t calm the fuck down.
Ren: You havepaying customers.
I’m not stupid enough to type out what those said customers pay her to do.
Ren: Focus on them and not the randoms!
Isolde and I rehash this conversation often enough that I know her response before she sends it.
Isolde: If I don’t focus on them then no one will.
That’s not quite true. There are a few people out there like Isolde. People who stare down the barrel of a gun and try to make the world a better place. Who kill sex offenders and pedophiles and men who beat women to death. They’re not heroes by any standards, but they do make the world a safer place.
Because the truth is this world we live in is nothing but shades of gray. There’s no good and there’s no bad. It’s a pendulum. Sometimes it goes too far in one direction so someone has to make the hard decisions.
I’m not mad at Isolde for making hard decisions. But I will be if she gets herself killed in the process of doing so.
The frustration mixes with disappointment. She takes her wingman duties seriously. She wouldn’t leave me hanging if it wasn’t someone bad she needed to take out.
It’s not her fault I’m dying to have sex.
But the night gets worse when Lennie texts.
Lennie: Hey. . .
Ren: You’re not coming.
Except I know for a fact she is. Elijah probably has her trapped and is fucking her within an inch of her life. It’s rather considerate, allowing her time to text me.
