Entangled (Entangled Trilogy #1) (19 page)

When he opened his mouth to
answer, someone came up behind me and Adrian sighed and motioned
for me to turn around. I obeyed him, for now, and saw that it was
Maddie and Mark. I raised an eyebrow and Mark instantly put an arm
around Maddie’s waist while she stood there grinning.

“So . . . you two are officially a
thing?” I asked while they nodded in agreement.

“That’s nice. It’s about time,”
Adrian grinned, stepped up and put an arm around my waist to pull
me closer to him. Adrian looked down at me, smiling while his eyes
sparkled, silently telling me to exonerate him. To forget what just
happened between us.

Adrian acted as if that talk never
happened. When I shot him an icy glare, he detached his arm from my
waist and stepped back, taking the hint. He looked down at his feet
again while Mark and Maddie snickered quietly and I shot both of
them a glare to shut them up.

“
You two really need to stop
fighting,” Mark told me rather than Adrian.

“
Yeah. Alice, you two can’t stand
each other at all,” Maddie smirked.

“
Yeah, look who’s talking,” I
smiled and they both came over to hug me.

“
Thank you so much for convincing
her to date me,” Mark whispered in my ear and I smiled. Those two
were so alike, they deserved to be together. After a few minutes of
chitchatting, the couple left and Adrian stood less than five feet
away from me, looking down at his feet again.

“
I’m sorry,” I apologized for I
don’t know what. Probably for acting like a brat. He was probably
thinking of a way to break up with me.

“
Don’t apologize, Roza,” Adrian
said, still not looking up at me. Something was wrong with
him.

“
What’s wrong, Adrian?” I
asked.

“
Are
we
a couple, Roza? I am
not really sure if we really are dating or not. Are
we
official?,” he
enquired me unobtrusively.

“
Yes, we are,” I grinned and his
head snapped up to meet my gaze. I didn’t even need to hesitate to
answer that question; that’s how easy it was.

Adrian smiled and a few girls
passed by us, waving to him, smirking and some of them gestured the
old call me motion with their hands.

They were all prettier than me and
I suddenly felt a pang of jealousy. What if Adrian left me for
someone prettier? Well, he did deserve them. He was great looking
and he deserved someone as good looking as him. I pretended to look
down at my fingers and Adrian ran over to me, picked me up in his
arms and twirled me around to show the other girls that he was
already taken.

“
Adrian, please put me down,” I
begged in a small voice and he instantly put me down, his smile
replaced by a frown.

“
Now, what’s bothering my
beautiful girlfriend?” Adrian asked me, reading my mind or
something. I gasped and looked up at him, tears burning my eyes. No
one really called me beautiful before, except for my brother. Your
own siblings are supposed to compliment you; it’s the circle of
life.

“
Nothing,” I replied, forcing a
small smile onto my face.

“
Hey, do you really think that I
would leave you for girls like them?” Adrian took my face in his
hands and looked into my eyes, trying to read me. I wanted to
scream out a yes in response, but I held myself back. “You’re
beautiful in every way possible and I wouldn’t leave you for anyone
else,” he smiled and hugged me. Adrian was now my boyfriend, of
course, boyfriends are meant to compliment you.

I quickly pulled away from him and
he really looked upset now. His expression was a mixture of pain
and sorrow.

“
I have to go,” I said, turning
around to leave with Adrian tailing behind.

“
I’ll walk you home,” he said
softly, taking my hand in his and this time, I let him.

* * * * *

When I walked into my house,
Elliot was waiting on the other side, impatiently tapping his foot
on the glossy marble and porcelain floor. The whole house was all
glossy and shiny and perfect, unlike me. Elliot was the perfect one
and not me. I envied his looks, his height, his eyes and his
personality and everything about him. Tears burned my eyes, but I
ignored them.

“
Adrian,” I sighed and he didn’t
ask me any questions at all.

“
Yeah, he’s a great guy,” Elliot
murmured before heading for his room and I did the same.

