Rain. Surprise," he says, dropping the sheer curtain and turning to me with a cruel, smug look on his face. You're so fucked, Rain. Fucked. "Get out," I grind out. "Oh, I'm going. Just had to see your face and just like I predicted, it's so pathetic, Rain. You're so desperate to get my attention that you actually fucked my brother just to get a rise out of me." "You don't get to talk about desperation. You lied to me for years. You're the one getting married to a woman you swore was just your cousin. You get to move on to the next phase of your life, but I can't move on to someone else?" "Not with him," Colt snarls, taking a defensive step forward. "Not with him. You think I'm the worst man you've encountered? Then he's poison. After all, we're cut from the same cloth. He's doing this just to hurt me and you turned out to be nothing but a convenient puppet." His words sting, hitting dangerously close to home. "Go to hell, Colt," I whisper, tears building behind my eyes despite my own restraints. "I'm already here," he says with that empty smile. He takes lazy steps toward me. "The minute I realized you were on my brother's arm at the party, I knew it wasn't over. You think you're free? You think you can just walk away?" He stops inches away, his breath hot on my face. "I can do whatever the fuck I want and that includes whomever I bed." I snap. "No," he snarls. His eyes glaze over me with a deranged possessiveness as he stops just short of me. It rattles me to the bone. "You still belong to me." I cross my arms with a glare I don't feel. "I belong to no one." "Don't be dramatic, Rain. We have years between us. You can't just cut that off with a text and one scandalous scene with my brother." "I didn't cut it off. You ended it." I take a step back until my shoulders hit the cold, hard wall. "You brought your fiancée to what I thought was a proposal dinner and humiliated me. You don't get to show up here two weeks later like nothing happened." He doesn't apologize. Does he ever? Instead, he just stares at me, his eyes running a slow, possessive trail from my face down to my trembling hands. With slow deliberate movements, he places his hands on each side of my head, locking me in place while his gaze lingers too long on the swell of my chest. My breath hitches, heat spreading across my face like an unwelcome blanket. When he looks up, his voice drips with honey, smooth in all the right ways. "You're still my girl." Just four words, and my entire traitorous body reacts. The heat that has been building in my cheeks floods my entire core. I've been here before, I know what comes after, and I know not to fall for his charm. And yet, my body craves him like air. I hate that smug cocky look on his face. I hate that despite the years of lies, the emotional manipulation, the public cruelty, a dark, bruised part of me still craves him. Colt Walden has been my gravity. The only person I ever envisioned a forever with, even if that forever is riddled with painful ifs and buts and a fucking fiancée. Rhysand, no matter how terrifyingly gorgeous, was merely a violent, desperate antidote to the pain Colt had caused me. He was a weapon I used recklessly to make Colt bleed. But Rhysand can never be the man who occupies the sacred, stupid, self-destructive place in my heart. That place still belongs to Colt. And the asshole knows it. I try to regain control, softening my stance, appealing to his ego, which has always been his most accessible weak spot. "Look, I know what I did was awful," I say, trying to sound genuinely vulnerable. "What happened at your party... It was out of anger. Pure, stupid, blind anger. I was just trying to get revenge, Colt. You have to realize that. I didn't even know you had a brother. I didn't know the man I had a one-night stand with was... him." I pause, breathing deeply. "I was supposed to be celebrating. Emma and I, we were going to raise a toast to what I thought was our engagement night. It turned into a break-up. I was a mess and just wanted to forget it all and she wanted to h-" "Of course, it's Emma," he cut me off, shouting the name with sudden, genuine fury. The mention of my best friend seems to ignite a different kind of rage than the one Rhysand caused. "That good-for-nothing bad influence! Haven't I told you to stay away from that fucking girl? She's a toxic liability, Rain, and the reason you make half your terrible decisions!" I recoil from him, the wall biting into my back. "Emma is my best friend! We've been friends since college. I love her and you know that. If you'll give her a chance and get to know her more-" "Get to know her? I know Emma. That wild bitch with her insufferable attitude. She's bad for you!" "Why are you trying to take everyone away from me?" "Not everyone. Only the ones bad for you because I care about you." I duck under his rigid arm, escaping his suffocating proximity so I can think. His presence is making me feel hot and lightheaded and stupid all at once. "Stop being ridiculous, Colt. I am not an object you get to control or claim." I try to inject fire into my voice, but a tremor betrays me. "And what are you doing here? Isn't it a little too soon for you to be regretting your decision to get engaged to your 'cousin'?" Colt throws his head back and laughs. A sound utterly devoid of humor. "Regretting? Quite the opposite, actually. I love my girlfriend and can't wait to be married." The dismissal grates on my last nerve. "Then get out!" My voice cracks fully this time, the facade of strength dissolving. He stops laughing, his eyes narrowing in cold seriousness. "I'm here to make sure my brother doesn't try shit, Rain. You know how he is. He's always been after everything that's mine-my reputation, my friends, my relationships. He's definitely coming for you, since he knows how important you are to me. He'll use you to get to me, so I'm making sure you don't fall victim." I stare at him, genuinely mad with confusion by the shift in his argument. "How important I am to you?" I repeat the phrase like it's a foreign language. "Important, huh? If I'm so important, why did you cheat on me? Why did you leave me for your 'cousin'? Why did you let me spend months thinking I was going to be your fiancée while you were planning a life with Lila?" The hypocrisy actually makes me think I'll choke to death on my anger and heartache. I can't believe how crazy I am for this man and a thought of revenge sparks my head. Before I can stop to think, the words pour from my mouth with as much venom as I'm able. "I'd happily choose to be toyed with by Rhysand to get to you rather than be continually cheated on and lied to by you!" My words are a match to his fuse. His eyes darken with chilling anger, and he moves with predatory speed, closing the distance between us, yanking me back and into the wall. His hands slam against the wall on either side of my head, trapping me completely in the shadow of his body. The scent of his familiar cologne envelopes me, and the intense heat returns with a screaming vengeance. I can practically hear my body whine for him. "You won't get the choice," he snarls, his face inches from mine. His breath is hot on my skin, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "You are mine, Rain. And if Rhysand so much as breathes on you again, I won't stay still." A dull throb pulses between my legs at his declaration. There's no room for argument or anything else. Our lips are mere inches apart and for a second I want to beg him to cover that distance to put my traitorous body out of its misery by giving it what it wants. But Colt pulls back just as quickly as he'd advanced, giving a satisfied, superior smirk. He straightens his tailored jacket, smoothing out imaginary wrinkles. "I'll be sending you the final details for my wedding," he says, his tone suddenly light and casual, as if the last few minutes hadn't happened, as if the tension isn't still crackling between us like live wire. "Lila and I are getting married next week, quiet ceremony. You're invited, of course. To the reception, at least." He pauses at the door, turning back to offer one last, cutting smirk at me. "Just remember what I said. Come alone. And for God's sake, don't bring my brother." And with that, he leaves, closing the door softly behind him. The silence that follows is deafening, leaving me leaning against the wall, chest heaving, the remnants of his heat scorching my skin. Is it too late to start a new life? Leave this fucking city and go someplace without two hateful brothers using me as a pawn in their game?
