Page 7 of Psycho Saints

Cristian took Julian's place on the sofa, his knee brushing against mine. He stared hard at me as my heart thrummed, the anger rising forth once more, the rage and fury I felt refusing to mellow out. How could he just sit there looking at me like that? His face was steeled, his jaw tight as he studied me, his brow pinched. He reached for my hand, and my heart skipped a beat as his fingers wrapped around my wrist, my skin prickling at his touch. I wanted to yank my hand away, but I just watched him instead, my curiosity winning out. He turned my hand and inspected the engagement ring that still adorned my finger, his frown deepening.

"You don't need this anymore," he murmured, sliding the ring off my finger. I tried to curl it and pull away, but his grip tightened as he yanked it off harshly, those dark eyes snapping to mine with a flicker of something in their depths. "You can trust some people now."

I yanked my hand away, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. "Trust? You've got to be fucking kidding me. There's not a chance in hell I'd ever be able to trust you after what you did."

Cristian's brow furrowed. "Kitten, I know you're upset, but if you'd just let me explain-"

"Explain?" The word came out as a snarl. "Explain how you violated me? How you took away my choice?"

"I did it for us," he insisted, reaching for me again. "For our future."

I exploded, leaping to my feet. "Our future? You mean the future where I'm just a fucking incubator for your twisted family? Where I have no say in what happens to my own body? Where you take what you want, make me bleed, treat me like a fucking sex doll?!"

Cristian stood, his eyes narrowing as his jaw stiffened. "Kitten-"

"Don't you dare 'kitten' me," I spat. "You had no right. No fucking right to do what you did. Do you have any idea how violated I feel? How betrayed?"

My chest heaved as I glared at him, tears of rage burning in my eyes. "I trusted you, Cristian. Despite everything, despite knowing what you are, I let myself start to trust you. And you shattered that trust like it meant nothing to you."

I trembled with fury, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. Cristian reached out, catching my wrists in his strong grip. His touch made my skin crawl, the hair standing on end as those dark eyes bored into mine.

"Scarlet, please," he pleaded, his voice low and urgent, catching me off-guard with the slight vulnerability. "Let me explain. I only want what's best for us."

"Us?" I spat the word like poison. "There is no us, Cristian. You made damn sure of that when you did what you did."

His grip tightened, and I could see the desperation in his eyes. "Kitten, I love you. Everything I've done, I've done for you - for our future."

"Love, what the hell do you know about love?!"

Something inside me snapped. With a strength I didn't know I possessed, I wrenched one hand free and slapped him hard across the face. The crack echoed through the room, and Cristian's head snapped to the side.

"Fuck you," I snarled, my voice dripping with venom. "I hate you, Cristian. I fucking hate you."

His eyes widened, a mixture of shock and hurt flashing across his face. But I was far from done.

"Whatever we had, whatever we could have been - it's gone. You burned it to the ground the moment you decided to play God with my body." I yanked my other hand free, taking a step back. "I can never trust you again. I don't want anything to do with you. Hell, I never want to see your face again."

For a moment, Cristian stood frozen, his cheek reddening where I'd struck him. Then, something dark and dangerous flashed in his eyes. In an instant, he closed the distance between us, his hands gripping my upper arms as he pulled me flush against his chest.

"You're mine, Scarlet," he growled, his face inches from mine, my breath catching in my throat. "There's no one else for me, and there never will be. Don't you understand? There's nothing I wouldn't do for you."

I struggled against his hold, but he was immovable, his grip like a vice, bruising my arms.

"Let go of me, you psycho!"

"No," he hissed, his fingers digging into my skin. "I won't let you go. I can't. You're everything to me, kitten. Everything."

I struggled against Cristian's iron grip, my heart pounding in my chest. His eyes burned with an intensity that sent a chill down my spine.

"Let me go!" I snarled, twisting and thrashing, but it was futile, whatever anger or hatred he felt right now, it was hardening him like stone.

In a blur of movement, Cristian shoved me backward. I stumbled, the back of my knees hitting the couch. Before I could regain my balance, he was on me, pinning me to the cushions with his body weight.

"Stop fighting this, kitten," he growled, his face inches from mine. "We both deserve this. A family, a future." There was a strange desperation to his tone as he said that, his eyes flickering.

I bucked beneath him in an attempt to throw him off, but he was too strong. "You're insane!"

His hand cupped my cheek, the gentleness of the gesture at odds with the fire in his eyes. "I'll treat this child right, Scarlet. I'll make sure they have a perfect life. My brothers will help with that."