LUCAS POV."You'll always be the one in the background, unseen and useless because you do not matter! Her words rang in my head even as I walked out of the room. She was playing with fire and she didn't even know it. She thought she had hurt me... she did hurt me, judging by the twisted way I felt. I wanted to smash something up so bad, I shook with it. She was lucky I was choosing to walk away because I knew if I stayed, I was going to do something crazy like put a bullet in her head and watch those defiant eyes of hers that swirled with different shades of bright vivid colors close forever.I had been kind and patient with her when all I'd really wanted to do was to use her until every twisted fantasy I had of her in my head was sated, yet she'd chosen to turn a blind eye to everything.Even when I told her the truth about my childhood so that she could see what sought of monster Nicolai truly was and how he didn't deserve anyone's love.He'd hurt her and yet, she was still holding

BREA POVLucas walked back in to meet me eating the meal he'd brought in, and whatever dark look had clouded his face slowly disappeared."I thought you didn't want to eat," he said, staring at me as if I was some strange creature."I was starving" I confessed and he came to seat beside me."How does it taste? I made it myself" he asked staring at me, waiting impatiently.I could see it now. He just wanted to be seen, appreciated, or maybe even revered. My words from earlier must have hurt him more than he let on."It's very delicious," I said, and he tried not to smile, but I could see his lips curving a bit. "I learned online. I am very good at mastering things in one go" he bragged and I nodded, agreeing with him.And to show him I appreciated his effort, I made sure to eat every last drop.Lucas looked pleased as he watched me."Did you enjoy your meal"?"I did" I answered and his brows dipped again."Is this some sort of tactic of yours... Do you think you can trick me into lett

TWO YEARS LATER."Let go, Brea. Let go, he tapped out" The voice of my coach reached the grunting sounds of my opponent that had risen to a crescendo in my ear, and I let go reflexively, the buzzy hazy place I'd slipped into clearing away. I blinked rapidly, struggling to clear my vision and take in the extent of the damage I'd done. The man's dry heaves and cough reached my ear and from the painful sound of it, I knew I was going to get my ear full from the coach's tirade."Sorry man," I apologized and helped my sparring partner to his feet. His face was bloated, dark bruises starting to make an appearance on his pale skin from all the punches I'd thrown at him, and on his neck that I'd held in a chokehold. "I got a bit carried away".The man managed a smile, his throat working as he tried to speak. He rubbed at his throat as if to get the blood flowing back through it. "It's fine. mistakes happen" his voice sounded rough and scratchy, and I worried that I'd damaged his windpipe. He

BREA POV.I splashed cold water on my face and gasped as the drunken haze I was in cleared a bit, then I stared wide-eyed at my reflection, blinking as some of the water droplets dripped into my eyes. I pressed my hand against my forehead and the side of my face and felt just how warm my body had gotten. I shouldn't have drunk so much. Now I was literally seeing Nicolai when he wasn't even there. I'd left Zeus to search for him blindly, convinced that I'd seen him before whoever it was stepped in front of my vision, blocking him from my view. The level of my desperation had me cringing but I could have sworn on my life that he'd been watching me, except I was freaking drunk, so my eyes must have been playing tricks on me. I dropped my hand on the zinc and took a deep breath. "Stop obsessing and thinking about him, Brea. He is never going to come to look for you. He already forgot about you and you need to move on and let it go" I told my reflection, then turned away sharply from the

BREA POV"Focus Brea, focus" Andre yelled and I growled, slamming my fist into Zeus's gut when I got the opening that I had been aiming for, but then his fist connected with my jaw, sending me to the floor and knocking the air out of my lungs.I lay there, trying to catch my breath while simultaneously savoring the burn from all the punches I had taken so far.Zeus reached for me, but I smacked his hand away and got to my feet.My gaze met those of Andre's exasperated ones."You keep losing focus Brea, if you don't work on that then this match might end with very disastrous outcomes" he warned, his tone serious and I sighed, wiping the sweat off my brows. He really needed to take a chill pill sometimes because he was starting to annoy me. "I am sorry Andre. Like you said, I guess I am just a bit distracted today" I said, repeating his words and he noticed the sass too, but he ignored it. "You don't have that luxury, Brea. Your match is in two days. You need to do better, be better"