Page 47 of Scarred Heart

That thought was still at the forefront when I had no choice but to grit my teeth and give in to the sensation rushing through my body.My balls pulled up, and I came until my ears rang, then collapsed in a heap at her side.She was splayed out on the bed, breathless, glowing in the morning sun.I would’ve given anything to freeze this moment.To live in it forever.

Fuck, was this love?It didn’t matter how I tried to fight it.There was never any hope.

When she sighed heavily, I almost believed she’d heard my thoughts and was reacting.Instead, she opened her eyes and groaned.“I really need to get moving.I have to go home and get ready for work.”

“Take a day off,” I suggested, but she only laughed.

“Would you mind if I take a shower first?”When I arched an eyebrow, she shook her head.“No, that is not an invitation.I really do need to move my ass, and something tells me you’re not going to help things.”

“Are you kidding?I’ll wash your back while you take care of the front.You will get done in half the time.”

“Yes, because I’m sure it would be that easy.”When I reached out, hoping to grab hold of her, she managed to escape my clutches and roll out of bed.I took in the sight of her glorious ass as she ducked into the bathroom and closed the door.

As much as I would’ve liked to spend the rest of the day doing exactly what we had just finished, she had a point.We both needed to get on with our lives.It was so easy to escape back to this world we were creating together, even if neither of us meant to do it.Whenever it was the two or three of us, if Hannah was around, there was no one else in existence.Only us.And somehow, that was enough.

Who am I turning into?

All I knew was I could never be the man I was before.

For the first time in as long as I could remember, I had left my phone in my pants pocket instead of making sure to place it on the nightstand where I could easily reach it.Nothing had mattered more than getting her out of her clothes and taking her.Now, I got up, running my hands through my hair to smooth it a little while looking around for my pants.I found them kicked halfway under the bed and reached down to pull the phone free.

That was when I discovered my mistake.I should’ve been paying attention to the phone.

Bruce:Call me immediately.

Connor:Jesus Christ, call me when you see this.

Lex:What the fuck is this story about you?Is it true?How the hell did I not know?

That was only the beginning.There were so many more texts and missed calls.A sense of the world coming to an end gripped me, even as the sound of Rowan's soft humming in the shower filled the air.It wasn’t.It couldn’t be.

She wouldn’t…

All it took was opening the text app and clicking the link Lex had sent.The headline was a punch in the gut that took my knees out from under me, making me drop to the bed while I stared in disbelief at the ugly accusation.

Ugly because it was true.

Tech Guru Guilty of Destroying Actress’s Career

I struggled to skim the first few lines of the story, every word making my blood run colder—Spencer Collins’ reckless driving caused a brutal car crash, which left his pregnant girlfriend permanently disfigured… fled the country while her family was forced to raise the daughter he refused to acknowledge.

No.Anything but this.I was going to be sick.My stomach churned, and I was sure whatever was left in there would come out all over me and my phone and everything else.It wasn’t possible.Yet there it was, in front of me.The deepest betrayal.A knife to the heart.

It had to be somebody else.

Amazing, the way I immediately jumped to defend her.I didn’t want to believe it, but who else could it have been?Few people knew about the crash, but even fewer knew about Hannah and the circumstances she grew up in.

Disappointment crashed into me, stole the air from my lungs, and left me shaking.This was a woman I thought I would want for the rest of my life, and all the time, she had planned on betraying me this way.There was no other explanation.Unless Dad did it to get back at me somehow, but why would he?It would mean implicating himself in the cover-up.

I stood when the bathroom door opened, my back to her when she emerged.“That water pressure is insane,” she reported with a happy sigh.“What I wouldn’t give to have that at my place.”

Even now, she pretended.My blood was boiling, my heart was pounding, and bile was rushing into my throat.She was the only one who could’ve done it—he only one with a reason to get back at me.

“I hope you’re proud of yourself,” I growled, turning toward her, watching her eyes widen as she stopped in the middle of running a towel over her body.

“Excuse me?”She had the nerve to let out a disbelieving laugh as she looked behind her like she was searching for whoever I must be talking to.“What did I do wrong now?I wasn’t even in the bathroom for long.”

I pitched the phone across the bed, watching as it landed in front of her.She looked down at it, then up at me, her features pulled together in confusion.

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