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Immediately, the other four pulled me off him and held me back. Jack, the fucker with a death wish, laughed uproariously as blood streamed down his cheek from a cut my ring had made. “Feel better now?” he asked.
“No,” I roared. The asshole was clearly baiting me and deserved what he got.
“So you don’t want Hazel, but you also don’t want her to be with anyone else?” Jack smirked.
“Fuck. No. Yes.” Damn it. I’d tried to stay away from her, but it was too late. My vision started to clear, even as my chest heaved from how worked up I’d been. Something deep inside me had cracked wide open. I couldn’t ignore my desire to be with Hazel any longer or that my feelings for her had grown into something I didn’t recognize.
Son of a fucking bitch.
I stopped struggling in their grasp.
“Let him go,” Archer suggested to the guys. Slowly their hands released me, making sure I wouldn’t make a move for Jack once I was free.
I rolled my shoulders and held up my hand to let them know I was good. “Sorry,” I grunted at Jack. I really wasn’t all that sorry. He baited me, knowing what my reaction was going to be so really wasn’t it his own fault?
“It’s fine. I’ll get you back one day. Forgot you had that fucking ring on though.” He wiped at his cheek and winced. Blood now smeared up his cheekbone.
I looked down at the medium square obsidian stone set in a thick gold band with a tiny diamond in the upper right hand corner. It was a replica of the one my father wore. I’d had it custom created based on old photos when I couldn’t find the original after his death.
I handed Jack napkins from the side table.
He waved me away. “I’m good. I get hit far worse on the ice.”
I needed to see Hazel. “I?—”
“Gotta go. Yeah we figured,” Trey said and laughed. “Don’t let us stop you. Just know that we are going to take full advantage of the free drinks and food tonight.”
“I’d expect nothing less,” I responded as I hurried from the room. Tonight I’d stop Hazel from agreeing to that date and we’d figure the rest out later.
CHAPTER 11
Jareth
Istrode to the penthouse door, ready to barge inside. My hand tightened on the knob and froze. The last thing I wanted to do was scare Hazel. Instead, I punched in the security code and opened the door like a normal human being. Not the psychopath that beat within my chest demanding I claim my sweet assistant. I needed to calm the rage that settled under the surface of my skin.
Silence greeted me.
What the hell?
Thirty minutes ago, at least four people were within these walls. I stalked through the living room. Wine glasses were haphazardly placed on the coffee table along with a stack of books. The cover looked similar to the one Hazel had read each night before bed. The lights were on, and the throws were splayed across the couches as though they had gotten up in the middle of a conversation and left.
Stirrings of unease rippled through me at seeing the room like this, knowing how Hazel and I often tidied up before bed. She’d informed me my maid didn’t need to always clean up after me. I held back from reminding her that I paid her very well to do just that.
I swiftly moved into the kitchen. The lights were on in here too. At least four empty wine bottles lined up on the island, and a variety of snacks still sitting out. Perhaps the multiple glasses of wine helped to loosen Hazel’s inhibitions. Particularly the one where she accepted to be set up with someone that was not me.
Anger flared to life again, coursing through my veins. It was irrational. I didn’t react with such strong emotions. Ever. What was Hazel doing to me?
My body tensed with each empty room. Even though I knew by the oppressive quiet of the house Hazel wasn’t there, I couldn’t stop the need to check every single room. With each step I took, my obsessive thoughts grew more wild than the last.
Where was she?
Had she agreed to go on the date tonight? Was she so tired of waiting for me to make a move that she jumped at the chance of someone else? Would she move out now that she was through with me? My stomach clenched into a sickening knot of envy. I did not like feeling this way.
My orderly, emotionless life was far easier to handle. It helped that I could leave behind such useless emotions once I’d amassed my power and my fortune. Now, people envied me and what I had, not the other way around.
Tonight, though, against my wishes, the poisonous ball of envy grew in my gut until it couldn’t be contained any longer. It spread across my trunk and out to my limbs. My body trembled with the strength it took to keep it from exploding.
I shoved the door to my office so hard it slammed into the wall behind it. Plaster cracked, and when the door didn’t swing back at me, I knew it was stuck. Not a single part of me cared. In fact, the destruction eased some of the jealousy pulsing through my veins.
