Desired by All and He Threw Away 67

Chapter 67 

Taylor’s POV 

My pulse hasnt slowed since the glass clink hasnt slowed since i heard Dylan’s velvet voice winding its way around Ella wrapping doubt around her like a ribbon. 

Dylan’s steps echo against the stone floor deliberate and heavy.he rounds the corner catching sight of me before i can duck into a shadow.his smile is sharp teeth white in the dim light but it doesnt reach his eyes. 

“well well,” he sneers voice silk over steel. “Listening in, Taylor? Pathetic really. Jealous sounds more like it.” 

the words scrape across my nerves like fingernails on slate.i want to shrink into the wall disappear into the faint shadows behind the marble columns. 

but something snaps- a spark flares inside me hot and unwilling to be extinguished.my voice trembles at first but its fury not fear that colors the words when they finally escape. 

“my voice shakes but not from fear- fury coils in it like fire as i step closer forcing the words out even as my chest hammers. “Ella… don’t trust him. Don’t fall for him,” I say, eyes blazing, hands trembling at my sides. 

“You know he has slept with an under age girl. He’s used women before–you, me–he manipulates them, makes you think it’s care, makes you think it’s love.dont… dont make the same mistake i did.” 

the words cut through the quiet hallway like broken glass jagged and sharp. i can see her falter her lips parting uncertainty flickering in her eyes and i hate myself for the heat of it- but i cant stop.i wont let her walk into the same trap. 

the air between us slices into something jagged brittle electric.Dylan’s smirk stiffens the casual cruelty vanishing into something darker sharper. 

he lets out a cold humorless laugh that sends a chill down my spine. ” oh, please, Taylor. Don’t go around spilling lies. That matter with the minor? Already handled.you should really learn when to keep your mouth shut.” 

every syllable vibrates against the hallway walls.the tension is so thick i can almost taste it metallic and acrid sour in the back of my throat.my legs tremble slightly not from fear but from the surge of adrenaline coiling inside me like a spring ready to snap. 

Dylan steps closer eyes narrowing and my stomach drops.hes dangerous more dangerous than the smugness hes worn like armor. 

i take another step back heart hammering lungs tight.and then solid immovable grounding my shoulder collides with a familiar chest.my breath catches the world tilting for a heartbeat. 

Aiden. 

his arm snakes around my waist in one smooth instinctive motion. anchoring me.i can feel the steady beat of his heart the quiet power in the grip that holds me as if nothing else matters.he doesnt squeeze too tight just enough to remind the world or Dylan that im not alone. 

his expression is calm practiced. but the eyes- icy lethal warning cut through the dim light.his voice follows low and smooth every word precise controlled. ” careful,” he says and its not a suggestion. ” youre already one 

1/3 

word away from ending your carsHT? 

Dylan straightens puffing out his chest forcing a laugh that is eyes. “ob please” he says brittle now as though trying to prop himself up with words, 

tochiatry 

“shes just your toota toy you use when the cameras are today? 

Aiden’s hand tightens slightly at my waist selle be deliberate his tone drops lower lethal to its quier: “say another word and you wont see another day? 

the hallway goes still not a breath not a whisper the chandeliers glitter faintly overhead throwing fractured light across polished stone and the tension thick enough to taste, 

Dylan falters just for a moment then another, as if the air itself weighs him down. 

Ella stands frozen eyes wide lips parted she glances from Dylan to me, then to Aiden and then–finally–she registers the subtle dominance the quiet command in Aiden’s stance the protective heat of his hand pressed at my side, 

her gaze hardens jealousy and unease mingling in a flicker across her face, 

without another word Dylan steps back an almost imperceptible retreat Ella hesitates her eyes lingering on my side where Aiden’s hand remains grounding me guarding me claiming some unspoken territory. 

then with a small, tight exhale she turns away walking back toward the terrace with Dylan trailing close behind their footsteps fade swallowed by the quiet night leaving only the faint echo of tension behind them. 

the hallway exhales with them the oppressive weight lifting slowly though my pulse still thrums against my ribs.my chest rises and falls in shallow. quick breaths. 

Aiden’s arm doesnt move i can still feel the warmth steady and unyielding the quiet strength radiating from him in the space where the chaos just erupted. 

i want to step away to breathe,to touch the floor with bare hands and feel the marble cool against my skin but i dont. Not yet his hand is steady, protective,possessive impossibly grounded amid the shards of confrontation. 

it presses against my hip and i let it be. Let it anchor me. 

the night outside the open archway is quiet the city lights scattered like spilled sequins across the black water of streets below. 

music from the gala hums faintly through the walls distant and unreal a reminder of the world that still spins without noticing the collision that just happened in this hallway. 

i lean back slightly into him careful not to make it obvious careful to keep my face neutral though my pulse hasnt slowed the air smells faintly of his cologne wood and something clean and strong the scent almost like safety almost like possession. 

i taste the faint metallic tang of adrenaline still lingering on my tongue. 

its over. Dylan is gone. Ella is gone.and yet the weight of the night of what was almost said of what could have spiraled still hums in my veins. 

2/3 

+25 Borus 

Aiden’s gaze shifts though it doesnt leave the point behind us where Dylan disappeared his lips twitch almost imperceptibly a hint of warning or amusement frant fell but his hand remains at my waist quiet and unyielding 

i swallow the lump of adrenaline and fear and relief settling in my throat i can feel him there grounding me and for the first time tonight I allow myself a fraction of stillness. 

the chaos of the gala continues somewhere far away a world i am part of yet apart from but here in the dimly lit hallway in the narrow space between marble walls and fading echoes theres a moment that belongs only to me 

and him. 

a pause in the storm solid and sharp as the click of heels on polished stone as lethal as a whispered threat as protective as a heartbeat pressed into my back. 

and i dont move. I can’t move.not yet.not until i can decide what it all means and what i will do next. 

Aiden’s hand doesnt move.and in this quiet in this suspended heartbeat i finally understand- he is the storm i can trust and the one i cant afford to underestimate.