Page 70 of Resurrecting the Enemy
I stared at him until I couldn’t anymore. This was a game, and he was way better equipped to play it. Emotions were my handicap here, and I was smart enough to realize it.
I turned to walk away from him, but I wasn’t two steps in, when his voice stopped me. “They’re all back,” he said. “Your pictures, your application projects, all if it. It’s all back on your backup drive.”
Pain and fury were warring inside my soul. You didn’t unjustly lock someone up, and then expect them to thank you when you let them out.
Ramsey stole my photos, then gave them back as if they were still the same pictures as before.
But they weren’t.
Now they were just tainted images that I could never look at again without being reminded of him. But, then, I suppose that could be said of every picture I’ve taken since then, too.
I turned back around, and while his face was giving nothing away, I didn’t bother to attempt to hide my disgust and anger. “I hate you,” I seethed.“I hate you.”
“I know,” he replied calmly. “But I can’t let that matter.”
“That’sallthat matters,” I argued. How could he not see that? I mean, this wasn’t the first time he’s told me he didn’t care if I hated him or if he had to fight with me every day as long as I was his, but he couldn’t be serious about that, right? Who in their right mind would want to be in a hostile relationship like that? Who in the hell wanted to be in a toxic relationship?
And just when I thought I couldn’t hate him any more than I already did, he said, “No, it’s not. While it might matter, it doesn’t matter as much as how much I love you, Lake.”
The blow of his ill-time words was so powerful, I stumbled backwards.
I shook my head. “You don’t get to say that to me,” I told him, proud my voice wasn’t an emotional mess. “Especially, since we both know it’s not true.”
“It is true,” he insisted. “I’ve been in love with you since the night I caught you.”
Rage flowed at my naivety. Where I thought Ramsey was a master manipulator before, that was nothing compared to this. Instead of accepting that he was wrong and just moving on, he was pulling out the big guns because he wasn’t one to lose.
My chin came up and I asked, “What about your girlfriend?”
His head jerked back, and the bastard actually had the audacity to look confused. “What girlf-” Realization dawned in his dark gaze, and he shook his head. “I can explain tha-”
“I don’t want an explanation!” I yelled. “I want you to leave me alone!”
“I can’t!” he roared, and the thunder in his voice sent birds fleeing from the comfort of the tree branches. He was disturbing the beautiful peace here. “I fucking love you!”
Pain was like a bomb exploding inside my chest and I couldn’t take it anymore.
I turn and ran away from Ramsey again.
His voice yelling my name behind me, I ran and ran until I saw my mom’s car. Faster than I ever thought possible, I got in, locked the doors, and ignored the pounding on the window as I started the car on the first try.
My foot hit the gas and I truly didn’t care if I ran him over or not. I sped out of the clearing and didn’t look back.
I was weak enough that, if I did, I might turn back.
Chapter 37
Ramsey~
It took three days for me to finally get my shit under control enough to handle shit intelligently. Despite my mother being disappointed in me, I knew she still had my back. I still had every faith in my parents that they’d get me out of trouble if I found myself in some bullshit.
However, that didn’t mean I wanted to put them in that position if I didn’t have to.
So, after three days of reining it in, I was able to get my hands on Metcalf. It hadn’t been that hard to do, either. Maddox had tapped into Erica’s most active social media account and had sent Curt a message to meet her. Mad had made sure to make it cryptic enough that Curt’s curiosity would compel him to meet up with her. Especially, when he added the hint about drugging Lake.
We met up where I had taken care of Childress, and I parked my car to make sure he was blocked in. Which was a good thing, because when he’d seen it was me driving up behind him, and not Erica, he’d gotten back in his car to drive away.
And now, shattering glass was echoing through the clearing and the surrounding trees. Curt’s pleas were falling on deaf ears as I grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him out through the broken window of his car.
