taps his thigh. “Then we can have that talk about why you disappeared on us.”
My lips lift in an awkward smile, and I’m sure he can see it, but I lie through my teeth anyway. “I’m a bit tired. I’ll head for an early night.”
“You can’t run away from this forever.”
I can try.
“We’ll talk.” I place a hand on his bicep, tiptoe and kiss his cheek. “Promise.”
Liam is still unconvinced, but he nods anyway.
I take the stairs, then stop at the first step. “I’m glad you’re here, Li.”
This time, he smiles. From all people, Liam understands how ugly it gets when I’m alone.
After I close the windows, I leave the nightstand light on and crawl into bed. My hand covers my stomach as my mind goes rampant with options of what I can do. I can tell Elle and Liam I’m pregnant — and risk being put on house arrest.
Or I can go after President Joe without their knowledge. Only, I can’t put them through that pain again.
Besides, what if my baby gets hurt?
Putting him or her at risk is out of the question.
My lids flutter closed. I’ll get my answers in the morning with gallons of coffee in my system.
Somewhere between wakefulness and sleep, a cold breeze comes from the window. Goosebumps erupt on my skin. I moan. Didn’t I close that thing?
No. I did close it.
My lids snap open to be greeted by those overcast eyes. A dark smirk lifts his lips.
“Gotcha, beautiful.”
Chapter Twenty
I don’t look at myself in the mirror. Whenever I did, a mimicking of a person greets me back.
However, for the past two months, I forced myself to look in the mirror every day. The sight was as ugly as I predicted it would be. I smashed the mirror for the first week and contemplated stopping this masochistic thing altogether.
I didn’t.
I continued my glaring battle with the mirror because that’s the only way I’d know how my eyes looked like or if Omega was messing with my senses.
Somewhere in my gladiator fight against the mirror, I perceived the version Zoe saw whenever she looked into my eyes.
A hollow existence.
I wouldn’t look at me either if I were her. Heck, I still hate looking at myself and seeing that nothingness.
No wonder she left.
That doesn’t mean she can walk away from me.
I already decided she’s mine and there’s nothing in the world that will keep me away from what’s mine.
Obsession, yes. Possession, even more yes. I’m not trying to justify my fucked up fixation on her. Far from it. I want to devour her whole and I’m not the least bit apologetic about it.
After Flame found the footage and I watched the video of Ghost shooting Zoe, all I saw was red. I was ready to kill my own mate. And I almost did if he didn’t tell me the truth. He helped her stage her own death.
Zoe went through all that trouble to escape me.
Well, good fucking luck with that.
I crouch on the branch of the tree outside the villager’s house she stays in. York. Bloody fitting. Leave it to Ghost and Mist to send someone to the other half of the country.
They even registered the house under an alias I don’t know. They think themselves smart. It’s true that I’m unable to track them, but they forgot about Scar. Tracking her down is one of the easiest things to do. She rarely uses an untraceable phone.
Ghost and Mist should’ve thought about that psycho doll because I pounce on any chance I get.
I’m about to fidget like a fucking teenager as I wait for Zoe to appear. I’ve been searching for her like a maniac. I broke countless fighters’ noses in the underground matches and made Ghost bleed a few times.
It still isn’t enough.
If my fixation with Zoe is a mere obsession, then it would’ve ended by now.
Something has been gripping me by the gut since the day I met her and I’m not fighting anymore. Not even close.
This time, I’ll own it.
Zoe appears. My breathing deepens and my body leaps to life. It’s like I’ve been living on a borrowed air and this is the first time I can breathe for real.
She’s wearing jeans and a simple white baggy sweater. Those greyish blonde strands fall to her back. I can’t make out her expression, but there’s no denying that she’s still the same soft, albeit maddening woman that’s messing with my sanity.
I’m about to leap from the tree when a tall man appears beside her.