Page 66 of Her Nightshade

There was a pause before he spoke. “You mean he hasn’t told you? That’s interesting. I thought you’d know by now.” He paused again. “Callan’s been drinking. And it’s not just a little relapse. We’re talking full-on spiral. I have proof, of course. Video evidence, photos. Do you think Sloane knows? Do you think she’d stick around if she did?”

“You’re lying,” I said weakly, though a sinking feeling in my gut told me he wasn’t.

“You know I’m not,” Jake said smoothly. “He’s reckless, Ana, and dangerous. Just like Charlie. And when it all comes crashing down, you’ll be the one picking up the pieces. Unless you do something now.”

My chest tightened with anxiety and I struggled to find my voice. “What do you want from me?”

“Simple,” he said casually, like we were discussing the weather. “End it with Charlie. Make it clear that it’s over. Come back to me. Otherwise, I’ll make sure the truth about Charlie comes out. And trust me, Ana, once the media gets ahold of it,andthe police, there won’t be anything left to salvage.”

I scoffed. “What the fuck are you doing, Jacob? Haven’t you taken enough from me already?” I asked bitterly.

There was a pause before he answered. “And haven’t you taken enough fromme? If you would’ve just stood by me, like the good fucking wife you were supposed to be, we would have made it through everything! And now you’re playing house with this twenty-something, immature rockstar who worships you, when you’re supposed to bemine!”

The muffled sound from the music on the stage stopped and I panicked, knowing Charlie would be in to check on me at anymoment. “You’re crazy if you think I’ll come back to you,” I muttered coldly.

“And you’re crazy if you don’t think I’ll ruin Charlie like a drop of the hat,” he bit back. “You don’t have any other choice, Ana. Leave him. Figure it out, or he’s gone.”

The call ended.

What the fuck am I going to do?

Charlie burst through the door, sweat clinging to his shirt, his eyes hungry for me. But he must have noticed something was off because his expression quickly shifted to worry.

“What’s wrong,mi diosa?” he asked quietly, pulling me close to him.

There was no way I could leave Charlie. There was no way I could put him through that. He wouldn’t survive it.

“I just missed you,” I said, forcing a small smile, though I could feel tears pricking at my eyes.

He studied my face, the worry etched across his face. “I’ll call it a day,” he said softly. “Let’s go home.”

* * *

The days that followed were torture. I checked on Sloane constantly, making sure she and Callan were okay. If Jake was telling the truth about Callan’s relapse, Sloane didn’t seem to know.

When I called her, she sounded cheerful, blissfully unaware. “We just did a walkthrough of the wedding venue today, Mom. It’s gonna be perfect.”

My heart ached. “And I was thinking,” she added hesitantly. “Maybe you could walk me down the aisle. I know Dad won’t. I don’t think he’ll even come.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Don’t worry about your father. I would love to walk you down the aisle,mi pequeña.”

As the days dragged on, my mind kept circling back to Jake. He kept sending messages, continuing the threats:

Do you remember the day we fucked for hours under the stars at the lake house? I’ll bet the kid you’re with now has no idea how to fuck a woman like you.

Ana, you’re running out of time. You need to leave him. I can do more than just expose him. Look what happened to Sarah. Don’t test me.

Do it soon. I can’t wait much longer.

A thought kept circling back to me: If Jake wanted me to leave Charlie, maybe I could pretend. Play along, lower his guard, and buy us some time. But the thought of deceiving Charlie felt like a knife twisting in my chest.

I kept wracking my brain, desperate for a way to gain the upper hand with Jake. What could I use against him? He’d been clean as a whistle during his presidency. Callan once joked he was a boy scout, the kind who always played by the rules. So how did he end up like this? Was it the forced resignation? Our divorce? Losing Sloane? Had all of it driven him to this obsessive, vengeful asshole?

The questions plagued my mind and yet the answer seemed painfully clear. What if I did go back to him—but not really? What if I pretended to leave Charlie, make Jake believe I had given in? Maybe it would buy me enough time to figure out how to stop him for good.

But the thought sent a wave of nausea through me. Charlie would die if I left him—emotionally, perhaps even physically. I could see the devastation in his eyes, the way it would break him.How do I do this?

I have to tell him. He deserves the truth, doesn’t he?But if I did, he’d do something reckless, something impulsive, something that would destroy everything and put him at even greater risk.I can’t tell him. But I have to. There’s no other way.

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