Page 100 of Haunted Love

I had to walk away. I’m at my breaking point.

When she wanted to go out with that asshole from Tinder and the dude she met on campus . . . Now that was jealousy in its rawest form. She wanted to go out with them to make some kind of connection, and while I’ll never claim to own her body, I won’t hesitate to claim that everything on the inside belongs to me. It always has, and the thought of her giving that to anybody else eats at me.

I want her. But tonight, what she’s doing with Caesar and Dustin, that’s her decision, and after I walked away and told her to find some other man to love, I don’t have a single right to stop her. Anything she does here is on her, and whatever fallout might come from it is also hers to deal with.

Fuck. That makes me feel like a dick because there’s no chance in hell that she won’t regret this. She’s going to spend the next few weeks drowning herself in tequila and hating herself for going through with it. Hell, then she’ll hate me for letting it happen, but how am I supposed to step in now? I swore that it was over, swore I’d walk away until I had Austin’s blessing, but we all know that’s never going to happen.

But shit, if Austin knew I allowed this to happen in my club and I didn’t put a stop to it . . . fuck. There goes any chance in hell of rebuilding our friendship. He’ll never trust me again, nor should he.

That’s my girl out there.

I let her go and nothing has ever hurt me more.

I’ve spent the last three weeks trying to make things right with Austin, trying to explain myself and fight for everything I had with Aspen. I’ve camped out at his restaurant until he’s had police forcibly send me away. I’ve broken into his home. Stepped in front of his goddamn car, but he refuses to hear me. Refuses to give me a chance, but if he knew how I felt, knew just how much I love her, maybe he’ll hear me out. Perhaps he might even consider looking past all the bullshit to see that maybe I could be good for her.

Who am I fucking kidding?

What’s the point? After the way I broke her, there’s no going back. I can’t fix this now. I always knew I’d never be good enough for her, and with every move I’ve made, I’ve only proved that further. Perhaps she truly is better off with someone else.

Fucking hell.

My hand grips the edge of my desk and I force myself to try and calm down, only as the seconds turn into minutes, I find myself flying out of my chair. I need a fucking drink.

Storming back out to the main floor of the VIP lounge, my gaze immediately scans the club, searching every crevice and corner for her and when there’s no sign of her, my stomach sinks. Where the hell have they taken her?

Finding Becs still sitting at the bar, her gaze locked on the drink in her hand as opposed to the fucking orgy happening ten feet away from her, I make my way toward her as a strange uneasiness grows in my gut. “Hey,” I say, moving in beside her, certain that she’s about to tell me to get fucked. That’s when I notice both Caesar and Dustin across the club, entertaining some blonde.

Becs glances up at me, her brows arched in confusion as I pause and scan the room again. “Where’s Aspen? I thought she was fucking those two assholes.”

“What do you mean?” Becs questions. “She couldn’t take it. She made them stop, and then I watched her walk away. I figured she was with you. She’s been gone for a while.”

Fear pounds through my chest. “What?”

“Hey,” a familiar and very pissed-off tone cuts through our conversation. “We need to talk.”

Fucking hell. Austin’s timing has never been great. “Not now,” I throw at him through a clenched jaw, my gaze shooting right back to Becs. “Where?”

“The fuck?” Austin grunts, reaching for me. His hand fists into the back of my shirt, and he pulls me back a step before shoving me against the bar. His stare fills with fury, and his fist comes hurtling toward my jaw.

I dodge, barely evading needing a jaw reconstruction before grabbing his fist and pulling him into me. “I said not now,” I seethe, letting him hear the absolute fear in my tone before violently shoving him away and grabbing Becs. I pull her to her feet and her eyes widen, fear evident in her eyes. “WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?”

“Woah,” Austin says, finally realizing he’s not the only bastard in the room, and seeing the woman beside me isn’t some random Vixen member, but the woman who has been keeping his bed warm. “Get your fucking hands off her.”

He barrels into me, gripping my arm and yanking me off her before turning toward her, his gaze roaming up and down her body as though I might have hurt her. “Are you okay?” he rushes out, panic flashing in his green eyes—eyes so fucking similar to Aspen’s. “Wait. What are you doing here?”

Unease flashes in her eyes. “I, uhhh . . . hi,” she says sheepishly, only pissing me off. Is this woman kidding me? Does she not understand that Aspen is here somewhere and nobody knows where the fuck she went or who she’s with? Fucking hell.

“Enough of that shit,” I say, trying to shove Austin out of the way to get to Becs again, but Austin whirls on me.

“What the fuck is your problem?” he spits. “First, you put your fucking hands on my sister, and now you’re grabbing Becs? What the fuck has gotten into you?”

“I don’t have fucking time for your bullshit, Austin,” I roar, getting in his face. “You want to hate me, then fucking hate me. We can have it out later, but right now, I don’t give a shit because every fucking second you waste trying to get in my face and remind me what a fucking bastard I am is one more fucking second that Aspen is left fending for herself, so either get over your bullshit and help me look for her or fuck off.”

His eyes widen in horror. “Aspen?” he demands. “What the fuck is she doing here? I thought she was banned.”

“Really? You want to get into that right now? Just fucking great. Well you sit here and talk to your fucking girlfriend about that. Hell, maybe order yourself a fucking drink. In the meantime, I’m going to go find your sister and make sure she’s not doing something she’ll fucking regret, or worse.”

“You’re fucking kidding me,” he scoffs. “Let her go. If she wants to act like a fucking whore, that’s her business.”

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