Falling Into Ruin.

Why Is It You

[Briar’s POV]

“Why is it you?”

The words are leaving my lips before I can stop them, but honestly, I don’t care if he gets offended.

“I thought you would be happy to see me.” Jeffrey cooes, leaning back on the black leather sofa that he lounges on. “Especially since we haven’t seen each other in months.”

“For good reason,” I point out, crossing my arms. “When I broke up with you, I told you to not come find me.”

Frowning, I examine the man in front of me, noting that his wavy brown hair is styled in a new way and he has grown a goatee that I can only assume he thinks makes him look sexier. I mean, it does, but I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that. Not when we were no longer together.

“Come on, baby,” he sighs, standing to his full six-foot-five height and walking toward me. “I told you that I had a momentary lapse in judgment and that it would never happen again.”

Grimacing, I remain in place, watching as he continues to close the distance between us, and when he is mere inches from me and reaching for me, I smack his hands away.

“Don’t touch me with the same hands you touched her with.”

“Baby.”

“Don’t call me that.” I growl, my anger getting the better of me. “I’m not your baby.”

At my words, Jeffrey’s look of ease begins to slowly darken, and I know that he isn’t pleased with not getting his way.

This was the thing about him: he was a spoiled prince who grew up in a wealthy family and inherited his father’s company when he became of age. Of course, he wasn’t so bad in the past, and that was the reason I fell in love with him, but since becoming company president, he began to change.

It was subtle at first, with him making snide comments about the friends we both shared, then putting down people on the streets, especially those who looked less than upper class. However, like a fool in love, I ignored it, pretending that it wasn’t even happening because he was still kind to me.

But soon his comments moved onto me. Sometimes it would involve things I wore when I went out with him; other times it would be about my makeup just not being up to his standards.

I think it was around then that the love I felt for him began to slowly dwindle, but even then I still held on. Maybe it was because I wanted to believe that things would get better, or maybe it was because I didn’t want to be lonely anymore. I still didn’t know, but when he started staying out late, I knew that we just couldn’t keep going like we were.

It was after that that I began to build the courage to break up with him, but before I could do it, fate intervened, and I found him together with his secretary in the bed that we were together in so many times.

After that, he would continuously call me and text me, begging me to give him another chance. He insisted that it was a lapse in judgment because I made him feel lonely since I was becoming distant, and even when I felt that maybe, just maybe, I could give him another chance, I continued to hold onto my resolve, and eventually the calls and texts became less until they stopped altogether.

Fast forward six months, and I was moving on with my life, sleeping with new men, flirting with whoever I wanted, and continuing my investigation to find the people responsible for my brother's death. Everything was going great; I was doing great and even thriving, so why, why was he standing here in front of me acting like nothing ever happened?

“Briar.”

My name leaves Jeffrey’s lips like liquid honey washing over me and making my weak heart waver ever so slightly. But I continue to stand tall, refusing to give in and make a fool out of myself.

“How many times do I have to say that I f****d up before you’re willing to forgive me?” He continues when I don’t respond. “Do you know how hard these past six months without you by my side have been? You’re everywhere I look, you’re all I think about, and even though I told myself that I would leave you in the past, I just can’t.”

Frowning, I take in his words while wondering whether or not he thought about any of this when he was cheating or when he was insulting me because he didn’t think that I was up to his new standards.”

“If you cared that much for me, why did you do it?” I ask, wondering if he would give me an actual answer or if he would continue with the same excuses. “If you loved me as much as you are saying, why would you even seek out another woman?”

“That,” he begins, his gaze shifting, a telltale sign that he was about to lie. “She seduced me.”

“Seduced.” I laugh. “By seduce, do you mean she twisted your arm behind your back and forced you to f**k her in the bed that we shared so many times? Or did she get some type of leverage against you that left you with no other option but to f**k her?”

Growing quiet, I wait as he considers what I’ve said, and when he doesn’t respond, I know that he doesn’t have any excuses.

“Enough of this,” I sigh, grabbing the door behind me and pulling it open. “You coming here was pointless, and it would be best if you never came back again.”

Finished speaking, I fix my gaze on Jeffrey and wait while he stares at me, his expression neutral, his gaze dark, and when his lips twitch down into a frown, I feel a chill race down my spine as the room around us starts to feel almost icy.

“Are you really going to continue to reject me?” He asks, moving forward like a predator. “After all the trouble I’ve gone through to try to bow down and act meek and pathetic to try to get you.”

“What?” I hiss, shock rushing through me. “What the hell are you…AH!”

I don’t get to finish my words before his hand is shooting out and wrapping around my throat so he can push me against the wall while the door I was just holding open begins to close.

“Do you know who I am now?” He continues as my eyes widen. “Do you know the things I can do if someone doesn’t do exactly what I want?”

“I don’t care who you are.” I rasp, my heart beginning to hammer in my chest. “You could be the king of f*****g England, and I still wouldn’t…AH!”

Jeffrey’s hand connects with my cheek, stopping me before I can finish speaking and making my head snap to the side as pain shoots through me due to the force he used.

“Shut up,” he growls, leaning so close his breath tickles my skin. “Just shut the f**k up before I make you shut up.”

“Who are you?” I whisper, not taking his warning seriously. “Who are you really?”

“Who,” he chuckles, his eyes beginning to glow a devilish red. “Do you really want an answer to that, baby? I don’t think you would believe me even if I said it, but since you asked, I guess I will answer you before you die.”