Page 54 of Vile Emotion
“I hate you.” I grit as we’re a couple steps in front of them.
“I loathe you too, my love,” in the same breath, he begins his hellos with my shocked parents. “Mr and Mrs Hart, I’m so sorry that it took us this long to come and greet you. We’ve been wanting to come and see you, formally, of course.”
“Formally?” Both my parents mirror each other’s expressions.
“Yes, I mean, I am your son-in-law and who wouldn’t want to meet someone like me? Let us know when you’re free. Darling, don’t be rude, say hi to your parents.”
My eyes cut to him and I know he can see the anger and hate seeping out of me but Alaric looks at me endearingly. It makes me angrier because I know he’s acting. I don’t really understand why I’m upset but I am, I’ll figure that out later but for now, I’m going to focus on pretending like my parents haven’t ignored me for a really long time.
“Hi mom and dad, we didn’t really get a chance to talk earlier.”
Dad is the first to break as he gives me a small smile after his hi but mom, cold as ever, says hi and goes back to talking to the mayor.
Without another word, I swallow my anger and walk off not caring about whether Alaric is going to make me pay for it or not.
I don’t know where I’m going but I just go and before I can step outside where the paparazzis are, an arm stops me.
I turn, ready to push Alaric off but it’s Cassius. I blink a couple times and take a step back. I don’t know who I’m more afraid of but right now, I don’t want to know.
“Are you okay?” He asks.
Which puzzles me even more. “I’m sorry?”
“Are you okay?” He repeats again and this time, there is a softness to his tone which is the opposite of what I’ve been hearing for awhile now.
“I, I-, ugh, umm… yes.”
“Okay, good.” He hands me a handkerchief and I hesitate before taking it. “For your eyes.” he says, making me realize that I’m crying. “You don’t want them seeing you.”
I know who they are, the paparazzi. I stand there, completely thrown wondering what’s his game? Is he being nice so that he can kill me after what happened to Carmen? I open my mouth to ask but we’re interrupted.
“Just fuck her and get it out of your system.” Alaric says and it feels like someone has slapped me in the face.
“Excuse me?” I glare at him while he’s leaning against a pillar, looking as menacing as the day I first met him.
“You’re itching for a fight, Ric and I’m not going to give it to you.” Cassius says as he looks at Alaric.
Alaric straightens and walks over to Cassius, right in his face.
“Then don’t do shit no one asked you to do.”
“I’m not doing anything. She’s fucking crying, should I ignore her?”
“You’re right, next time, just take her to the car and make her feel better that way.”
“What’s your fucking issue?”
“What’s yours, Cas, she killed your sister, you don’t care about that, anymore?”
“And she killed your wife. You don’t care about that anymore while you’re sticking your tongue down her throat?”
There’s a slight movement of Alaric’s right brow and he tilts his head while running his tongue over the top set of his teeth. A move I’ve never seen before so I don’t know what he’ll do. I can’t anticipate it. He smirks a minute later and reaches out, fixing Cassius’s lapel and wipes away invisible dirt.
“You’re right. She’s not fucking worth it.”
The words feel like the dose of cold water I needed dropped on me. Without thinking, I walk away from all the testosterone filling up the air and face the paparazzi. I don’t even hear what they say to me as I continue my power walk towards the parking area where they aren’t allowed to follow me. I should stop but really, I don’t know where I’m walking but I’m going to keep going as long as these damn heels allow.
A hand tugs at my wrist and spins me around.
