Page 146 of The Contract

I’m breathing hard, my blood still boiling.

“But you are,” I grit out, the words barely controlled. “You’re fucking worth it, and he can’t?—”

“He can.”

She rubs my jaw with her thumbs. Her hands slide down my neck, gripping my shoulders, making me feel her touch before they rest on my chest again.

“Damien. Don’t play his game. He’s goading you. If you snap, he wins.”

I close my eyes, exhaling a slow, uneven breath. I don’t want to back down.

Every instinct in me is screaming to finish what Adrian just started.

To wipe that smug fucking look off his face.

But Elena’s right.

Adrian walks away victorious, chuckling under his breath.

I don’t watch him go.

I don’t give him the satisfaction of my attention.

Instead, I keep my focus on Elena.

On the way her hands still rest against my chest, the way she’s holding me together without even realizing it.

She doesn’t look back at Adrian or acknowledge him at all.

She just looks at me.

And somehow, that’s enough to settle the storm inside me.

I blow out another breath, muscles still tight beneath her hands, and drop my forehead against hers.

My grip tightens at her waist, keeping her close, needing her there.

“Come on,” she whispers, her voice softer now. “Let’s go home, okay?”

I don’t answer right away.

I can’t.

I’m still too wound up, my mind already moving a mile a minute, plotting exactly how I’ll make Adrian regret this.

She tilts her head, watching me carefully. “Hey, Wolfie.”

The nickname pulls my eyes to hers.

A small smile tugs at her lips, but the worry is still there, flickering behind her gaze.

“Take me home?”

It takes me a second longer than it should, but eventually, I nod.

She exhales, relaxing against me.

But even as I turn, leading her toward the exit, one thing is certain.

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