Chapter 9


    -MILLI


    I stood on the wooden tform, overlooking the calm water of Malyons Lake, listening to the wind sweep


    over the trees epassing theke.


    I stood here all afternoon trying to clear my head. It’s not like me to give in to the pressure around me,


    but I’m human, too. My head was clustered with all the punches I’d taken left to right, and this mess with


    Damian only added to the chaos, tipping me on the edge of breaking down.


    The wind had gone cold. I thrust my hands into my borrowed hoodie’s pocket and heaved a breath.


    Beforeing here, I went home for a proper change of clothing, but I kept Candice’s hoodie. It


    strangely gave mefort. If she were here, she’d tell me how I f u cked up, probablyugh in my face.


    At least I am not alone.


    I sighed. “What the f uck am I gonna do now?”


    “You’re a hard woman to find.” I stiffened.


    Hunter’s steps were hushed. 1 didn’t hear him approaching until he was only a hand stretched away from


    me. A different kind of chill swirled down my spine as he stood beside me. He sported a gray tee: the


    hem tucked into the waist of his dark jeans, his badge and gun hanging on his belt.


    “Apparently not hard enough. I grimaced. Talking to him was thest thing I needed.


    “You haven’t been answering your phone”


    “I didn’t get a memo we were still in talking terms,” sarcasm dripped like honey from my mouth.


    Hunter faced me, annoyance zed in his eyes. He hates it when I talked back. He openly red at me.


    further, I paid him no mind and kept my eyes pinned on the treeline across theke..


    “I don’t f ucking appreciate your tone, Millicent,” he growled through gritted teeth.


    To annoy him


    I faced him, pained and hatred zing my eyes. Seeing him here, hearing him speak as if he still had the


    right tomand me, mmed a sledgehammer on the walls I created around my heart.


    I’ve had enough. How can Natalie and Hunter act as if they didn’t pull my heart out of my chest with their


    b still had the nerve to talk to me? “And I don’t appreciate youing here, talking to me like you didn’t f


    uck Hunter.


    His eyes sl anted, nose ring. “If you only listened to me and didn’t run away like a petnt child, we


    wouldn this conversation.”


    I huffed, hands clenching inside my hoodie’s pocket. “If you didn’t f uck Natalie, we wouldn’t be in this


    situation.


    He strode forward,manding power and dominance in each step. Eyes blown wide with fear, I sta


    ggered back w reached up to touch my face. Hunter’s hand froze mid-air, his gaze softening.


    I thought he was gonna p me. Memories of how he’dnded those hands on me inside the bedroom


    flooded my he Hunter had a different kind of need inside the bedroom, and there were times when I


    couldn’t physically give him wha


    needed


    He clenched his hands, dropping them to his side.


    “1. I’m sorry” Remorse shone in his eyes. “How many times do I have to apologize, Milliceru? I was


    lonely, and Natalie was avable and willing. She was willing to do what you couldn’t do for me, but


    you’re the one I love. I still want to marry you.”


    My eyes thinned, lips curling into a grimace. The nerve of this man?


    “Love?” A humorless chuckle fell from my lips. “If you love me, you wouldn’t even think of touching


    another woman, Hunter. And what was that about the ring? You two are already engaged not even a


    week after I found you two f ucking. What has gotten into you? Have you ever considered what I would


    feel”


    He looked genuinely confused, but then something dangerous crossed his face when a memory


    surfaced in his head. “What has gotten into me? You’re one to speak. You were all over that billionaire


    bratst night. One second, you were crying about how I cheated on you, the next, you spread your legs


    to another man-”


    My palm struck his cheek. It happened so fast I gasped at my actions. The p echoed through theke,


    stopping whatever insult he was gonna spew


    Hunter growled. He moved so quickly it barely even registered how he grabbed my throat in a choke


    hold, cutting air from entering my body. “You f ucking b itch”


    Gripping his wrist. I wrenched his hand from choking me. Tears sprang from my eyes. My head spun with


    images of Hunter hovering above me. pinning me down with his weight as he cut my air supply.


    “Hu… Hunter… “I choked, staring right at the face of the monster I considered my end game. Molten


    anger lit up his blue eyes. There was not a trace of the man I love, but a sinister and menacing beast


    ready to burn me to the ground.


    Laughter and light footstepsing our direction made Hunter release me, tossing me aside like a rag


    doll. I limped against the wooden railings, gasping for air. A group of three women on their afternoon run


    sped past the tform, disappearing through the walking path


    Hunter raked his inked fingers through his hair, eyes wide as saucers. “I I’m sorry.”


    “Leave me alone, Hunter. My tone was final.


    “Millicent-


    “Leave me alone!” my voice rose. A man jogging through the footpath threw a worried nce our way.


    Hunter’s lips pursed. “This isn’t over. You’re mine. No one can have you but me.”


    His parting words left a foul taste in the air, and fear settled on my belly.


    All I wanted was to get some rest and let the world move on its own ord for a few more hours. My


    conversation with Hunter drained my strength to next week.


    I debated trudging back to theke when I saw Damian’s truck parked in front of my parent’s ce. He


    leaned on one of the four pirs of our porch, arms crossed over his chest. The distance between the


    street corner and our house was far for me to make out his expression, but I knew this couldn’t be good.


    Damian mimicked a hound waiting for its enemy


    “Where were you?” Damian pushed off the pir; his face was passive, voice as cold as ice.


