Ruined By My Brother's Best Friend (by Silverwriter) novel Chapter 37

The Devil

ARABELLA’S POV

I hated being a mess. I hated it so much that I wished I had more control over my feelings and who I let affect me. But, as we’ve all come to realize at one point or another in our lives, if wishes were horses, we’d fly as high as we could

Despite my dislike for being an emotional mess, there was probably one thing I hated even more. Being put on the spot. I disliked unwanted attention, especially if said attention was the bad kind. The kind where people get to watch you struggle to keep it all together.

Memories of how I had to go through almost every damn thing I hated just hours ago flooded my mind as I took the painfully long walk from my office towards the exit of the building. I ignored the rude stares and muffled bickering some coworkers threw my way, pretending not to be aware of any of them even though that was far from the truth.

The moment the fresh air hit me as I walked past the parking lot and towards the busy road, I exhaled a heavy breath. feeling like I could finally breathe again. A smile crawled onto my lips the moment I caught sight of William leaning against his car and scrolling through his phone at the end of the parking lot.

He’d offered to pick Sierra and I up today, but we told him not to bother because we knew he was always quite busy. I stopped a few feet away from him, my heels announcing my presence. “You came,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief.

William tucked his phone into his pocket and smiled, his eyes twinkling with genuine excitement. “I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see you,” he said, moving forward and widening his arms to give me a hug.

I hugged him back before pulling away and ruffling his hair. “Thank you!”

He chuckled lightly and ruffled my hair too before looking around, his brows furrowed in mild confusion. “Where’s Sierra?”

I sighed. “She had to leave early. Her friend came to pick her up,” I informed him. By friend, I meant the guy she’d been talking to for weeks and who might soon be her boyfriend. But William didn’t need to know all the details yet.

He nodded. “Alright then.” Sighing, he pulled out his keys and unlocked his car. “I’ll make sure to check up on her soon.”

William moved to open the passenger door for me, and just as I was about to get in, I heard sudden footfalls that seemed to get closer and closer. Frowning, I turned towards the source, only for my face to fall and my mood to sour at the sight of the man approaching.

I gritted my teeth and turned back to the car before dropping into the passenger seat and closing the door harshly. I could feel William’s confused gaze burning into the side of my face, but I chose to ignore it and just waited patiently for him to round the car and get into the driver’s seat.

But instead of doing that, I heard him speak to the devil. “Hey, man. What brings you here?”

There was no reply. In fact, the silence stretched on for a while before William finally rounded the car and got into the

“Let’s just go, William,” I groaned in frustration. “Please.”

He sighed, and just as he was about to start the engine, his door was pulled open. I snapped my eyes up and watched as Alvise stood there confidently, his hands tucked into his pockets like he had every right to stop us from leaving. I hadn’t even realized he’d rounded the car to William’s side.

The tension in the air became thick and uncomfortable, so much so that I wanted nothing more than to disappear. But I couldn’t, and my only escape was now delayed.

I narrowed my eyes and glared at William. “You didn’t lock the car?”

He rubbed his temples. “I forgot.” He shook his head. “Look, I don’t even know what’s going on.”

Like an impatient man who was getting pissed off, Alvise leaned down until he was at eye level with us in the car. His eyes held mine, sparking with obvious rage, his jaw hard as he watched me for a tense second.

“Get. Out,” he ordered, his voice carrying so much authority that no one in their right mind would disobey.

Unfortunately, I was nowhere near sane. At least not today. I held his stare head-on, even though my heart was back to being a mess as I stared into those endless depths of blue. “No.”