Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
He rolls his head back, then levels me with a glare. “Forgiveness?” His laugh holds nothing of the man I thought he was. He’s become unrecognizable, worse than the man I met in the elevator of Landers Ventures. “Business is business, sweetheart,” he says with less venom than before.
I thought I hated myself for causing this, for being pushed into a corner and saying things I knew I’d regret. I hate him more. “I wasn’t your business. I was your—”
“What were you, Sass? My girlfriend? My wife?”
“The label doesn’t matter. I should have been safe with you.”
“Nothing is safe in this city. Not if I have a say.” The severe lines tracking across his brow collapse as he pauses, seemingly losing his footing in the anger.
I thought I would be immune to attack if he loved me enough. He doesn’t, not like I love . . . loved him. His words cut like a knife. There is no coming back from this, so I let the wound bleed out. “Not even me.”
The intensity of his glare has me looking back at the suitcase. I don’t care enough about these clothes to continue this fight. I start to close it, but he reaches down with his eyes set on the case. “My heart wasn’t enough. You want my shirt as well?” He yanks a maroon tee from the stash, sending something hard flying out with it to land at his feet.
As if things weren’t bad enough already . . . I feel sicker than I already did watching him bend down and pick up the broken phone. Fuel to his already blazing fire, he looks from the phone to me and grits his teeth. “Is this what I think it is?”
I’m not going to be able to negotiate a smooth release by pleading momentary insanity. I cringe, thinking about all the things I’ve done to keep a charade going that should never have been a thing in the first place.
He says, “You’re awfully quiet for someone who claims to be innocent in all this.”
“I never claimed to be innocent or virtuous. I was doing what I thought was best.”
“Fucking me over? That’s a great fucking plan there.” His eyes ice over, the chill causing me to shiver in front of him.
My tears finally fall, unable to wager against a tyrant. “There’s no point in talking to you. You don’t want the truth like you claim. You want another apology and a yes-man. I’m not your guy for that.”
“You weren’t anything to me except a stranger who wanted me dead.” He shrugs unapologetically. “Guess what? I lived, sweetheart.”
I close the case, this time locking it, and grab the duffel bag. Despite my push to honor his wishes, he stands in my way while I stare at his chest. I have a stubborn streak, and sometimes that involves having the last word, even when it would benefit me more to keep my mouth shut. Looking him straight in the eyes, ignoring that my heart is shattered in my chest, I raise my chin and say, “And here I thought the accident made you a better person.”
“Guess it didn’t stick.” He moves aside.
I keep my eyes locked on his when I pass by. “You’re an asshole. You know that, Warner?”
“I’m okay being an asshole because what you see is what you get, but not with you.” He follows me down the hall just to get his licks in. “You’re so deep in your lies that you don’t even know who you are anymore, Delaney. If that’s even your real name.”
I stop and turn back, shocked by how low he’s willing to go. “You know good and well that’s my name.” I snub him by raising my nose in the air. “I wear it with pride.”
Just as I turn back, he says, “Sure as fuck could have fooled me, considering how you jumped at the opportunity to be a Landers the moment you saw an opening. You tossed it around with my doorman, worked over my mother to get on her good side, and anyone else you could force to listen while you name-dropped around the city.”
Setting the bags down, I slow clap for him. “There he is. I knew the real you was still in there somewhere. Bravo for holding back for so long.”
“Speaking of high-dollar performances, kudos to you for going the extra mile in bed.” He winks like we’re in on this together. “It really paid off.”
Anger creeps over my chest like fog, reaching my head and causing my blood to boil over. He has some freaking nerve! “How did it pay off exactly?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest to restrain my hands from breaking his other arm.
He walks around me and replies, “I’m not one to kiss and tell.”