Page 60 of Forbidden Forget-Me-Not

Kaylani had always been impossible to miss. She was the brightest light in any room. There was a natural radiance that drew people in, made them want to stand closer, and bask in her warmth.

My eyes raked over her in the short pink dress and high heels. Her hair fell loose down her back as if she wanted someone to grab it. She laughed a little too loudly and drank without a care for what happened next.

But there, glittering around her neck, was her necklace. Her wedding ring.

My heart hammered in my chest as I stood frozen in the shadows.

She glanced toward me as if she sensed my presence. Our eyes locked only for a moment, but I saw it. She was slowly unraveling from the pressure. I felt the cage too. And there, laid bare in her eyes, was the tension under her smile. The sharp edge beneath the glitter. The fear masked by laughter. And the longing that neither of us could escape.

This wasn’t indulgence. It was relief. Like a kettle needing to let off steam.

I cocked my brow at her, and she looked away before climbing onto the low coffee table. She stood and started dancing while Fiona and the other girls cheered.

The music swelled, and she moved with it, hips rolling, arms lifted. One of the male servers hovered nearby, grinning as he looked her over like she was dessert. He obviously didn’t know who she was, or he would have run in the opposite direction. He offered the group another round of drinks.

She smiled and took one. He didn’t look away. He lingered as he flirted, eyes focused on her chest as he traced a finger along her arm.

My jaw locked.

This wasn’t about jealousy. Jealousy was simple. Manageable. This was possession.

Kaylani had claimed me, and the steel wall that I’d kept in place for years melted under her touch. Now she was mine. Right or wrong no longer mattered.

The server helped her down from the table and laughed when one of her friends tugged him onto the couch beside them. Kaylani leaned in and whispered something in his ear. He flushed.

I stopped breathing.

She wasn’t trying to seduce him. When she looked at me again, I knew. The challenge in her eyes was deliberate. She was goading me. Daring me to stop her.

Every instinct in my body screamed to drag her away as I forced myself to stay still.

She stood, and the moment she stepped away from her friends, I went after her. Stalking her. My eyes focused on her back, my stomach in knots, my heart pounding out with a fury I could barely control.

I caught her wrist before she registered what was happening and steered her through the staff door.

“What are you doing, Goran?”

I didn’t answer.

Nathaniel’s office was empty, so I pulled her inside, shut the door, and locked it.

The music and noise of the club faded. It was just us and the sound of our breathing as we glared at one another. The vibrant, carefree smile fell from her face, and she planted her hands on her hips.

“I asked you a question. What the hell are you doing?”

I took her in. The flush in her cheeks from the alcohol. The defiant shimmer in her eyes. The way she held herself together by sheer will.

“You’re spiraling,” I whispered.

Her laugh was brittle. “That’s rich.”

“Lani, be real right now. You hate this club, and you wouldn’t have come here unless you wanted something to happen. Unless you wanted to unwind and get under my skin at the same time.”

Her chin lifted. “Maybe I do. What of it? I know we agreed to act normal when we got back from Vegas, but nothing is normal anymore. I want us, but I feel like if you’re told to leave me, you will. I hate even thinking you won’t fight for me.”

The words punched me in the face, hitting hard.

“This isn’t a game, and you know the consequences. If you wanted to get back at me for leaving this morning, then fine. I get it. It was a jerk move. But what you did out there wasn’t safe.”