Cruel Heart

PART 5

Lucy eyed Mia with malice, her burning gazing lurking through the thick partition of her lashes.

A chill tunneled through Mia's skin to nestle deep inside her bones. 

Yeah, she thought, it's realllly time to go.

"I was just leaving," she heard herself say over the pounding music. Or was that thrumming bass just her heartbeat?

A grin slashed across Lucy's goddess-like features. A model. Mia was willing to bet her left hand that Lucy was a model. She had a face meant for the spotlight. Or one of those beauty bloggers that Gigi was always squeaking about. 

"I'm sure you were," Lucy said. Dear God, staring into those eyes was like staring down the barrel of a loaded gun.

"Lucy," Harlan snapped. 

Mia jumped at the guttural voice. From all the mayhem of Lucy's wrath, she'd almost forgotten about Harlan.

Mia eyed the distance between him and the beautiful woman. The air simmering with heat from the hundreds of bodies around them. Made sense, was all she could think. The two of them were perfect for each other; with their matching sultry stares and lethal beauty.

Two cliches in a pod, she thought begrudgingly.

Of course he was taken. A guy like Harlan? Mia should have seen it coming.

Her shoulders sagged in defeat as humiliation washed over her, the cold waves pushing her back to reality. She so did not belong here: among all the glamour and beauty. Mia belonged far, far away in the recesses of all this perfection.

She should have stuck with her gut and left the second she dropped off the chips and dips. Maybe then she wouldn't feel like she'd just been slapped in the face. 

"Don't be a bitch," Harlan growled at Lucy. Growled. If she'd been anywhere else, Mia would have swooned over that deep voice. And she hated that. Mia didn't swoon. That wasn't her.

But with Harlan...Mia never felt like herself. Or maybe she'd never felt more like herself around him.

The corners of Lucy's painted lips turned down, her eyes still flaming pools of venom. "I'm sorry, have I offended our guest?" she snapped, the S drawn out in a hiss like a snake.

The muscles along Harlan's jaw twitched, his lips pulled into a grim line. "You shouldn't be here, Lu," he warned. 

Lucy chuckled. "Wow, you wasted no time finding a replacement then, huh?" Lucy demanded, her wild eyes flared. Lucy ran her stare over Mia like a predator assessing its prey. "A bit of a downgrade, Harlan. Lowered your standards I take it," she drawled with a grin. 

Mia crossed her arms, shoulders sinking. 

Harlan's eyes narrowed. "Get out," he told Lucy. 

Lucy cocked her head to the side. She pushed out her chest with a sultry pout. If her shirt was any tighter her breasts would pop out like an X rated jack in the box. "Make me," she said.

Mia should slip away. It would be easy to fade into the shadows, tainted blue and purple from the strobe lights above. She could walk away and Harlan would be too wrapped up with Lucy to notice.