Unattainable (Undeniable, #3)(86)

My lips twitched. “Hey, yourself…prissy bitch.”

It wasn’t long before I found myself in the center of my own group hug from the women. And from the men, hair ruffles and sloppy cheek kisses were given, some crude comments were made about my new and improved backside. Anger gave me a dirty look and Bucket tried to feel me up.

Yeah. I was home.

“Okay,” I said to Mick once the greetings had begun to lull. “I’m ready to go see Deuce.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN


He still loved me.

He still loved me.

I repeated the words over and over again in my head like a mantra as I paced the length of the clubhouse kitchen.

Hooked up to a heart monitor, oxygen tubes up his nostrils, an IV in his arm, Ivy curled around his left leg, fast asleep, Deuce had told me as much. He’d also told me Cage was in a bad way, using hard drugs, sleeping around again, and shirking all his club duties. That he’d bought himself a one-way ticket to the land where few return from.

He’d also told me to “reel it in” when I started to cry. Then he told me to “go get my man.”

Now I was back at the clubhouse and yet I couldn’t bring myself to make the short trip down the back hall to Cage’s room. Not only was I terrified of what I was going to find inside, I was terrified Deuce was wrong. That Cage wasn’t in a bad way because of me, that his bad way had nothing at all to do with me and everything to do with what had happened to him.

Because of me.

That love was the last thing on his mind and instead it was hate fueling him.

What if…

“Fuck it,” I muttered and quickly crossed the kitchen. Slamming my hands into the double swinging doors, I headed right, then left, and down the back hall where I came to a halt in front of Cage’s door.

After smoothing out my dress and making sure my glasses were straight, before I could think twice about it, I knocked lightly on the door.

“What?” came the booming yell from inside.

The raw anger in Cage’s voice made me cringe. Well, now what? Did I knock again or go inside? Maybe I should just walk away?

I poised my fist, ready to knock again, then decided against it. He already knew someone was out here, he’d heard my knock and responded. All I would succeed in doing by knocking again was pissing him off.

Blowing out a deep, anxious breath, I gripped the doorknob and slowly pushed open the door.

His room was filthy. Dirty clothes and boots covered the floor, empty beer and liquor bottles lined his dresser and nightstand, and ashtrays everywhere were overflowing with cigarette butts. And the smell…

Deuce had prepared me, so I’d expected as much.

But what I wasn’t prepared for, not because Deuce hadn’t prepared me, he had and I’d cried like a fool because of it, but nothing could have prepared me for coming face-to-face with the naked brunette lying on Cage’s bed, Cage leaning over her body and snorting cocaine off her stomach.

It f*cking gutted me.

My heart broke into a million f*cking pieces, each shard ripping open my veins as they sliced through my bloodstream. I felt as if my body were failing, breaking down.

In my haste to get as far away as fast as I could, I tripped over a boot near the door and went flying face first into the hallway.

Cursing, I scrambled quickly to my feet and just as I was about to take off down the hallway, a large hand wrapped around my forearm and yanked me backward.

Cage swung me roughly around to face him and I blanched seeing him up close. He looked horrible, like he’d aged years since I’d seen him last. His eyes were bloodshot, ringed in puffy bags and dark circles, his hair was longer—past his shoulders—greasy and stringy, and he was the thinnest I’d ever seen him. Which wasn’t that thin at all but for a man Cage’s size, it looked wrong.

For a moment he just stared at me, looking me up and down, before his eyes landed back on my face.

“What the f*ck are you doin’ here?” he demanded.

“Let go of me,” I said just as fiercely.

“Not a chance in hell,” he spat and yanked me forward, pulling me inside his room.

“Get out,” he told the brunette.

Slowly, she slid off the bed and scooped up her clothing. As she passed by me, she gave me a lazy smile. “Don’t know how much good he’s gonna be to you,” she said, smirking. “Coke dick is a bitch and I already drained that shit dry twice today.”

I didn’t think, just reacted and lunged for her, but Cage still had my arm and yanked me immediately backward. “You stupid whore!” I screamed, struggling against Cage.

Startled, the girl jumped backward and froze. God, she looked so young. Young and motherf*cking slutty. I lost it.

“I will f*cking kill you!” I screamed at her, thrashing against Cage.

He lost his grip on me and I tried again to attack the little bitch, only to find myself encased in Cage’s arms. As he dragged me backward, the girl, still naked and holding her clothing, ran for the door and disappeared into the hallway.

“I will find you!” I screamed after her. “I will find you and you will f*cking die!”

“Calm the f*ck down!” Cage yelled.

“Fuck you!” I shrieked, twisting wildly in his arms.

“Fuck me? Fuck me! Bitch, you left me bleedin’ out in a f*ckin’ hospital and you’re screaming ‘f*ck me’? No, Tegen, FUCK YOU!”