Page 69 of Never Been Worse

She’s hurt.

She’s angry.

She deserves her petty little revenge and so much more. And I’m going to make sure she gets it.

“You’re my wife, Harper. If someone wrongs my wife, we’re getting even.”

“We’ve already done that. He gets to see me moving on with someone bigger and better, and that will eat at him and his ego alive.” I smile because I sure as fuck like the idea of that, but I need more.

Harperdeservesmore.

“It’s not enough,” I tell her. “Seeing you better off without him, it’s not enough.”

“I don’t—” she starts, but I’m standing, grabbing her hand and pulling her with me toward the kitchen.

“Come on. We have work to do.” My mind is already spinning with ideas and calls I need to make in the morning. I told Harper no one gets to fuck with her, no one gets to disrespect her anymore, not now that she’s mine, and thatdefinitelyincludes her fuckwad of an ex. “What do you want? Cookies? Wine, a soda?” I ask, reaching for a beer for myself and turning toward her. “We have a long night ahead of us.”

“A long night?”

“We’ve got plans to make.”

She sighs deeply. “Wes, that isn’t—“ I step closer to her, abandoning my drink on the counter and backing her into the kitchen cabinets. “I don’t need revenge. I want to succeed. I want to succeed without him, that would be enough for me.”

I didn’t want to plant this seed in her mind, something new for her to worry about, but I know she wouldn’t agree to this if I didn’t.

“And if he does it to someone else?” I ask softly, my hand resting on her cheek to keep her from looking away. “What then? Or if he reaches out again, wanting more of your undeniable talent?”

Her face goes blank, clearly not having thought of that. “He wouldn’t.”

“You don’t know that. You never thought you’d be here, either, Harper. He needs to be stopped.”

“Honey, I appreciate this, really, I do.” Heat blossoms at herhoney, but it cools with her hesitance. “We tried messing with him once before. It ended terribly.”

“Baby, no offense, but you did it sloppily and impulsively,” I say, and the glare she gives me has me smiling.

“And this time we’re not?”

“No, because you’re doing it with me.” She rolls her eyes, but I keep going. “This time we plan it. We don’t half-ass it. We’re going to fuck with him, and we’re going to do it strategically.”

“And how do we do that?” she asks, and since it’s not a full-out denial, I go with it, stepping away from her and finding the paper and pen I need in the kitchen junk drawer before leaning onto the kitchen island. She’s at my side, watching me with intrigue as I write three topics and underline each one twice.

“We target the main tiers,” I say. “Career, personal life, reputation.” She stares at the words I wrote like she’s considering it. “Come on. It doesn’t even have to be anything crazy. Just inconveniencing.”

I’ll handle the rest, I think.

“It won’t be anything that could get us arrested?” I shake my head.

“I’ll make sure nothing can be traced back to you.” She tips her head, and I roll my eyes. “Or me.” Time passes, and I think I might not have gotten through to her, but then a small smile tips on her lips.

“Okay,” she says, and I smile wide.

“Okay?”

“Okay. We can brainstorm revenge. Nothing crazy, and I don’t know if I’ll even want to act on it, but let's do it. For the catharsis.” She’s close to me, smiling wide, and god, she’s beautiful.

She’s all mine and whether she wants me to or not, I’m going to protect what’s mine.

“All right, little wife. Let’s start planning.”

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