***
Later in the evening, the group of us stood close to the stage at a small concert venue. I held Nadia close, a beer in one hand, the other draped across her collarbones.
She swayed from left to right, tugging from the bottle, singing along. I finally got the chance to hear her sing a few days after Christmas. She was unpacking her clothes in the bedroom, listening to her playlist whenWavesby Dean Lewis came on. I was in the en-suite shaving when she opened her mouth and started singing as if she were alone. Her voice wasn’t powerful, but she sang on key, and there was something about the way she hit the lower notes that made my hair stand on end.
Amelia, Jane and Sarah stood further down, closer to the stage, and the guys stood next to us, paying little attention to the concert.
“I need to pee,” Nadia said in my ear. “I’ll be right back.”
“Toilets are at the back,” I pointed her in the right direction.
Scorpio stopped beside me when Nadia disappeared in the crowd. “How’s paradise?” he asked. “You two are so bloody cute together I might vomit.”
I smirked, shaking my head. “Cute?That’swhat you’re going for? I’ll give you one chance to take it back.”
“Not me, mate. Jane must’ve said it like ten times tonight. Seriously, stop this shit right now. You’re making my girl jealous, and I’m not going back to holding hands every living moment of the day.”
The band went on to playInevitable—Nadia’s favourite. We spent the last week listening to their debut album, and it was a shame that Nick and I hadn’t found them before our rivals signed them.Lemonwould’ve had more success at C&G.
A few telephone calls revealed they were bound by a three-year contract, and unless they could pay their way out of it, there was no way we could sign them. Still, the excitement in Nadia’s eyes when I gave her the tickets was worth letting the rival label cash in on us.
I looked toward the bar and caught a glimpse of Nadia’s silhouette in-between other people, walking backward as if moving away from a vicious dog, her eyes darting left and right.
It wasn’t until she disappeared behind a group of teens, that someone else came into my line of sight: a figure I knew all too well, a person I loathed with passion. Someone I fantasised about killing fifty different ways for months. I knew he was coming, but I hadn’t anticipated that he would find us here.
Seeing Adrian so close to the most valuable thing in my life turned my stomach, stopped my heart and froze the blood in my veins.
The room slowed down. Music faded away. The bottle of Corona slipped out of my hand, taking an extraordinary long time to hit the ground. Static was all I heard. People disappeared, yet I felt as if someone gripped my throat and my heart and squeezed them tight.
There was no time for questions. No time to wonder how he found us. It didn’t matter. He was less than six feet away from my girl.
The bottle shattered on the wooden floor, bringing me back to reality. The sounds came back, as if someone abruptly turned up the volume. I balled my fists. There were no longer any inhibitions left in me. Revenge fuelled the fire that raged inside my very being.
The urge to send the son-of-a-bitch to a hospital was crushing. Primal, intense, boisterous.
My head filled with images of Adrian in a wheelchair, unable to move his hands and unable to hurt Nadia ever again. Things I wanted to do to him were even scaring me, but I was ready to serve him justice.
I was ready to play God.
Scorpio still stood beside me, happily unaware of the chaos ruling my mind. I gripped his arm, and he looked up, his eyebrow raised in question. We had been friends for years, and it only took him a split second to assess my mood. Surprise gave way to determination. He was focused and waiting for whatever was to come out of my mouth.
“Grab Nadia. Adrian’s here.”
His eyes grew wider, but he didn’t dare ask questions. The look on my face must have told him more than I wanted to show. He slammed his beer to Ethan’s chest, scanning the crowd.
Like an uncoiled spring, I lunged forward. I pushed through the crowd, knocking people out of my way. Scorpio caught up to me seconds later and veered off to the right. I breathed a sigh of relief when he wrapped Nadia in a tight embrace. He pulled her back, away from Adrian and away from whatever was to come.
Adrian stopped. Recognition crossed his face and he turned my way. I jumped forward, grabbed him by the fraternity hoodie, and steered out the first punch. People gasped around us, stepping away to make room.
“Outside,” I seethed, getting in Adrian’s face. “Now.”
He pressed his hand to the sore spot on his jaw. His black eyes lacked surprise when he bobbed his head, turning around. I watched his step, my senses agile, my mind focused on causing as much pain to the guy in front of me as I could physically manage.
And I could derail a fucking train right about now.
The ten seconds it took us to reach the emergency exit was the longest in my life. It took all I had not to batter him then and there. Letting a few hundred people watch wasn’t a good idea.
“So, you’re Thomas,” Adrian said the moment we burst through the metal doors. “Nadia told…”