Page 129 of The Reluctant Hero

I shove him out of the way and start hammering on the door with both fists nonstop. I can barely hear her yelling over the noise. Let her be pissed. That makes two of us.

When she yanks the door open, I almost fall inside. Trying to regain my balance, I lose my grip on the photo, and it ends up poking her in the face.

Good enough.

“What the fuck, lady!” I scream at the top of my lungs.

She’s stunned by the picture’s corner stabbing her cheek. I brush past her uninvited and throw myself on her couch to be a real ass. I’m not leaving unless I get arrested or she tries to blow me up with her oxygen tank.

Manny shifts around in the doorway, suddenly timid again.

“Get your ass in here, Manny,” I snarl.

“Who do you think you are, young lady?” Mrs. Danvers uses her stern lecturing tone as she spins on me. She’s pretty agile when she’s pissed.

“I’m the person you’ve been tormenting, and I want to know why!” I brush off her rage as mine mounts unbearably. The root of this mystery was living on the first floor all along. If I pinch her cheeks, will a mask come off?

“You knowwhy,” she intones wrathfully. “Don’t pretend you’re innocent.”

“Innocent of what? Trying to divorce the asshole in these disgusting pictures?” I fling a hand out to point at the photo. “And youtouchedthose! You looked at them and said you know who deserves to see this shit? Amanda.”

“As if you didn’t already know,” her chin tips up as she stalks to me in her uneven gait.

“That Loser is a raging nymphomaniac? No. I didn’t know. His bedroom performance would never have led me in that direction,” I sneer at her. “These damn things freaked me out enough that I got every single STD test imaginable!Twice!”

“Damn,” Manny mutters, eyeing the picture curiously. Luckily, it landed face down, so he doesn’t see anything.

“Don’t you dare,” I shake a finger at him. “Trust me when I say what has been seen can’t be unseen.”

“And that was a ton of envelopes,” his stare turns horrified as he looks at the back of Mrs. Danvers's head.

“No. Really?” I ask sweetly with a bitter tinge. “What the fuck is going on?”

Mrs. Danvers scoffs bitterly. “Stop playing innocent.”

I stand to lean into her face. She isn’t expecting the threatening move. I can tell by how her eyes widen in sudden fear. She doesn’t back down, though.

“Why am I getting these? And the names. Who are these people? And what’s it to you?”

Her eyes dart between mine, sudden confusion swamping her.

“You really don’t know?”

“Duh,” I say mockingly.

“How stupid are you?”

I blink at that. Thanks so much for calling me out, Mrs. Danvers. “I married him. I’d say that’s pretty fucking stupid, wouldn’t you?”

Her shoulders slump in sudden defeat. She’s aged ten years right in front of me. I rear back in unwilling concern.

“Sit down,” she snaps at me and then turns a baleful eye on Manny. “I want my hundred back.”

Manny winces, but I hold out a staying hand. “He delivered. I got it. No refunds. Get the fuck out of here, Manny.”

He doesn’t need to be told twice.

She huffs while I flop myself back on her couch. When the door closes, she glares at me and shuffles to take another cushion.

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