Free Between Loves (The Pendant Series Book 2) by Cynthia Austin

hadn’t found Chrissy and continued to harass her. Ray was my problem. She shouldn’t have to deal with his callousness. I headed towards the back patio but then I noticed his cell phone sitting next to his empty glass on the table. It was glowing brightly as it registered a text message. I knew that it was wrong for me to read it but something told me to open it. I slowly approached the bar, not wanting to, but needing to see its sender.
    One new message.
    I opened it and my heart sank as I saw the picture of the redhead.
    The sentiment was even more devastating to me.
     
    Counting down the minutes until Friday. I miss you.
     
    My stomach sank as I read the same line over and over again. I had suspected it but now I held the proof in my hand. Ray was still seeing Lilly. As my pain began to subside and anger took its place, I hastily decided on the best way to handle this. I felt like throwing the phone against the wall but I had a better idea. I decided to search the history of their communications. I was appalled by the results. There were hundreds of text messages between them. Worse yet, Ray told her on Sunday that I was coming back with him on Friday. Lilly knew I was joining him in L.A., which meant she could have been the one behind my attack and Nouri’s murder.
    I spun around and marched through the bar, searching for that lying jerk. Pushing past the people in my way, my only focus was on blond hair and blue eyes. I found him outside on the back patio. He had his back to me as he leaned against the wall, once again keeping our pathetic bartender away from her job.
    Almost instantly, it felt as if something had possessed my body and I no longer had control over what happened next. There was no way I could be held accountable for my actions. I shoved Ray so hard, he lost his balance and went crashing into Jenna. I saw her big eyes widen to an unnatural size when she saw the crazed look on my face. She must have suspected that I was furious because Ray was speaking with her. Truly, I couldn’t care less about her, but right now I was in no mood to explain it.
    Ray spun around and put his hands in the air, “Sid. What the hell?”
    I waved his phone above my head as I yelled, “You’re still talking to her.”
    He took a step towards me to defuse the situation but the fire had already been lit. Before I could realize what was happening, my arm swung back and I launched the phone as hard as I could directly at Ray’s face. I had never been good in sports; hand-eye coordination was a quality I did not possess. Hitting a bull’s eye on a dartboard never happened for me, but tonight, somehow my throw perfectly found its mark.
    It hit Ray directly in the eye.
    The blow didn’t stop him and he continued to come at me. I turned around and headed toward the front door. I didn’t want to hear Ray’s excuses this time. I just wanted to leave. I wanted him to go back to L.A. and never return, allowing me to heal and finally move on from this torturous relationship.
    I burst through the front door and scanned the area, looking for the fastest escape route. Ray may have been a muscular god but there was no way he could outrun me, and running seemed to be the only way to get away from him. I could clearly hear him yelling behind me to wait for him.
    I abruptly turned around and asked in amazement, “Are you freaking kidding me, Ray? All this time you’ve been demanding that I stop seeing Adrian so we could start over, and meanwhile you’re still in a relationship with her!”
    I shook my head vehemently. “You want me to change when you’re the problem? It’s you, Ray. It’s always been you. You’re the toxic one in this relationship. If anything, Adrian is helping me see that.”
    I turned around and kicked my legs into gear as I left him in the dust, something I should have done long ago.
    He shouted defiantly, “Whatever, Sid. Run away from your problems like you always do.”
    Of course, he was drunk.
    Ray