When I entered my room, I saw that
the glass door to my balcony was wide open. I quickly ran over to
close it. I don’t remember leaving it open. Why was it open? I ran
over to my bedside table to see if everything in there was still .
. . there. Oh, everything was there alright but now, the note
caught my attention.

There was a note on the table with
my name on it. The person who broke in to my room must’ve put it
there. My instincts told me to go to Elliot but I remained still,
looking at the letter with cautious and curious eyes. I took it in
my hands and slowly opened it. The writing was in red and it
smelled a bit coppery. Was it blood? I began to read it.

* * * * *

Rose,

Such a beautiful name for such a
beautiful girl. In case you were wondering, yes, this letter is
indeed written with blood. Not just any blood, a fallen angel’s
blood. Judging by your carelessness, you don’t know what you are
yet, do you? Don’t worry, I won’t tell you either. It is so funny
watching you suffer, trying to find out more about your past. If I
tell you now, then you’ll die because of your fate. I could do that
and kill you instantly, but I won’t. It is funnier watching you in
pain. Mark my words, Rose; I will be your death. I will make sure
that you don’t come back. I’ve been watching you for a long time
now. If you don’t do as I say, let’s just say I will be your
nightmare dressed up as a daydream, sweetheart. Now, listen to me
carefully. That angel you are dating, the one with the curly hair,
is a very nice person you know. It would be such a shame to see him
dead or heartbroken. I prefer the heartbroken. Rose, you are going
to break up with Adrian in the most painful way possible. Do as I
say or else . . . Stay away from him. He is a bad influence. Take
the hint woman; you’re not good enough for him. Break up with him
for your next letter. I will know if you’ve broken his heart or
not. If you fail to obey me, then you know what is going to happen.
Oh, one more thing. You mustn’t share this letter with anyone else.
I mean it when I say anyone. Your loved ones’ lives are in my
hands. You make the choice of setting them free or not. Sweet
dreams, sweetheart.

Love,

Your secret admirer.

* * * * *

Who is this person? Who could it
be? What did he mean when he said that I didn’t know what I was?
What was my fate? I can’t break up with Adrian. I just can’t I’ve
totally fallen for him. I love him. So it’s true what they say. “If
you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it was, and
always will be yours. If it never returns, it was never yours to
begin with.” I have to let him go. He was never mine to begin
with.

CHAPTER 19

UNCONDITIONALLY, FOREVER AND
ALWAYS

Who could that be? I know for sure
that James didn’t write that letter because first of all, he would
never use blood. He knows for sure that blood makes me squeamish.
James would never call me sweetheart and if he wanted me to break
up with Adrian, he would come up to me and say it. But then again,
no one says, “I’m your worst nightmare dressed like a daydream,”
other than James and Lucifer so they are on the top of the list.
James knows that he shouldn’t threaten me so James is off the hook.
Maybe not completely; no one is off the hook.

I can’t break up with Adrian. He
is the one I love unconditionally. I will love him forever and
ever. I don’t know why but I feel a strong emotional and physical
connection to him. I love him. No matter how many times I say it,
he will always be mine and mine only. I truly do love
him.

“What’s wrong, Rose?” Elliot
asked, making me jump out of my daydream. I needed to come up with
some sort of a boring excuse to make him get the hell out of here.
If Elliot finds out about the letter, then everyone I love will be
dead. I turned around to face him and unfortunately, I stuttered
out my next words.

“N-nothing, Ells. Just a lot of
h-homework,” I laughed nervously and he didn’t buy it. Great, just
my luck.

“You can run, but you cannot hide,
Rose. What’s wrong? Is it Adrian? I swear that if he hurt a single
hair on your head, I’m going to rip that little—,” Elliot
threatened but I cut him off. There was no way he was going to do
that to Adrian.

“Elliot Edwards Hathaway! You are
not supposed to swear, remember?” I scolded. This was probably the
first time I would be using his full name. First and Last time I
guess.

“Oh, sorry,” he
muttered.

“It’s okay and it’s not Adrian.
Don’t hurt him; please don’t,” I begged and he nodded.

