Mr. Badass ✔

15 I already have a boyfriend

Gemma's POV.

My fingernails dig into the palm of my hand. It feels like my palm is starting to bleed, and my fingertips sense a sticky liquid. Every word Dmitri speaks seems to come from hell, carrying a damp, cold echo.

Luke.

Amidst the confusion, this name suddenly comes to mind. Yes, Luke.

"I already have a boyfriend."

As Dmitri pulls down the collar of my shirt, his lips pressing against my shoulder, I snap back to reality. I stare at the car roof and repeat, "I already have a boyfriend."

Dmitri lets go of me. He sits back in the driver's seat, angrily honking the horn, startling the birds in the mountains, causing them to fly away.

"Who is he?!" He rubs his face, calming down a little, then turns to look at me again.

I sit up, fixing my disheveled collar. "A man I want to spend the rest of my life with."

Suddenly, Dmitri reaches out, gripping my shoulder tightly. "Tell me his name."

"What do you want?" I look at him.

"What do you think?" Dmitri replies.

The trees rustle outside the window.

I look at him, then suddenly smile. "It's over between us, Dmitri. Stop wasting your time. From the moment you lied to me about being single, you should've known this would happen."

The beginning of us was a complete mistake.

Luckily, I woke up in time and escaped the quagmire.

Dmitri grabs my collar, panting with anger. "You said you loved me!"

The fabric pulls at my neck, causing a bit of pain, but I try hard to take a breath. "I don't want to be the other woman. Real love shouldn't have to hide in the shadows."

Dmitri brings his lips close to my earlobe, gently biting down. This is something only intimate lovers should do, so we shouldn't be doing this. I tilt my head back slightly, freeing my earlobe from Dmitri's teeth. His bite was hard, and it hurts a little.

"I know I shouldn't have lied to you." Dmitri's body continues to lean toward me, his forehead touching mine. "That's why I got a divorce. That woman can't threaten you anymore."

I shake my head. "It's too late. Everything is too late."

"I will protect you from now on, I promise."

My eyes burn, tears on the verge of falling. "Have you ever seen a collapsed building put back together? Once trust is shattered, it can never be rebuilt."

"I can try. I can do anything as long as you come back to me."

I push him away. "I'd rather live a life without you."

Even if one day Dmitri were the last man on earth, I wouldn't be with him.

I won't be with someone who puts my heart through fire and ice, tormenting it over and over again.

I look straight ahead, so I can't see Dmitri's expression now. But I know the sky is about to get dark, and we're at the foot of a mountain where no one is around.

I don't know what Dmitri plans to do next. I'm just really scared.

Thankfully, the next moment, my phone rings.

I let out a long sigh of relief and bend down to reach for the phone that had fallen between the seat and the door.

But when I see the caller ID, I gasp—Luke.