That One Moment (Lost in London #2)(47)

I see red.

Bright, angry, vengeful, frustrated, possessive red.

I don’t think. I just…react.

“What the f*ck’s going on?” I seethe through clenched teeth, grabbing Ethan by the shoulders and aggressively wrenching him backward.

“Oi, Hayden.” Ethan’s tone is light and playful, setting me more on edge. “Shove off. This has nothing to do with you.”

I turn my back to Vi, inserting myself between them so I’m nose to nose with Ethan. “Yes, it f*cking does.” My words are slow and menacing.

“She hasn’t mentioned a thing about you, Hayden,” he sneers, giving me the look of a f*cking righteous, self-entitled prick. “So I beg to differ, mate.”

I step even closer to him, inhaling a large breath.

“Hayden, stop it right there.” Vi’s tone is a warning as she moves to stand beside me. I ignore her, nudging my chest into Ethan. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch sight of her heeled foot stamping to the ground in haste. “This is ridiculous. I can handle myself.”

“You heard her,” Ethan smirks cockily. Then he pats me heartily on my shoulder and gives me a light shove away from her.

Everything after that happens so fast. One second I’m getting a light push from Ethan. The next, I’m shoving him using five times the force he did. He stumbles backward, clumsily tripping on his own feet. I can see what’s about to happen, but I’m frozen in time, unable to change the ripple effect even if I wanted to. He lands smack dab on his arse right on top of the glass coffee table. It cracks loudly and then shatters beneath him. His hands fly out to catch himself on the frame before he crashes through it to the floor.

Everything and everyone stops all around us. I swear, even the music does that scratched record sound you only see in old films. I’m still stuck in the single, solitary moment where everything before me went from bad to worse.

“Hayden,” Vi cries, bringing her hands to cover her mouth in horror at the mess in front of us.

I reach out and pull Ethan up out of the coffee table. A wetness covers my hand. I look down and see red, angry blood smeared all over my hand. “Fuck Ethan, are you hurt?”

Ethan’s eyes narrow at me as he straightens his tie. “I’ll live. At least mine wasn’t self-inflicted.”

My angry expression falls instantly as Ethan’s cutting remark casts an instant shroud of darkness over my soul. His blatant insinuation has its desired effect as shame completely envelops me. Suddenly, a hefty bouncer appears and grabs me aggressively by the arm. I don’t even have the strength to look back as he twists my right arm behind my back with a painful crank. The only place my downcast gaze seeks…is Vi. Humiliation and despair explode inside me, reflecting in my broken posture as her beautiful blue eyes look at me with utter sadness.

“You’re done, mate. You’re on the f*cking shit list and you won’t be coming back here ever again,” the bouncer growls as I’m dragged harshly through the club.

I shake my head, completely oblivious to what he’s saying, thinking only of Vi and what I’ve just done. He gives me another hard shove out the door for good measure and I turn, looking back at the building in shock. How the f*ck did that all happen so fast? I look down at my hands in horror and quickly wipe Ethan’s blood off on my jeans. I unsnap and re-snap my leather cuffs, nervously unsure what to do. Fuck, f*ck, f*ck! What are you doing, Hayden? What the f*ck are you doing? I jam my hands into my pockets and pace angrily in front of the door.

Suddenly, Theo’s stocky frame comes barreling through the door. “What the hell happened, Hayden?” His eyes bear down on me accusingly as he adjusts his glasses on his face. “Ethan’s f*cking bleeding!”

“I know!” I shout. “I don’t know what f*cking happened. I lost it I guess!”

“Explain,” Theo cuts at me sharply.

Feeling furious, I bellow, “Your mate Ethan is a self-righteous prick. How the f*ck are you friends with him?”

Theo exhales through a frown. “You don’t know him well enough. He’s got a story the same way you have a story, Hayden.”

“He was f*cking all over Vi!” I roar, wincing at the overwhelming urge I feel to sprint back inside and tear her out of there. I don’t give a f*ck what his story is…He’s a man-whore through and through. I need to talk to Vi. She deserves an explanation and I need to make sure that twat, Ethan, isn’t still mucking about!

“Don’t even consider it,” Theo warns as he catches my piercing eyes on the bouncers, contemplating a way to get past them.

Then, the gods of sod’s law seem to answer my silent prayers as I catch sight of a familiar figure in a red dress storming toward me. And she doesn’t look pleased.





WHITE RABBIT


My expression is furious when I find Hayden pacing aggressively outside of Club Shay. He looks like he’s raked his hands through his hair a thousand times since I last saw him. Theo stands to the side, properly glowering at his younger brother, who is clearly in the midst of an enormous tantrum.

“Are you f*cking joking me?” I screech as soon as I’m out the doors. “Christ, Hayden! Tell me you are messing about and that was some elaborate bit you and Ethan planned for a laugh.”

Hayden’s hard grey eyes pierce me with his silent answer. I can’t believe he’s got the nerve to clench his jaw like he’s got something to be angry about. He begins to speak, but I cut him off.