Page 282 of Power Play

“Basta, Charm.” My voice came out calm, which meant I was closer to losing it than I wanted anyone in that room to know. “I got my answer.”

Her face crumpled. “I didn’t say anything.”

“I know, mi hada. You didn’t have to.”

That hit her harder than if I’d yelled.

Lance’s hand slid into his pocket, controlled again now that the blade was back in Charm’s hand. “Ryan, perhaps it would be best if you took a moment to cool off.”

I looked at him, and every violent thing in me went quiet enough to be dangerous.

“You don’t tell me what’s best.”

Then I looked at Charm.

She stood between us in that pretty sweater with pearl buttons, trembling like the whole house had turned against her even though all it had done was behave exactly the way I always knew it would.

I wanted to pull her into me, shake her, and ask why the fuck she brought me here if she wasn’t ready to stand beside me when it got ugly.

Instead, I nodded once.

“I’m going to leave before I say something you can’t forgive.”

“Ryan, please.”

I walked past her.

She reached for my sleeve, but her fingers barely caught the fabric before I moved out of reach. Not cruel. Not dramatic. Just enough distance to keep myself from turning around and begging a girl who still couldn’t say what I was to her with her father watching.

Her mother stepped out of the way as I entered the hall.

No one stopped me, and that almost made me laugh.

A house full of people so worried about manners, and not one of them knew what to do with a man who refused to stay and be carved up politely.

I grabbed my coat from the entry bench. The marble floor shone beneath my shoes, spotless enough to reflect the chandelier, cold enough to make the whole house feel staged. Behind me, I heard Charm say my name again, softer this time, breaking around the edges.

I didn’t turn. If I turned, I’d see her face. If I saw her face, I’d give her another chance to cut me.

The front door opened beneath my hand, and winter rushed in like the night had been pressing its mouth to the other side, waiting. Cold air swept across the foyer, sharp and honest, cutting through the expensive heat of the house.

I stepped outside and shut the door behind me with more force than manners allowed.

The sound cracked through the porch, but I didn’t care. Let them hear something break.

Snow crusted along the edges of the driveway, bright beneath the security lights. The gates stood at the end of the long drive, iron and useless, like this family needed one more way to pretend the world only entered when they permitted it.

I made it halfway down the front steps before the door opened behind me.

“Ryan.”

Her voice hit my back.

I kept walking.

“Ryan, stop.”

I crossed the driveway toward my truck with my keys already in my hand, my jaw locked so tightly the pain crawled into my temples. My breath fogged in front of me, white and sharp in the cold. I hadn’t put my coat on. Didn’t feel it. The cold wasn’t shit compared to the heat tearing through my chest.