Page 88 of The Vow

“I’m waiting for answers,” my wife replied, folding her arms over her chest.

Without even trying, my body recalled the feel of her pressed to me. Muscle memory combined with heart chemistry. It was still hard to believe she was here with me.

“It’s late, Robber.” My jaw locked, and I roughly tugged the slip of my bow tie free and then shrugged out of my jacket. She made no move to leave as I rounded the bed, giving her a clear path to the exit, so I ordered low, “Go to bed.”

I didn’t want her here. Not after kissing her. Not seeing the look of betrayal on her face minutes later.Not after she’d given away her wedding ring—donating it to a man she despised.

In all this time, in all the ways she’d stood defiant against me—against us, watching her toss that ring, the one she’d kept for fifteen goddamn years, was like a knife to my soul.

“You should’ve told me the truth.”

I stopped, my head tilting toward my shoulder, but I refused to let myself turn. Her words were the sound of a sword pulled from stone. An impossibility. A feat of magic or fate.And something that came too late.

I couldn’t do this. Not tonight. Not when I’d have to walk away from her again in the morning.

“I’m a monster, Robber. You already knew that truth,” I said, my voice strained like a stone about to crack.

Striding into the bathroom, I tugged the door to shut it behind me and reached for the buttons on my shirt. My head cocked.

The door hadn’t clicked closed.

“Fine,” I told her, knowing I wasn’t alone in the bathroom. “What truth should I have told you?”

“That you didn’t and never planned on giving Belmont theinformation on my girls,” she answered, and I stiffened. “That you sent him fake information of associates of yours who you’d already warned.”

Goddammit, Pat.A hard exhale punched from my lungs as I turned.

Robyn stood with her arms bracketing the doorframe, her angry gaze matching the glittering ire in mine.

“That wasn’t his truth to share,” I said, my teeth ground tight. I didn’t care how many times he’d saved my life, stepping in to foster my forgiveness was a line he never should’ve crossed.

“Because you should’ve told me,” she repeated, her pert chin lifting.

I lifted my arms and positioned my hands a couple of inches above hers on the doorframe. “And if I had, it would’ve jeopardized my plan.”

Her eyes popped and cracked, their color the very shade of my kryptonite.

“I know,” she said and then let her arms fall. “That’s why I understand why you didn’t.”

My weight shifted back onto my heels. The notion that I’d just been unburdened by the slightest bit of her anger affecting me cataclysmically.

“Well, now you know,” I croaked. “And now you should leave.”

“Again, you’re trying to get me to leave your bedroom.”

My head dipped. “And again, you’re fighting to stay when there is every reason for you to go.”

The air rippled between us like the first tremor of an earthquake. An invisible foreshock. Neither of us knowing how much time we had until the real devastation occurred.

“I just told you that I understand,” she said and stepped forward.Another shock.“I understand you tried to warn me. Iunderstand why you needed me to react that way. And I understand I would’ve done the same thing if our roles were reversed.”

“Which is why I don’t understand why you waited here—why you’re still here. You know the truth. It was all a setup to give Belmont what he wanted and to get me into their operation. So, go to bed. It’s done,” I snapped, the pound of my headache was crushed by the painful throb of my cock. She was so damn close.And she wanted to be here.

Who was I to be turning away the very thing I’d ached for this entire time?

A monster who wanted to be redeemed.

“Why do you want me gone?”

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