Page 79 of Dark Prince

No, fuck that.

Rage beats in my chest, and I whirl on him.

“You’re blaming me for you siccing your dealer on my sister? How fucking delusional are you?”

He smirks at me. “Not as delusional as you. Tell me this, sugar pie. Who introduced me to your sister? You knew what I had going on. Sure, you denied it, but you knew. You wanted her to get caught up in it. You wanted to bring her down to your level. Just admit it! You were hoping she’d take me off your hands.”

I’m so pissed off that I feel sick. Hot tears burn in the corners of my eyes, and I turn away from him before he can see them. “Get fucked.”

He shouts after me. “Is that an offer?”

I blink back my tears and storm into the bank. That fucking dipshit has never owned up to anything he’s done. He’s never admitted to a single one of his mistakes. So why should he start now? Why should I expect anything better of him?

God, I fucking hate him.

I hate that I was ever with him. Hate that I made such a monumental mistake, and that I ignored all the warning signs until it was too late.

A friendly looking teller greets me, sitting up a little straighter behind the counter as I approach. “Hi. Can I help you?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Shaking my head, I shove my dirtbag ex out of my mind long enough to take care of the business I was sent to do at the bank. But even as I do, I make a silent promise to myself that I’ll take a different route on the way back to the office.

If I see Jason again, I might murder him.

Chapter26

Sophia

I’m runningthrough all the things I wish I’d said to Jason as I ride the elevator up to Naamah’s floor with the safety deposit box confirmation slip. I wish I’d called him out for trying to intimidate me. Hell, I wish I’d laughed at him for even trying. Because of all the terrifying things I’ve seen lately, he’s the least scary of them all.

Which doesn’t mean I wasn’t frightened. As soon as I saw him, it was like I was back in that dark mental place, the low point I got to before Cassidy talked some sense into me and convinced me that I was better than what he told me I was. I let him erode my sense of self, let him have power over me that he neither earned nor deserved.

And the worst part is, the second he started talking down to me again, I could practically feel his poisonous words seeping into my soul, tainting all the parts of me I spent so long trying to clear out.

I’m still brooding on it when I step out of the elevator. Not in the mood to see the dirty looks which will inevitably be aimed in my direction, I keep my gaze set just ahead of me on the floor as I head for Naamah’s office.

I feel Lucas’s attention on me before I see him. It makes my skin prickle, a warmth spreading over me as if I’m standing beneath the rays of the sun.

I don’t want him to know that anything’s wrong, don’t want him to see just how shaken I am after a confrontation with someone as monumentally mundane as Jason, so I pretend I don’t notice and keep my eyes down. Naamah’s door is open, and I walk in and drop the receipt in her inbox.

The door closes behind me, and I whirl around, jumpy and on edge.

Lucas is there, watching me. His eyes flash red for a second before shifting back to their usual amber flecked brown.

“What’s wrong?” he demands. “Were you attacked? Why did you leave on your own?”

“I wasn’t attacked,” I tell him, attempting to add a calming quality to my voice. It doesn’t work. I sound defensive even in my own head. “It’s nothing.”

He gives me a narrow look, clearly not buying it.

“Sophia.” My name on his lips is a request wrapped in a command.

“I really wasn’t attacked,” I assure him. “I wouldn’t hide it from you if I was. I just ran into my stupid ex, and we argued, that’s all.”

I’m hoping we can just leave it at that, but Lucas folds his arms across his chest and looks at me with exaggerated patience, waiting for me to say more.

God, this is embarrassing.

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