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But he wasn’t him.

And no matter how hard I tried to bury Ares Delacroix-Jackson in the past…

He stayed right there under my skin, refusing to leave.

CHAPTER 11

Lyric

“I’m Not One of Your Options”

Iwas mad as fuck at Ares.

Not because he broke up with me…

But because he lumped me in with the circus he created.

Me.

The real one.

He could’ve told me privately, by myself, the way he brought me into his life when my brother died… when his best friend died.

But no. He sat me at a table with four bitches who could never hold a candle to what we had and dismissed me like I was just another pretty face on his roster.

Now he thought he was gonna pay me off?

Nah.

My heart didn’t work like that.

So I went looking for him.

Downtown penthouse first … he wasn’t there.

Then his beach house … empty.

By three in the morning, I was parked outside one of his safe warehouses, the one only his closest people knew about.

A foolish move.

Especially with weed and liquor settling heavy in my bloodstream.

At some point, I dozed off.

Next thing I knew, a strong-armed white dude was yanking my car door open.

“Walk straight and don’t do anything stupid,” he warned, gripping my arm tight.

“Please don’t hurt me. I just need to talk to Ares,” I blurted out, voice cracking.

“Shut up,” he said simply. And I did.

Because I knew his men, and I knew they would kill me if I breathed wrong.

They dragged me inside the cold warehouse, past crates and dim lights, until we reached his office. When the door opened, I broke away, charging toward him with my chest hot and my pride on fire.

I had never raised my voice or my hand at Ares before, but tonight I was furious.