Page 77 of Sweet Possession
Jealousy thrummed through my veins. If I didn’t know better, youwould’ve assumed the two of them were a couple. They certainly looked better together than what me and Fox did.
They were a power couple.
I was a nobody.
Tearing my gaze away before jealousy ate me alive, I headed to thebathroom, reminding myselfthatI trusted Fox. He’d never given me any reason to doubt his feelings for me. I wasjustbeing insecure because Dominique was so damn intimidating.
Once I’d used the toilet and talked some sense into myself to not beso insecure, I went to wash my hands, only to find a woman leaning against the counter, her arms crossed over her chest.
She watched me intently as I stepped up to the sink. I racked mybrains trying to remember if Fox had introduced me to her earlier. Sheseemedlike someone I would have remembered, with her long blonde hair falling almost to her waist, and the way her curvy figure was crammed into a skin-tight black dress, her ample cleavage almost spilling out.
But I was coming up blank. With the way she was glaring at methough, I could have been mistaken in thinking I’d somehow offended her.
“Hi,”I said awkwardly, turning on the tap and ignoring the way shewas casting her eyes up and down my dress, a sneer on her face.
“Cora, right?”
“Erm, yeah,”I replied, grabbing a paper towel to dry my hands. “Havewe met?
A knot formed in my stomach as the woman’s hateful stare burnedinto me. She unfolded her arms and took a step forward. My brain told me to step back, but my feet were rooted to the spot, frozen in fear.
“Personally, I can’t see why Fox is attracted to you,”she said, her softtones betraying the vitriol coming from her mouth.“Maybe he feltsorry for you, he always had a soft spot for strays, and you, well, I can practically smell the desperation oozing from you.”
A response lodged in my throat, the knot pulling impossibly tight andmaking it difficult to breathe. It was like this woman, whoever she was, had burrowed under my skin and knew every single one of my fears and insecurities.
She reached out, picking a strand of hair from where it rested on myshoulder, and rubbed it between her thumb and fingers. I wanted to knock her hand away and tell her not to touch me, but I was immobile, lost to the pain beginning to build deep within me.
“He’ll get bored of you, you know that, right?”she said, dropping my hair andstepping back. Her eyes, filled with disgust, raked up and down my body again.“He might like the innocent, little girl act for a while but he’ll get fed up with it. It won’t be long until he remembers what it’s like to be with a woman who knowsexactlyhow to please him.”
I gaped at her, her words like an arrow piercing my heart. From theday things developed between me and Fox, I’d done my best to ignore the little voice telling methatwe’d never last,thathe’d soon realize I was everything my dad had always accused me of being; weak, pathetic.
A burden no one wanted.
But now,thatvoice was blaring like a foghorn in my head, echoingeverything the woman hadjustsaid. Tears pricked the back of my eyes, becoming difficult to ignore.
“Why are you doing this?”I whispered as unimaginable pain torethrough me. This hurt more than learning my dad had sold me.
“Because you should know the type of man you’re involved with,Cora. Someone like you isn’t strong enough to deal with a man like Fox. He gets off on playing games, and only a certain type of woman can handle the games he plays. Women like Dominique.”
“Dominique?” I managed to choke out past the vice that was squeezing my throat painfully.
The woman smirked.“Oh, you didn’t know he fucked her? Oh,princess, youreallyare naive. Don’t tell me you didn’t see the way those two were eye fucking each other a few moments ago? Lord, I’m surprised they didn’t tear each other’s clothes off in the middle of the party and fuck right there.”
I clutched the counter to stop from falling on the floor as my kneesbegan to buckle. The first tear slid down my cheek, but the woman wasn’t done with her sledgehammer to my fragile heart.
“And of course, there’s Lily.Thatman can’t stay away from her. Youknow he was emailing her in the middle of the night while you two were in New York?”She paused, a wicked smile playing on her lips.“I hate to tell you this, princess, but Fox and Lily, they’re made for each other, and it’ll only be a matter of time before Fox realizesthatand crawls back to her.”
She stepped closer again, her floral perfume assaulting my nostrils.
“Do yourself a favor, Cora. Walk away from him now before it’s toolate because I warn you, nothing good will come of thisthingyou have with Fox. It’ll only end in heartache for you.”
Chapter 22
Cora
The couple who Savannah had introduced me to were talking aboutthe type of cake they wanted for their engagement party, but their words weren’t sinking in. The only thing I could focus on was the unbearable pain in my chest as my heart cracked a little more with each breath I took.
Every inch of me wanted to run far, far away from this party. Awayfrom the evil woman who was lurking in the crowd, throwing daggers at me.
