Page 114 of Glass Jawed
Lucian Vale.
Standing at the edge of the parking lot like some rejected historical tragedy, his shoulders tense, his chest heaving, his eyes—oh god, those eyes—devouring me like he hasn’t seen air in weeks and I’m the only thing keeping him upright.
His devastation hits me first. Then his presence. As real and solid as it used to be.
He looks like he hasn’t slept. Or eaten. Or... blinked. Like showing up here has gutted him, and he’s still trying to stand inside the ruins.
I freeze.
“What the fuck is happening,” I whisper.
How did he know where I was?
Advik glances toward him. “Who’s that?”
But I can’t answer.
Because my past has just crash-landed in my present. When I’ve onlyjustgained the ability to walk away.
And now, the fucker has theaudacityto look at me like I’m the thing worth crossing oceans for.
Before I know it, I’ve dislodged myself from Advik’s grip. And I’m sprinting toward the asshole.
TWENTY-NINE
Lucian
When you’ve flown fifteen straight hours, haven’t slept in nearly sixty because your e-visa took its sweet time after your flight was already booked, and then traced her parents’ address through your Amazon account—because she once used it—
And thensomehowmanaged to not get arrested after showing up at her family’s front door, where her mother looked absolutely terrified (because there aren’t many white men running about in the streets of Delhi) until, thankfully, recognition flickered.
She remembered me. From the video calls. From when she’d made Aarohi put me on speaker while she scolded us both about not making our own chapatis and eating store bought naans.
I didn’t expect her to tell me where Aarohi was. But she did—after some convincing.
“But I thought she said you aren’tfriendsanymore,” she’d looked me up and down with a frown on her face. Apparently “friends” was euphemism for being in a romantic relationship.
I’d cleared my throat. “Yes, ma’am. We’re not. But I... wanted to talk to her.”
I didn’t expect her to look sad but she finally said, “She’s out with her cousin. In Connaught Place.”
She’d willingly given me the name of the bar she was at. I didn’t expect any of this.
But most of all—I didn’t expect to find the love of my life in the arms of another man.
His hand on her waist. Another in her luscious hair.
His tongue halfway down her throat.
And I’m just... standing there. Paralyzed. Not blinking. Because every cell in my body has been hijacked by one thought:
Don’t go over there. Don’t scream. Don’t react. This is what you deserve. Stay hidden as you planned and meet her properly tomorrow.
But I don’t get a chance to run. Because now she sees me.
And whatever was burning through my veins—jealousy, heartbreak,whatever the fuck—I feel it all shrivel under the weight of her furious gaze.
It’s cold enough to split me in half.