“Really, what’s wrong?” Elliot
asked.

“Nothing. I swear, it’s nothing,”
I said and he smiled at me. He believed me. This was just
great.

“Alright, I’ll leave you to it,”
Elliot smiled and headed off to his room. Once he was gone, I shut
every single door in my room and broke down. I love Adrian. I can’t
help it. I love him. I can’t break up with him. I have to set him
free. If you love something, let it go. If it never returns, it was
never yours. Adrian was never mine to begin with.

* * * * *

“Roza,” Adrian smiled into my
neck. He was sitting on my bed with me on top of his lap. It has
been five days since the letter. I have two more days, that’s it.
Just two more days to break up with him or else . . . How could I?
I tried, but it’s not very easy. I’m tired of that letter bossing
me around. If today didn’t work out, then I’m going to take drastic
measures.

Adrian leaned in to kiss me and I
let him, knowing that this could be our last kiss. He kissed me
softly and he slowly ran his tongue over my lower lip. I grant him
access and ran my hand through his silky auburn hair. I might not
get to do that ever again. His tongue invaded my mouth and I still
let him. He kissed me a bit longer and then left my lips, trailing
kisses from my jawline all the way down to my
collarbone.

“Adrian, I . . . I . . . have to
te-tell . . . you so—,” I tried to say in between our kisses, but
he silenced me with a longer kiss this time. He continued to kiss
me and then kissed my collarbone. I tugged on his hair, pulling him
closer and closer to me. I had to physically push him away this
time with the little bit of self-control I had.

“Roza?” he asked, his face filled
with confusion. Adrian’s eyes were filled with love, his hair
messy, his cheeks a light shade of pink and his lips swollen from
the kissing. Even with all of this, he still managed to look
handsome. This is going to be harder than I thought.

“Adrian, I don’t think we should
continue to see each other anymore,” I said and detached myself
from him. He wouldn’t let me go.

“Nonsense,” Adrian smiled. “You
don’t mean that. Any second now, you are going to shout out April
Fools or something.” He started kissing me again. He trailed his
kisses halfway down my neck before I pushed him away
again.

“Adrian, I’m serious. This isn’t a
joke and I’m not going to yell out April Fools or anything because
it is only March,” I explained. I inaudibly cursed myself for using
logic at a time like this.

“What are you saying?” he said and
he tightened his hold on me. I untangled his hands from my waist
and stepped away from him. I looked out the balcony and he came up
from behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist again. He isn’t
going to let me go easily, will he?

“Adrian, I think we should break
up,” I said rather inaudibly. He quickly stepped away from me, his
expression impassive.

“You don’t mean that, do you?”
Adrian asked me quietly.

“I do, Adrian,” I said. He laughed
and ran a hand through his already muddled hair.

“I’ve always imagined you saying
those three magical words to me in our wedding, not during a break
up,” he laughed again with a distant look in his eyes.

“Adrian,” I said, gaining my voice
and self-control back again.

“
Bullshit! That’s what all of this
is,” Adrian snapped. I’ve never seen him this angry before. He is
usually more controlled than this. He doesn’t easily lose his
temper.

“Adrian, please. We have to stop
seeing each other,” I begged and he sighed.

“I should’ve known that all this
‘us’ thing was a lie,” he said bitterly, pointing to himself and me
when saying “us.”

“So you’ve faked our whole
relationship in an attempt to get me to love you?” I asked him, my
love replaced by anger.

“NO! I’ve really loved you from
the beginning. I’ve stayed by your side the whole time and what do
I get in return? Hate, pain, agony, torture,” Adrian laughed
bitterly. “You know what? We should stop seeing each other. That
moment when you came up to me to tell me that you love me, I knew
that it was too good to be true. I hate you, Rosemarie. I really
do,” Adrian snapped again and left my room. My whole body was
filled with horror. His beautiful green eyes had just turned black
moments ago, when he was yelling at me. I saw James’ eyes turn
black before. This was not a good sign. I felt emptiness where my
heart was. He never called me Rosemarie, just Roza.