And it’s all accomplished by him.
This time, I’m sure it’s him.
I can see the wide expanse of his back, his muscles all standing taut and twitching under his t-shirt. I can even see the elbow of his lifted arm with which he’s pinning Brad to the tree.
And choking him.
My ex-boyfriend’s ex-best friend.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
Brad is going to die.
He’s so totally going to die because Reign is killing him.
Reign is fucking killing him.
Holy shit.
“What the fuck do you think you were doing?” he growls in Brad’s face. “Whythe fuckwere your hands on her?
“Reign!” I cry out, breaking into motion and running toward them. “Let him go.”
It only makes him tighten his hold on Brad, who’s flailing. “You know you’re gonna die now, don’t you? You know I’m gonna kill you. For touching her. For fuckingtouchingwhat’s mi —”
“Reign, no.” I grab his t-shirt, trying to pull him away. “Let him go.”
He thumps Brad’s head on the tree, making him whimper and moan. “You got any last words, motherfucker? Something to say before I make you choke on your own fucking tongue.”
Brad struggles harder at this, his eyes bugging out of his skull, his mouth making choking noises.
So I increase my efforts.
I pull and tug on Reign’s t-shirt, his arm, as I plead, “Please, Reign. Let him go. You’re killing him.”
Not the right thing to say because that only amps up Reign’s strength and he growls in Brad’s face, baring his teeth, as if asserting his own dominance over Brad.
“Reign, just take me home, okay?” I try, still trying to snap him out of this rage. “Just please take me home. I don’t like this. I don’t want to be here. Please.”
And finally, this works.
He loosens his hold on Brad and turns to look at me.
And I notice that his eyes are bloodshot.
His eyes are violent and stormy.
I have a feeling this is what a predator looks like, a lion or a wolf, a panther, before it rips apart its prey. But instead of moving away from him and his dangerous aura, I inch closer. I lick my dried-out lips and whisper, “Just let him go.”
Those bloody eyes of his dip to my mouth for a second.
Before he clenches his bruised jaw and lets Brad go.
While Brad is coughing and wheezing, Reign still stares at me and I stare back.
At the taut lines of his face. Those pulsating, almost glowing bruises.
At his shuddering, wildly breathing big body.