Page 6 of Accidentally Forever
Fiery, sexy, sometimes insecure, and always doing things for others.
And definitely in love with someone else.
It wasn’t her fault that I loved her. But I was sure as hell going to blame her.
“I’m sure we can find one free to marry. If not, Mom and Dad will adopt you,” Lex explained.
“And if they don’t, my dads will,” Dash put in.
Lex beamed. “That’s all that matters.”
Thankfully we moved on to other subjects since the other two worked together. They owned Montgomery Construction, the offshoot of the original construction company the Montgomerys owned. It shouldn’t surprise me that their family worked so well together. Yes, they sometimes fought, but they were damn good at their jobs. One day soon they would build my dream home. I owned enough land to make that happen. Only a select few knew exactly how much.
Nobody else needed to know my business.
I looked at my phone again, and she still hadn’t texted.
Worry clawed at my gut, but I had a feeling she wasn’t going to text me anyway. Because the last time we had seen each other, I’d said such cruel things to her trying to protect my heartand hers, that I regretted them.
I needed to do the one thing that I hated.
Apologize.
“I’m going to head out. I have a lot of work to do.”
“You good to drive?” Lex asked.
“I’ve had two beers in three hours and four glasses of water. I’m fine. You guys okay?” I asked.
“We’re on the same beverage count as you,” Lexanswered. “Have fun with your painting. Let us know if you need anything.”
“Like being a model,” Dash said.
I snorted and lifted my chin in goodbye. I didn’t bother texting or calling Aria before heading to her place. I needed time to figure out what I was going to say, and frankly just to see her.
I was addicted, and I knew I needed to stop whatever this madness was. Only I didn’t think there were any easy answers. I hated feeling like I wasn’t enough. Yet I knew I wasn’t. My family didn’t deserve whatever goodness Montgomerys gave out.
And one day everybody would realize that.
I parked in front of Aria’s house, only slightly annoyed when I realized all the lights were on.
It seemed she was home and hadn’t bothered to text.
Anger coursing through my veins, I stomped up the pathway and nearly barged in when I noticed the door was partly open. Raised voices echoed through the house, and I was already running inside before I thought better of it.
“You fucking bitch! You think you can do this to me? I’ll show you how strong you think you are.”
Aria’s back was to the wall, but instead of need and desire on her face like I saw the last time I’d had her pinned, there was only pure terror.
Her so-called best friend, the man the world thought she was in love with held her by her neck and used his other hand to punch her in the face.
Aria kicked out, screamed, and then I was moving—not caring if I killed the man who dared touch my woman.
Chapter Two
Aria
My head slammed into the wall, a ringing sound vibrating in my ears as I pushed at Travis’s shoulders. Panic doing its best to override all reasonable thought, I tried to move my knee so I could hurt him like Crew had taught me. But in that moment, nothing seemed to work, and my brain threatened to go blank. It was as if all the lessons I had been taught over my life were gone. And I could not get out of this.
