To ruin an Omega

Chapter 144: To those who knew me 2

MADELINE

They started dancing. His hand found her waist. Her hand settled on his shoulder. They moved together to music I couldn’t hear over the pounding in my ears.

Jealousy took over.

It came fast and vicious. Wrapped around my throat and squeezed. I watched the way he looked at her. The way his body curved toward hers like she was gravity and he couldn’t help but fall. This wasn’t the look of someone forced into a bond they hated. This was something else. Something that made my chest hurt worse than the pity had.

“Look at them.”

I nearly jumped. Aldric had appeared beside me like he’d materialized from thin air. I hadn’t heard him approach. Hadn’t sensed him at all.

“Does it not disgust you?” His voice was conversational. Pleasant. Like we were discussing the weather.

I looked at him. Really looked. Tried to find something humane in his expression. But I found nothing.

“Come to rile me up?”

“I have come to push you.” He smiled. That sharp predatory smile that made him look more wolf than man. “Bury the bitch.”

Then he walked away. Winked over his shoulder like this was all very amusing. Like ruining lives was his favorite hobby.

I looked back at Cian and the Omega. They were talking now. Dancing slower. Their heads bent close together. Intimate in a way that made my stomach twist.

I wondered if Cian had moved on. If I was still stuck on what once was while he’d already found something new. Something better. Something that didn’t come with the weight of everything we’d destroyed together.

The thought made me want to down three more drinks. Made me want to leave. To text Aldric and tell him to find someone else for his games. But that wasn’t an option. I was stuck here. Stuck with holding hands with that monster if I wanted to keep my family safe.

But then Cian’s eyes found mine.

In the crowd of multitudes, he fished me out. His gaze locked onto my face like a heat seeking missile. And his body froze. Went completely still in the middle of the dance floor while everything around him kept moving.

It eased my soul. Goddess help me, it did. Seeing I still had that effect on him. That I could still make him stop breathing with just my presence.

He hasn’t moved on. The realization hit me hard. We were both stuck. Both trapped in what once was. Both unable to let go even when letting go was the only thing that made sense.

My eyes wandered to the Omega. She’d noticed him staring. She had noticed me and her head turned and those dark eyes found my face. Studied me. Perhaps even tried to figure out who I was and why I’d made her mate freeze like he’d seen a ghost.

I bit back a smile and forced my expression to stay neutral, soft and mysterious.

Then I turned and headed away from the ballroom. My heels clicked against the polished floor. Steady. Measured. Not too fast. Not like I was running.

This was rehearsed. Practiced. Aldric had been specific about this part too. Leave first. Make him chase you. Make him choose to follow.

I heard footsteps behind me. Heavier and much faster.

Cian was following.

My heart hammered against my ribs. Part of me wanted to run. To disappear before he caught up. Before I had to look him in the face and pretend I was here to help when really I was here to partly hurt him all over again.

But I kept walking. Kept my pace steady. Led him away from the ballroom and the music and the Omega who was probably standing there wondering what the hell just happened.

The hallway opened up ahead of me. Quieter. More private. Fewer people.

I could feel him behind me. I could sense his presence like a physical thing pressing against my back. We never had a match of faith. But some things didn’t need a bond. Some things were just written into your body until they became permanent.

I stopped and turned around slowly.

Cian stood there. Maybe ten feet away. His chest was rising and falling too fast. His hands were clenched at his sides. And his face. His face was a war between anger and relief and something that looked like pain.

“Hi,” I said. My voice came out softer than I meant it to. “I did not expect to see you here.”

The words felt inadequate. Stupid. What do you say to someone you destroyed? Someone you loved and left and hurt in ways that don’t have names?

He didn’t respond. He just stood there staring at me like he was trying to figure out if I was real. If I was really standing in front of him or if this was some cruel trick his mind was playing.

I took a step toward him. Then another. My heart pounded so hard I thought he might hear it.

“My father got your message ” I continued. Kept my voice gentle. Concerned. “How are you and how is your mother?”

Cian’s jaw worked. His throat moved like he was trying to swallow words that wouldn’t go down.

“Madeline.” My name came out rough. Raw. Like saying it hurt.

“I know.” I stopped a few feet away from him. Close enough to see the gold flecks in his eyes. Close enough to smell his cologne. “I know I’m probably the last person you want to see right now.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Julius invited me.” Another lie. Easier this time. “I didn’t know you’d be here. But when I saw you…” I let my voice trail off. Let him fill in the blanks with whatever he needed to hear.

His hands unclenched. Then clenched again. “You blocked my number.”

“I had to.”

“Why?”

Because Aldric told me to. Because I had to make you desperate. Because every good thing in my life has been poisoned by choices my father made years ago.

“It was complicated,” I said instead.

“Complicated.” He laughed. The sound was harsh. Broken. “What the fuck does that mean?”