Page 75 of The Bloke

Sliding my arm under her knees, I quickly picked her up and followed Nick out the rear of the casino floor and towards the back exit.

“I need to get her home, Nick.” I urged as we cleared the doors and made a beeline into the parking garage, not wanting to waste any more time.

She was in no condition to handle the repercussions of failing to complete her test, and neither was I.

“I’ll take care of Dustin—explain everything to him.” He assured me. “You just take care of your wife.” His eyes softened as he blew out a sigh.

“I can’t follow through if he doesn’t reconsider.” I could feel the lack of strength in my voice.

“I know, mate… I know.”

Nick pulled out his phone as he headed towards his car, and I carried my wife in the opposite direction towards ours.

She passed out in the passenger seat before we even made it out of the garage, her adrenaline high finally wearing off.

Chapter 35

Sienna

True love doesn’t comewithout sacrifice, and sometimes, that could seem more like a betrayal than anything else. When I took that bullet, I took it to protect my husband, but because I had to leave him in the dark, I betrayed him.

I betrayed his trust, and now I hesitated to wake up and deal with the consequences of my actions as justified as they felt.

The pain I saw in his eyes that night broke me in more ways than one. I deserved his wrath and whatever punishment lay in my wake. I deserved the repercussions for failing my test when I didn’t have to.

I could have killed Jameson, but instead, I chose not to.

Instead, I chose to play along and hand him over to the LVSF.

“I know you’re awake…” My husband’s gentle but stern voice cut across the room, and I peered through narrowed eyes to seehim standing at the far end of our bedroom, leaning his back against the dresser.

His eyes darkened as he glared at me, and I knew nothing I could say would change his mind—he was done with me.

And yet, why was I tucked into our bed, clean of any blood, my wound covered with a fresh bandage, and wearing one of his white T-shirts?

Was I imagining things?

You didn’t care for the person who wronged you; my husband would be the last to care about anyone who betrayed him.

I rubbed my eyes with my knuckles before opening them fully, focusing on Colby and his hardened appearance.

“I—”

“Why?” He demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I didn’t—”

“You didn’t think to tell me about your involvement with the LVSF? How they hijacked your test, and you fucking let them?” His voice was unnervingly calm—almost lethal.

One wrong word, and he would rip me to shreds.

“I did it to protect you,” I whispered, my voice trembling with anger and fear.

I did this for him; I did everything for him.

“For fuck sake, Sienna. Do I look like the kind of man that needs protecting?” He barked, stepping towards the bed and flexing his hands in and out of fists. “Why didn’t you fucking tell me?” His eyes burned into mine with feral rage.

“We had just—I couldn’t—and I wasn’t…” Stammering, I couldn’t find the words I was searching for—a valid excuse for my deceit. There was no good excuse for what I had done, and he knew it.

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