Page 114 of Broken Butterfly
Fallon shouts my name from below the window, cursing up a storm when I don’t answer. I’m too busy staring Jayson down.
“I don’t know what’s going on and I don’t care how drunk you are right now, but if you ever touch me like that again, I will break every finger in your hand,” I snarl.
“You’ve already broken my heart!” he yells, pounding his injured fist on his chest.
I try not to allow the rage I feel right now overshadow my need to stay calm and figure out what’s going on and what’s causing Jayson to lash out like this.
“I know I broke your heart. I never meant to hurt you, Jayson. Please talk to me.”
“You said yes! It’s supposed to be me!” he howls. “You were mine! I loved you! My whole life, I have loved you! And you said yes tohim!” he screams, getting in my face and yanking my hand up to show me my engagement ring.
Jayson must have seen Ryder propose tonight. When was he there?
The bedroom door starts shaking as Fallon pounds on it. “Elizabeth, unlock this goddamn door right now!”
“Fallon, I’m okay,” I tell him when Jayson starts pacing in front of the bedroom door, stumbling a bit, his eyes never leaving me. I watch him warily, readying myself in case he tries to grab for me again. The man in front of me is not my Jayson. He’s not the boy I grew up with. The boy I fell in love with.
“You loved me,” he growls.
“I did love you.”
“Your memories came back, and you were supposed to come back to me. You did come back to me. Then you left. You left me again. For Ryder. For Fallon.”
“I left for myself,” I counter. “I needed to heal. I needed to make a choice.”
“Choice! Let’s talk about fucking choices. You choseme, Liz! I am the one who climbed through your window that night. I was the first man to kiss you, to make love to you. You told me you loved me first. Me! Not Ryder! You took my promise ring. We talked about getting married and starting a family. My wife! My kids! Not Ryder’s!” he chokes out, then madly swipes at the tears clinging to his face. Turning around, he punches the wall leaving a fist-sized hole behind.Holy shit.
Shouts from outside filter up through the broken window.
“She won’t answer her phone!” Ryder shouts, clearly panicked.
I hear Fallon yell something and then the sound of feet pounding up the stairs.
As calmly as I can, I say, “Jayson, I’m sorry. I truly am. You’re right about most of what you said. I did love you. I did have all my firsts with you, and I would never change any of it. I don’t know what would have happened to us even ifthat nightnever happened, even if I never had amnesia. Jayson, things were already changing for me after our fight. I went to see Ryder after you kicked me out of your house. I made a decision that night. A choice. I chose him, Jayson. Just like I choose him now. And I’m not going to apologize for it anymore. Yes, I loved you. How could I not? You had been my everything since I was six years old. But you knew I loved Ryder too. You manipulated me that night when you came through my bedroom window. You knew Ryder was going to tell me that he loved me.”
“I hate you,” he spits, stopping his pacing in front of me, his eyes like swirling liquid mercury.
“No, you don’t. You’re hurt and you’re angry.”
“I would have given you everything. Everything. And you threw it away. You threw me away for him!”
Jayson’s hand flies out and grabs me by the throat, pushing my back against the wall he just punched. Fallon did something similar at the resort in Iceland when he was trying to convince me of his darkness. I saw right through Fallon, just like I see through Jayson now. He’s drunk and he’s hurting and lashing out.
“I will always love you, Jayson. But my heart, my life, and my choice all belong to Ryder.”
I told him I would break his hand if he touched me in anger again. I wrap my fingers around the wrist of the hand that’s holding my throat and twist.
Jayson regrips and slams a bruising kiss on my mouth. “You chose wrong, princess. And I hate you for it. I hate you for choosing him.”
A crash sounds behind me as the bedroom door flies open and Jayson is ripped away from me.
“Don’t you fucking touch her again!” Julien tosses Jayson across the room and faces down his twin brother. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Did you know that she’s marrying Ryder? They got engaged tonight?”
Julien flinches slightly at his brother’s accusing glare. “I didn’t know, but you and I both knew it was coming.”
Ryder and Fallon rush over to stand in front of me, forming a wall to prevent Jayson from grabbing me again.
