Arrow to the Heart: A Cupid Romance

Chapter 46

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My heartbeat is pounding in my head and I feel like I'm going to be sick.

Has Dec really been lying to me all this time?

Those things that he said to Alvarez... I don't know what to believe. Dec told me he was working for the Cartels, but then why did Alvarez say he's working for The Fates? He certainly didn't deny it.

Did he just not realize I was listening in?

Then Alvarez asked if he loved me and Dec reacted so quickly—No.

It wasn't a soft no. It was a hard, certain no. Like he didn't even have to consider it.

I know he has some issues with love but I guess I had always thought it was just the word. I thought that deep down, he loved me.

Maybe Mom was right. Maybe I am just naive and Dec was just using me, albeit not for the reason she thought.

"Bree, no," Dec says, his nostrils flaring. "He can't be trusted."

"That's rich coming from you, Saint," Alvarez snaps. "You've been conning to the girl this entire time."

"He's lying." Dec turns back to Alvarez and grips the edge of the door so tight that I can see every tendon in his hand.

"It's all a setup. He's working for The Fates. He's pretending to date you to make sure you don't fall in love with anyone else."

In a flash, Dec slams into him, tackling him into the hall. I race to get to them, but by the time I reach the hallway, there's fists and blood flying everywhere.

"Oh my god, stop!" I shout.

Dec pushes up off him, his chest heaving and a bit of blood smeared smeared across his face. He stays hovering above Alvarez with his fists clenched at his sides. Alvarez looks back at him with a bloody grin.

"I can read his emotions, you know," Alvarez says. I can tell he's talking to me, but his eyes never leave Dec. "Do you want to know how he really feels about you, Bree?"

Dec's eyes flicker over to me, his jaw tight.

"Don't listen to him," Dec says. "You can't trust anything he says, remember?"

"Interesting that he assumes I would have something bad to say. Why is that, you think?"

"Whatever you're doing, Alvarez, it's not gonna work. She's not gonna fall for your bullshit."

"Funny, because she already fell for yours."

"Let's go back inside," I say to Dec. "We don't need to do this here."

"You're right," Dec says.

"You could always tell her I'm wrong," Alvarez says. "Tell her you love her."

Dec immediately leaps at him, his hand finding Alvarez's neck. Alvarez manages to get a punch in, but then starts screaming and writhing in pain.

"What did you do?!" he shouts as Dec pushes to his feet again. Alvarez grips his chest, his face contorted in agony. "How did you—agghhh!"

"Next time you want to fuck around with Bree or with me, remember that nobody is immune to my powers—not Cupids, not even you. And that is the lightest fucking touch you'll get from me."

Dec guides me back inside and locks the door behind us, leaving Alvarez on the floor of our hallway. He falls back against the door and pinches his eyes shut. His chest heaves and he wipes blood off his lower lip. We can still hear Alvarez groaning in the hall.