Page 30 of The Enemy

“Tate.” Neo’s voice was low…cautious.

Upon hearing Neo call him, Tate lost the grip he had on my mouth.

“Get off me!” I wheezed.

As soon as my words were out, Tatum’s presence disappeared. With my hands clutched to my chest, I turned and watched as he staggered against the wall.

“What the fuck is going on?” Neo’s voice was cold.

I glanced up at him, and if I thought I had riled him up to the point of losing control before, I was wrong. The Neo before me was terrifying and beautiful. Fury emitted from his every pore. His jaw was clenched, there was a vein throbbing in his forehead, and one of his hands was clenched at his side while the other pointed a finger at Tatum.

Tatum straightened up, ran a hand through his hair, and laughed the whole thing off.

“Relax, man, we were just playing around.”

“Lou,” Neo called out my name softer than ever. I couldn’t help but look up at him and noticed his eyes had softened while looking at me.

I took a step closer to him. Despite our differences, all our verbal sparring, and how much we cut each other with our words, I knew he would never physically hurt me.

Neo extended his arm toward me, and I didn’t let myself think twice as I rushed to him. As soon as I was near him, he pulled me into his chest.

With his arm around me and his body heat enveloping me, I felt myself relax even further. Now that my body and mind weren’t on overdrive did I take note of the moisture in my eyes, and the way my body was shaking.

“Lou,” Neo called out for me once more.

I furrowed my head into his chest, and I spoke softly. However, I knew he heard me when his body became still.

“It didn’t feel like playing around when he put his hand between my legs and molested me.”

EIGHT

NEO

Twenty-seven years old

Violence was never the answer.Killing someone felt like a cop-out when you could make their lives miserable in other ways. Money was power, and with money, you could ruin someone to the point they would kill themselves, making it all that much sweeter.

Obviously, I was wrong.

Tatum laughed.

“Come on, Neo, she’s lying. Besides, you don’t even like her.”

Lou seemed to hold her breath at his last words.

Before things could go any further, Wes barged into the terrace.

“Oh, you found her,” he said, sounding relieved. Behind him was Lou’s Asian friend, with whom she always seemed to hang out.

“Wes, take Lou and her friend home.”

Wesley didn’t ask questions. He gently took Lou by her arm and guided her away from the scene.

My anger returned as I watched her walk away with him—she should have been walking away withme.

Once they were out of view did I stepped toward Tatum.

His pupils were dilated. He was clearly on something, but that wasn’t any excuse for what he had just done. Taking another step, I fixed my sleeve, just so it would give me something to do, before I shoved the bastard’s face against the brick wall behind him.

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