34

"Please, Adrian," Scarlett cried for the millionth time as she followed Adrian about the kitchen. She held out her hands in rigid desperation, fingers curled up like talons as if trying to pull her desired response from his lips. She’d never felt this way about a male before. Yes, she had wanted Tom, but this was on a whole other level. It made her heart feel like there wasn’t enough room in her chest, and the thought of never seeing him again squeezed the air from her like a boa constrictor.

She was desperate, but the more she cried and begged and grovelled, the less he seemed to care.

“Oh, please, please, I beg you. I’m begging you to please just listen.”

Again, he ignored her, barely glancing in her direction to deign her with a derisive scowl.

"Don't be like this," she pleaded. “I love him and you’re breaking my heart. Please understand. Please. Please. Please!”

He turned his back to her, pulling open the cupboard to fetch the sugar and closing it with unnecessary force. Grains of sugar scattered across the work surface as he prepared a cup of tea, chucking the ingredients into the cup in quick, sharp movements.

Since that horrible moment on the doorstep, he hadn't said a word to her. He'd had plenty of words with Riley, however, who had graced her with a short and not so sweet message to convey his regret that he'd no longer be seeing her.

"What you're doing isn't fair," she cried, becoming increasingly frustrated with his refusal to discuss the matter. "Why does it matter to you who I sleep with? You don't have the right to tell people what to do."

"And yet," he said, voice laced with sarcasm.

"Please, Adrian. Don't keep us apart. Please, please, I'm begging you," she cried, spurred on by the fact he'd spoken. “I’m begging mercy.”

She dropped to her knees, remembering it had worked before. This time, she was even more desperate, knowing her heart would wither and die if she couldn't see Riley again.

"Please I'm begging you, Adrian," she beseeched, staring up with the saddest eyes she could manage. “Please have mercy, please, please.”

Her mother chose this unfortunate moment to walk into the kitchen and turned to stare at them with wide eyes.

"What the hell?" Mum asked.

"We're rehearsing for a play," Scarlett uttered, thinking fast on her feet.

Her Mum stared at them for another second before asking which one. Clearly she wasn’t buying it, but at least she was pretending to.

'Damn it, what plays are there?' Scarlett said, trying to rack her brain. She wasn't one of the drama kids and never participated in the school plays—a fact her mother knew well.

"Erm, the... the ones with all the cats," Scarlett said.

"You mean... Cats?" her mother asked, one eyebrow raised.

Scarlett nodded as Adrian looked down at her with disdain, rolling his eyes.

"Well I don't remember this scene," Mum said, but luckily, she wasn't into plays or drama either, so she would have no way of knowing.

"Adrian, can I have a word with you in private?" Mum asked.

'Damn it,' Scarlett sighed to herself, hoping her mother wasn't going to make a big thing about if and anger Adrian even further.

She slunk from the kitchen, tempted to dither by the door and eavesdrop on their conversation. Being smart about it, she stomped away and then snuck quietly back into position, crouching by the door like some sort of gremlin. Her mother was asking Adrian why he'd told Riley to stay away from Scarlett, and Adrian was feeding her the same lies he'd told Scarlett.

Her hands balled into fists and her mouth puckered as she listened, wishing she could stomp in there and set him straight. She knew Riley wasn't a womanising creep, and Adrian wasn't banning their relationship out of concern.

'So why is he doing this?' she wondered. She knew he was treating Sienna like garbage so maybe the answer was he simply enjoyed hurting people.

It made so little sense to her. Why wouldn't he want his stepsister and his friend to be happy. At this rate, they would both end up resenting him.

'That or Riley doesn't care for me,' Scarlett thought, yet again dwelling over the fact he'd chosen Adrian over her.

She desperately wanted to see him. To know what was going on in his head. But he wouldn't agree to it. He wasn’t willing to disobey his Alpha and best friend. Not even for love.

When she heard her mother’s footsteps nearing, Scarlett shot on to the sofa, trying to look inconspicuous by pulling out her phone and loading up her profile.

As soon as Adrian followed her out Scarlett resumed her barrage of pleas and arguments.

"You lied when you said he uses girls for sex, so what's the real reason you don't want him to date me?" Scarlett asked.

"Did I lie? Or did he?" Adrian asked with a smug grin. "I guess you'll never know now."

"Why are you doing this?" Scarlett blurted. "You're just being cruel and unfair."

He made a scoffing sound but said nothing.

"I hate you," Scarlett scathed.

He looked like he was about to respond when a knock at the door interrupted him. Scarlett frowned as she sat up and looked out of the window to the back door and saw Tom standing there.

"Oh God, what does he want?" she thought out loud.

"He's here for me, not you," Adrian said, getting up to answer the door.

'Why is Tom hanging out with Adrian?' she wondered.