Chapter 59

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Fuck! Fuck! FUUUUCK!

W ith quick but not too angry steps, I drag Jenny further around the corner and back toward the restaurant so you can’t see us. I push her roughly against the wall and trap her between me and the wall.

“I think we have some things to clear up, Jenny,” I growl.

Fuck, and how angry I am! That little bitch, aka my ex’s best friend, almost blew my cover in front of you. But you must never find out about my dark past. Never! I’ll make sure of that…

“How… H-how is this possible? You should be in prison! You got a life sentence!” she stutters to herself and looks at me with wide eyes.

I’ve never really liked her. Even back then, I found her more than annoying. And if I could have, I would have made her disappear, but my ex was nothing without her. The two of them were only ever seen together. Except when the little whore cheated on me with my best friend, of course.

“Innocent people don’t serve life sentences, calm down,” I sigh, as I consider this conversation to be redundant, just like her ridiculous and pathetic existence.

Although it appears not much is left of her so-called life; she looks like a walking corpse. Pale and somehow sick. Her body screams of drugs and addiction. I’m sure she’s also got some nasty STDs from her whoring around to earn her drugs. She is disgusting, and I’m overwhelmed by the need to rid the world of such an ugly individual.

“Y-you fucking psycho killed my best friend and your friend in cold blood! You bashed his head in because you were jealous. They were already together before you psycho intervened. How can you call yourself innocent?” she yells angrily in my face. I panic that she’s loud enough for you to hear, especially if you didn’t obey me and get into your car.

I’m guessing you were far too surprised by this bizarre encounter to sit dutifully in your car and wait for me.

With a menacing growl, I grab Jenny’s neck and slam her against the wall of the restaurant to stop her hysterical screaming. She looks at me in panic, gasping, and immediately falls silent. I step closer to her and whisper the following into her ear:

“You listen to me very carefully now! I didn’t kill your bitch of a friend! And I didn’t kill the son of a bitch who called himself my best friend! It was a tragic accident that cost them both their lives. I wasn’t even near them that night! That’s what the police reports say. So don’t fuck with me. Take an overdose and do the world a favor by ridding it of a useless person like you. Here, let me help you with that.”

Angrily, I pull several bills out of my pocket and throw them at her feet before letting her go.

“What, it can’t be. You were there! I know you were there! I testified against you back then! You… you… How did you get out of it? And who is this woman? Is she your new victim? Are you going to kill her too, like all your girlfriends before? I did some research on you, sick bastard, when you were in prison. So you can’t fool me,” she continues, pouring salt into an old wound that has not yet healed.

I grab her by the neck again, and with my other hand, I grip her jaw as tightly as I can until I feel it crack under my fingers; she moans in pain as I smash the back of her head brutally against the wall again until she finally shuts up.

“You don’t know shit about me! I’m not a murderer, but I will become one if you provoke me any further or if I see you near me or her again! Have I made myself clear, Jenny?” I press out so dangerously and darkly that even a stupid piece of shit like Jenny understands I’m serious.

I apply firm pressure to her neck and jaw for a moment before I let go of her, and she slides down the wall in a daze and lands on her ass. Coughing and choking, she clutches her throat but doesn’t dare look up at me again.

“If I ever see you again, you’ll wish you’d died from an overdose instead.”

With that, I turn away from this insignificant piece of shit for good and head back to you. Meanwhile, I try to calm down and sort myself out. But this time, it’s not so easy for me because the images of the past are tugging at the walls of my brain, trying to overwhelm me with their flashbacks.

Jenny’s words won’t let go of me. I know that my ex loved me. You love me! Not him!

My breathing quickens, and my heart pounds against my chest as hard as if I’d just finished a two-hour workout. Sweat is pouring down the back of my neck, and it feels like I’m burning up from the inside out.

Jenny’s words… can’t be true. It was a one-off slip-up. You swore to me… fuck!

The darkness inside me swallows me up and tears me apart piece by piece reminding me that I was careless with my property back then. I should have been more careful. I should have been more attentive and, above all, I should never have trusted my best friend. He seduced my ex, deceived her, and promised her things so that she would jump into bed with him. I can’t explain it any other way because she was an angel. My angel!

NO! Stop! You are my angel. My focus. My haven of peace. You’re the only woman I want to think about right now. Everyone else doesn’t matter. They are no longer important. I’ve got rid of them all for you so that I can be by your side now.

Now, we just need to get rid of your stupid husband, and then we can finally be happy. You love me. You want me. You will never cheat on me, and you will never make the same mistake as the others. No, not you.

“Ezra, is everything okay?” Your worried voice rings out, and I can hear it. You’re unsure and want to know what’s going on.

Everything? I can’t tell you everything, beautiful. If I do, I know that I will lose you. You are too kind-hearted and innocent for this world—my world—for my darkness. I must never show it to you and never let you taste pure evil, lest I defile you with it. Your soul must remain pure to make the dark stains on mine fade a little.

“All good. Just an old friend who couldn’t believe I was back in town. Sorry about that,” I reply, bridging the last few steps so that your closeness grounds me again and soothes my inner turmoil.

You bring me down when I’m about to freak out. Only you can do that, no one else. I need you, Beauty. I need you and your closeness. Your love! You must love me so that I can finally escape this vicious circle. Save me, Beauty!

I know I can be the good guy for you—the perfect man for the perfect woman. I can do that for you.

Your eyebrows furrow in confusion, and you look at me as if you're not entirely convinced. Yet, you stay silent and let me clarify things on my own. That’s exactly why I adore you so much—because of your kind heart and your respect for my boundaries. You’re not pressing me for more details but letting me choose what I want to share and what I prefer to keep to myself.

I step close to you and gently take your beautiful face in my hands to look deep into your eyes.

“It was an old friend, and we… didn’t end well. But now we’ve sorted everything out, and I apologize to her for my bad behavior back then. She met me at a terrible time, and I didn’t want to be reminded of it, so I avoided her and didn’t tell her I was back in the neighborhood. She was just surprised and angry, too. Understandably so. But it’s all good now, I promise, Beauty. Please don’t let this ruin our evening. Please,” I whisper against your full lips and lean my forehead against yours, pleading for you to have mercy on me and not take away the last few hours of our evening.

Because we both know that I need to bring you back soon, even though the thought makes me uneasy, I don’t want to take you back to him. Hand you over to him as if you still belong to him. You belong to me! You want to belong to me because you love me and want to be with me. Then what’s the point of all this hiding and dancing around, Beauty?