Page 66 of Graves

“Zayden, you’re looking for him. He’s in the room.”

“Oh cool. I wasn’t looking for him. I was just?—”

“It’s fine, baby. You don’t have to lie.”

Suddenly, a notification comes from his phone, and he curses under his breath before grabbing his wallet and keys.

“I have to get to the office. I’ll see you tonight,” he says as he leans down, capturing my lips with his own before pulling away and heading out the door.

Looking down at the plate in front of me, I pick at it a bit before I decide to push it away. My disappointment from this morning aside, I’m getting really sick of being here. I know Zayden said there is a man out there that could hurt me if I’m seen out and about, but so what? He’s either going to find out eventually and this will all have been for nothing, or I’m just going to stay locked up in this apartment for the rest of my days?

Absolutely the fuck not. I’ll lose my mind before that happens. I can already feel myself dwindling. The only thing that seems to help the days go by these days is cleaning, something I used to fucking detest. Guess that shows you how a person can change if they’re bored enough.

After I sweptand mopped the floors, dusted, and folded the laundry with my music practically rattling the walls, of course, I ended up taking a long hot bath that resulted in an even longer nap. Have I mentioned that I’m sick of beingon virtual house arrest by now? Because I am. So fucking sick. I want to work. I want to go to a coffee shop every morning. I want to have more purpose than just existing in a fucking bubble. Even if it is a really nice bubble.

I wake up blurry-eyed and check the time. It’s already seven o’clock, so I’ve essentially fucked myself out of a good night’s sleep tonight. Awesome.

When I make my way out into the living room, I see Zayden and Dominic sitting at the coffee table with a few takeout containers and a deck of cards. Zayden is puffing on a cigar, and the smell instantly turns my stomach.

They both turn to face me as Zayden smiles around the Cuban in his mouth.

“Hey, angel. Want to play some cards?”

“We’re playing poker,” Dominic supplements.

Those words instantly send my heart into palpitations. My pulse quickens, and any and all background noise fades away. All I hear is the thudding of my heartbeat and my quickened breathing. A cold sweat breaks out across my body from my head to my toes, and I do my best to swallow away the bowling ball that has formed in my throat.

I can practically feel the memories so feral coming to light they are eating me from the inside out. I can’t, though. They belong buried, they need to stay that way. No, no, no. Quickly, I take a stumbled step backward, before another and another.

“No…thanks. I’m going to bed.”

Dominic frowns at that, standing to come closer, but I hold up my hand to keep him back, not realizing how badly I’mshaking until I see my fingertips trembling. I tighten my hand into a fist, wincing at how incredibly weak I’m left from nothing more than a reminder of a memory.

Slowly, I take a deep measuring breath, opening my eyes to see identical looks of concern on their faces. I hear Dominic call out to me, or maybe it was Zayden. Either way, I ignore them and get back to my room, slamming the door behind me as I lean my back against the solid wood. I slide down to my ass, gripping my head on either side as I attempt to keep it together.

“It’s okay, Blake. It’s okay. You’re okay,” I wince as I squeeze my eyes shut, attempting to shut out the suffocating memories that seem determined on taking me down to the pits of hell tonight.

Chapter Thirty

DOMINIC

Zayden is already to his feet, trying to follow after her when I catch his shoulder, squeezing tightly to gain his attention. His eyes snap to mine, a look of pure concern, purer than I thought he’d be able to conjure. I shake my head in silent explanation, and he takes the cigar out of his mouth, inspecting it curiously before his eyes come to the card game.

I give him another look, and to my surprise, he agrees with me and sits down, allowing Blake time to handle whatevershe needs to.

“She’ll be okay,” I say more for my benefit than his.

“She needs to get out of this house, Dominic,” Zayden says as I set up the cards for a new game.

“I know,” I grit through clenched teeth. I don’t want her trapped like a bird in a cage any more than he does. But it’s not safe. Every step forward I take, we are met with a blow that takes us two steps back. We’ve been trying to figure out a way to get out from under Maxim’s thumb for years. I thought that we had done that, until Zayden went and threw us right under there yet again.

“What do we do, huh?” Zayden snaps. “You’re the idea man. You come up with the plans. Tell me a scenario where all three of us make it out alive. Where we all go along to be controllers of our own destiny.”

I’m quiet for a moment before I speak.

“Kill Maxim.”

Zayden scoffs at me, taking a large puff off his cigar before blowing it into my face.

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