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**~ Sexy Devil: I can still taste you on my tongue, Rebel. That sweet little whimper you made when I finally took back control… Fuck, I’m hard just thinking about it. You’ve had your fun wrecking the devil. Now it’s my turn. When next I see you, make sure to wear something easy to rip off. ~**A sharp breath escapes me before I can stop it. Heat pools low in my belly, instant and traitorous, making my thighs clench togetherA week has passed, and if there is one thing I’ve gotten exceptionally good at, it’s lying to myself. I stare at the reflection in the boutique mirror, smoothing down the fabric of a dress I don’t care about, pretending the tightness in my chest is just fatigue. I am fine. I’ve repeated the words so many times over the last seven days that they almost sound convincing. “I’m over it. I’m over him.”Except my phone is sitting face down on the velvet ottoman behind me, a heavy, silent reminder of everything I’m trying to escape.Slade hasn’t stopped trying. The screen lights up multiple times a day with missed calls, voicemails I refuse to play, and texts begging me to just meet him somewhere, anywhere, to talk. Every single time, I force my fingers to swipe the notifications away, ignoring the hollow ache that follows.I have to. My wedding with Nathaniel is next week, and there is no room left anymore for distractions. I’ve spent the last seven days systematically trying to scrub Slad
“She believes she's nothing to me.”I continue, the confession slipping out before I even realize it has. Maybe it's the whiskey, or maybe it's just the fact that I've spent the last hour replaying that scene in my head and I'm sick of carrying it alone.I drag a hand down my face and stare into the amber liquid in my glass.“Meeka thinks she's just another face. Another woman I picked up because I was bored and needed to pass the time.”The words leave a bitter taste in my mouth as I let them out.“We've shared almost everything else, Rafe. Everything. And somehow she walked out of my apartment believing I don't want her.”A rare look of genuine surprise crosses Rafe's face.He still doesn't believe I'm the one sitting right here and right now, being like this because of a woman. He's never seen me like this before because I've never been this way at all.But Meeka isn't just any woman.“So what did you tell her?” Rafe asks, cutting into my thoughts.I let out a rough laugh that soun
The numbers above the elevator door slowly bleed from one floor to the next, leaving me standing alone in the suffocating quiet of the hallway.By the time I finally forced myself to move, taking the stairs three at a time just to do something with the frantic, useless energy spiking in my veins, the garage was already empty. The screech of her tires still seemed to echo off the concrete walls, but her car was gone. She had driven out of my penthouse before I could even make it down to the lobby.My first instinct—the only instinct I’ve ever known when something I need slips through my fingers, was to hunt her down. I actually got into my car, put my hand on the wheel, blood from my split knuckles smearing across the leather, ready to tear through the city streets and follow her straight to her apartment building. I wanted to kick her door down if I had to, pin her to a wall, and force her to listen to the truth.But midway through starting the engine, I stopped. My hands just froze
“He said you're just using me, Slade. Nathaniel told me that when you want something you can't have, you become completely obsessed with it. That you just push and push, breaking every single boundary, until you either get bored or completely destroy the thing you were chasing in the first place. He told me it's your pattern. That you don't love, you just fixate.”Every single word coming out of her mouth feels like a hard punch to my chest. The air leaves my lungs all at once, leaving me hollow. Nathaniel went right for the throat this time. He didn't just tell a random lie; he took the darkest parts of my reality, twisted them around, and served them to her on a silver platter. He knew exactly which scars to touch to make her doubt yet believe everything.“He talked about your past, Slade,” Meeka continues. Her voice drops lower now, getting heavier and heavier with a deep fear that cuts me to the bone. “He hinted at the women you used to burn through. Relationships that ended hor
The past forty-eight hours have been a special kind of hell. Ever since that disaster of a dinner at the house, my phone has felt like a brick in my pocket. I've been itching to text her. I want to call her. Hell, I want to drive over to her place and pull her into my arms just to make sure Nathaniel didn’t completely poison her mind against me.But I don't. I force myself to stay away. It takes every single ounce of my willpower not to reach out, but I know what Nathaniel is capable of. He knows exactly how to plant a doubt and let it rot from the inside out, and if I push too hard right now, I’ll only drive Meeka further away. So, I give her space, even if it's killing me.My day goes by in a blur of pure frustration. I handle my both businesses, look through papers, and I just try to distract myself, but my mind keeps looping back to her. By the time midnight rolls around, I’m restless, pacing around my apartment in nothing but sweatpants.I definitely don't expect a knock on my do
“Meeka.”I don't answer him. I can't even find my voice, because if I open my mouth right now, I honestly don't know what will come out. Anger, relief, or utter confusion—maybe a messy mix of all three.I stop directly in front of him. For a long second, I just stand there, soaking him in. Finally, I reach up and wrap my arms around his neck, burying my face against his skin. The moment I do, a shaky breath escapes my lips. God. I didn't realize how badly I needed this until right now.Slade goes completely still. His skin is so warm, and he smells like clean soap mixed with that dark, expensive cologne that always drives me crazy. Then, his arms finally come around me. One settles firmly around my waist, while the other slides up my back, pulling me tight. Just like that, I'm completely surrounded by him—his warmth, his scent, and that strange feeling of safety I haven't been able to explain since the day we met.“There's my Rebel,” he murmurs quietly against my hair.“Don't,” I say,
SLADE'S POV::I think the alcohol in this bottle is messing with my head right now, because there’s no way I’m seeing who I think I’m seeing.But everything slows down the moment my eyes lock onto her, as if the engines, the shouts, and the music have all been muted at once. It’
SLADE’S POV::She’s gone.The door slammed a while ago, but the echo’s still hanging in the room like smoke.The woman she chased out has long disappeared, her perfume fading into nothing, yet somehow the place still feels charged, like static after lightning.I’m still sitting in the same damn spo
MEEKA'S POV::My soul has yet to return to my body. I’m frozen, not moving or breathing, just staring straight ahead, my trembling hands clinging to the wheel as if letting go would send us tumbling into space.The noise of the cheering crowd finally breaks through, and I’m jolt
The drive to Meeka’s place is even quieter than the night itself.She’s slumped in the passenger seat, buried in the jacket I practically forced onto her the second she stopped shaking enough to walk. Her hands are tucked deep into the sleeves, like she’s trying to disappear inside the fabric. Sin







