Page 85 of Oblivion
Rip dragged his hands over her sides, her eyes begging me to do something, but I couldn’t. God, I hated myself right now.
Sorrow reflected back at me, suffocating me, and I buried my face in Nova’s neck, unable to look at her anymore. I always blamed her and the things she did, but I was the one killing us now. I wasn’t a fool. I knew that she would have run away by now. She could’ve been far away from me, but she stayed as if she wanted to prove to me that no matter what, she still wanted this.
How could I tell her that my heart bled for her, my soul screamed for hers, and my demons cried knowing that they would never get to dance with hers ever again? I was a bastard, a sick fuck that couldn’t let her go, and even her hatred was better than never seeing her again.
Nova took my hands in hers, pressing them against her stomach, and as if on a cue, my head shot up, my eyes landing on Ophelia. The misery she felt was evident on every part of her body, and as my lips moved over Nova’s shoulder, Ophelia’s hand shot up, landing right above her heart, as if she was keeping her insides from spilling out.
And I felt the same.
Something cracked inside of me from seeing her like this, from hurting her like this, and maybe a month ago I would’ve been happy doing all of this and breaking her apart, but now… Now I fucking regretted every single choice I’d made.
She lowered her head, nodding, understanding washing over her. My chest seized, my skin too tight for me to bear, and I knew I broke the last piece of her heart that she may have kept for me. When her eyes landed back on me, emotions weren’t there anymore.
A void stared at me, swallowing me whole. My heart thundered as Nova pushed my hands down her bare thighs, but I didn’t say a single word while my heart cracked open, losing the woman I loved.
I could feel eyes on me—Atlas, Indigo, Zoe even Creed—and all of them looked at me with disgust, with anger for what I just did, but I fucking did it for them. I did it for all of them.
I broke Ophelia and me so that they could be safe.
Music picked up, the sensual beat irritating my skin, and without a preamble, Ophelia detached herself from Rip and walked toward the pole. Her hand caressed the metal surface before she spun around in the beat of the music, her body twisting and turning as the female voice sang about being haunted.
I was going to be haunted for the rest of my life, and I just hoped that she would be able to forgive me once everything was said and done.
Rip went down on his knees, worshipping her, beckoning her to him, and not once did she look at me. Everybody looked at her, but she was lost to the music, ignoring her surroundings, ignoring me.
This was what I wanted, this needed to happen… Then why did it feel as if my soul was breaking apart? Why couldn’t I breathe?
“You’re a stupid, stupid man,” came from my right and I turned to see Indigo sitting there, unaware when he had approached. “A fucking idiot, Storm.”
“Fuck off, Indigo,” I growled and leaned back, closing my eyes, trying to erase the picture of her from my mind, but it impossible. “I know what I’m doing.”
“Yeah, right.” He scoffed. “What are you doing, Storm?” he asked, his eyes on me.
“What I had to do, to protect my family.”
I opened my eyes just as Ophelia went down on the floor and started crawling toward Rip, her perky ass right in the air. She arched her back and bent backward over her knees, her eyes closed, and all I wanted was for her to look at me.
Maybe she would understand if she looked at me. Maybe I could tell her everything she needed to know if only she looked at me.
But she never did.
The song slowly bled into the other, and before I could react, she was up on her feet, pulling Rip with her.
“Fuck,” Indigo cursed as they started walking toward the hallway, hand in hand, as if none of us existed. “Storm.” The warning in his voice was clear, but fuck this shit.
I couldn’t let her sleep with him. I couldn’t let her get away with him.
I pushed Nova off my lap, and almost ran after them, avoiding every single member in my way. The two of them were already close to the stairs; his arm was wrapped around her shoulders, his lips pressed to her hair, and I wanted to tear him apart.
Limb by limb, I was going to destroy him and then I would show her who she belonged to.
But as if she heard me, she stopped right before they started going upstairs, and Rip looked back at me, a satisfied smirk dancing on his face.
“Sunshine—”
“No,” she said, her voice void of emotions, of anything that made her who she was, who I loved.
“You can’t—”