    I walked up the stone path, climbed the porch, and pulled out my keys. My hands were shaky as I slotted


    it into the keyhole “I was at theke.”


    “All day?” The hitch in his voice told me he’d been waiting for quite a while.


    Ifaced him, biting my lip as 1 yed with the keys. I couldn’t look at him without my cheeks turning beet


    red. He looked so good in a shirt and jeans, the fabric threatening to rip on the seams from hugging his


    huge build


    Sighing, I stood with my spine ramrod straight. “I needed time to process everything. That’s why I haven’t


    deleted the photo,” I rambled, assuming that was the reason he was here. We’ve known each other as


    long as I’ve known Candice, and he never went out of his way to speak to me.


    When he didn’t offer any response. I pulled out my phone and turned it on. As my Instagram ount


    unfurled on the screen. I grimaced at the number of unopened notifications and messages


    111


    M.


    “I’m really sorry, Damian,” I said solemnly. “I’ll delete it now and post a public apology.


    He tilted his head to the side. “You’ll do that?”


    I raked my fingers through my hair, blowing out a breath. “There’s no other way to straighten things out


    than toe clean. I’ll probably lose what’s left of my endorsements, but this has to be done.”


    My fingers hovered on the delete option, preparing myself for the disaster I was about to face when


    Damian spoke. “Don’t.”


    My gaze snapped at him. “Huh?”


    He shook his head. “Don’t delete it.


    Tongue-tied, I gaped at him, searching his face. For what? I don’t know. He caught on to my confusion.


    “I’m here to collect. my favor.”


    A favor for a favor, his voice rang in my ears. I’m gonna collect


    Snippets ofst night’s even shed in my head. Our kiss, Damian bracketing my jaw as he savored my


    lips like I was thest tiramisu on a buffet. Tingles covered my entire body. I’ve put the same amount of


    thought into solving my problem and remembering what happenedst night. Not remembering how I


    climbed him like a tree was rming and reassuring.


    When I couldn’t remember anything, I ended up leaning onto the saying that what I didn’t know won’t hurt


    me.


    “You remember,” he murmured mostly to himself.


    If my heart was thrashing before, I swear it’s about to karate chop my breast bone and jump into


    Darmian’s feet.


    “What kind of favor will he ask? Will he ask me to have S** with him? That’s highly unlikely. Because if he


    did, he would’ve asked that this morning, right? What if he changed his mind? What if we already did that


    Ugh. I need my memories back!


    “Vaguely,” I murmured, ying it cool. I shifted my weight from foot to foot, looking at the familiar street I


    grew up in. My stomach growling ended the pregnant pause swelling between us.


    Damian’s brows twitched, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips..


    My cheeks were on fire. I could spontaneouslybust on the spot.


    “I haven’t eaten, I admitted, lowering my gaze to the tips of my sneakers.


    “Let’s grab some food,” Damian offered.


    If we were in a different situation, I would give anything to dine with Damian. Dating him had been one of


    the deepest secrets written in my teenage diary. Sadly, this wasn’t one of the scenarios I pictured.


    “Actually, I’d like to stay in,” I said, sidestepping to invite him. “Il order… uhm, would you like toe in?


    So we can talk…


    He didn’t hesitate. His steps were calcted, epting my offer, Fresh cut woods, mint, and waterfall


    scents smacked my senses as he entered my home. My parents’ ce was not small by any means. It


    Têxt ? N?velDrama.Org.


    was a three-story house with five bedrooms, three bathrooms, living, dining, a kitchen, and a min library.


    But Damian’s presence took in most of the space; it made me ustrophobic.


    I closed the door, locking it. Mom and Dad had taken residence at rke Bay and keeping the door


    locked was an instinct, not that I wanted to keep Damian here.


    Ugh. What the hell was going on with me?


    Crossing the living room, I went to the kitchen and grabbed a ss of water from the fridge. I sighed in


    relief as it dampened my throat.


    O


    M


    “You were on theke all day?” Damian asked, his hands stretchell wide on the kitchen ind, gripping


    the edge.


    I ignored shes of what Hunter did to me this afternoon, leaning on the counter behind me, nodding. “I


    had to figure out. what to do. My phone was off.”


    My stomach growled again, Damian allowed a chuckle to slip past his lips this time. He pulled out his


    phone, scrolling. “You like Italian, right?”


    How did he know that? I loved everything Italian. I think I was Italian in my past life “Yeah. But let me


    order.”


    “Not a chance.” He gave no room for arguments, lifting the device to his ears, barking food orders


    enough to feed a family of


    twelve


    Twenty minutester, Damian and I sat across from each other on the ind. It’s like picking up where


    we left off this morning. While waiting for food, I took a quick shower. This favor he was about to ask me


    left a sinking feeling in my gut.


    We ate silently. To be precise, Damian watched me gobble up the spaghetti bolognese and mnese


    chicken. After drinking a tall ss of water, I determinedly met Damian’s gaze. “Okay. Tim stuffed. What


    is your favor?”


    Deep in his thoughts, Damina sipped his wine. His mind gears shifting overtime, I could tell.


    He’s hesitating.


    That’s not good..


    My pulse gained speed with each second that passed by. As though he had finally made up his mind, he


    met my gaze with such intensity that made my chest cave. I need you to continue pretending to be my


    girlfriend”


    B