Page 25 of Bewitched By the Mountain Man
He ignores me. “I got a video.” He taps his screen and pulls it up. “You. Coming out of some back room, looking thoroughly fucked.”
My stomach drops as the footage begins to play. Grainy and shadowed, but clear enough. Me, walking out of the room. Lachlan, masked, watching me go.
“How did you even get this?” I ask.
He doesn’t answer right away. Just stares at the screen, watching the footage closely. His brows pull together. Then his eyes lift, but not to me.
He looks at Lachlan.
“This is you, in the mask? Isn’t it? Unbelievable."
"I said get out," I shout.
His eyes are glittering now with cruel triumph. “Did you fuck this guy in a sleazy club and bring him home? Do you haveanyidea what this looks like, Tess?”
My heart is racing so fast I think I might pass out. "It's none of your business what I do or where I go."
"So it is true. Christ, what's wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with me? You destroyed our relationship. So yeah, I went out. I did things I never would have done with you. And you know what? I don't regret a single second of it."
"This is because of me? You went there to get back at me?"
"I went there to forget you," I shoot back. "And it worked."
His face contorts with rage, and suddenly he's shouting. "You’ve got to be kidding me. You forgot aboutmefor this fucking creep?"
"That's enough." Lachlan is moving now, stepping around me and into the hallway. He's a full head taller, and Derek takes an instinctive step back. "You need to leave. Now."
"This is real classy, Tessa."
Lachlan’s hand shoots out to grip Derek's shoulder and push him back against the opposite wall.
"You heard her," Lachlan says. "Time to leave."
"Get your fucking hands off me!" Derek shoves at him, but Lachlan doesn't budge. "I'm calling the cops. This is assault."
"Go ahead," Lachlan says. "And I'll tell them you showed up drunk at your ex-girlfriend's apartment and tried to force your way inside."
"I just wanted to talk to her!"
"She told you to leave. Multiple times." Lachlan's grip tightens. "So leave."
For a moment, they're locked in a staredown, and I'm frozen in my doorway, my whole body trembling. Then Derek's eyes narrow, and he looks between Lachlan and me.
"Is this what you want, Tessa? You want to throw away everything we had for this? That's who you are now?"
"Who I am now is someone who doesn't need you. So yes, Derek. This is what I want. Now get the hell out of my life."
Derek stares at me for a long moment, and I can see the exact second he realizes he's lost. His face crumples, then hardens.
"You'll regret this," he says quietly. "Both of you."
"Is that a threat?" Lachlan's voice drops even lower.
Derek shrugs out of Lachlan’s grip and storms off, his footsteps echoing down the stairwell.
Lachlan follows me inside without a word, quietly closing the door behind him.
