Page 36 of Wild Night

“You’ve been watching me,” I state.

It’s not a question because, obviously, he has been. Again, I hadn’t realized it. I hadn’t felt his presence. A chill of dread slides up, then down my spine at the thought. What did he see me do? I thought I had been so very hyperaware of this man. I haven’t been, and now I can’t help but wonder how long he’s been watching me… Months?Years?

“You come home to me?” I ask.

He pushes off the wall, walks to the other side of the room, and flicks on the light. The stark difference between the dark and bright room causes me to hiss as I pinch my eyes closed.

Slowly, I open them and quickly find him in the space. He is still standing by the light switch, no doubt diabolically planning something. I’m just not sure what. I don’t want to know, either. In fact, I want nothing to do with him or anything he is involved with.

“You didn’t come home to me. You were never really with me. I don’t know why you pretended to love me or why you married me.”

“Pretended to marry you,” he clarifies my words.

I want to tell him that, as far as I was always concerned, we were indeed married. So, if he pretended to do anything, it was him, not me. It was him lying to me. It was him deceiving me. I had no idea it was happening. But I didn’t ask questions, either, not until he vanished, and then again, not until he came back.

“Why did you deceive me?” I ask, making it so he can’t skirt around that question.

He nonchalantly shrugs a shoulder, and I want nothing more than to claw his freaking eyeballs out. I don’t, of course, because if I did, I would have to release the sheet covering my naked body. I would also probably have more than just a sore throat because he would no doubt hit me over that.

“I needed an in and not just making a deal or two. I needed a way to appear as if I wanted to be part of the operation forever.”

“What operation?” I ask.

I’m exhausted by the way he’s talking in circles. I’m also just plain exhausted. I want him to get his shit and leave, leave me alone, and never, ever look back.

“The operation.”

Those two words don’t clarify shit. In fact, they only confuse me more. Opening my mouth, I start to ask him what he’s talking about, but thankfully, he doesn’t make me. He continues.

“You really think that the winery is just a winery, don’t you?” he asks.

Lifting my chin slightly, I look down my nose at him. God, I didn’t think I could ever hate anyone as much as I hated my parents, but Lucian is climbing to the top of my list rather rapidly.

When he laughs, the sound comes out not only harshly but also mockingly. If a laugh can be mocking, his is right now. Pressing my lips together, I don’t respond to his question. He doesn’t want me to anyway. He’s too busy treating me like an idiot.

Maybe I am an idiot, but I’m not going to be his fucking idiot for another minute longer. If we aren’t legally married, then absolutely nothing is keeping me here except for him, physically.

The minute his back is turned, I’m walking out of this hell and starting my life over again. Hopefully with Ivy, but if not, then I’ll go it alone. It wouldn’t be the first time I started life allover again. I’m just a little older than I would like to be for that, but the reality is that right now, I have nothing.

If Lucian doesn’t replenish my savings account that I drained paying bills while he was doing whatever it was he was doing, then I’m fucked anyway. So, at the end of the day, it will be nothing more than a wash.

“It’s headquarters for the largest cocaine distribution on the West Coast, baby.”

I hate it when he calls me baby. I’m not sure I ever liked it. I miss being calledprincess, but mainly because I miss the man who called me that. I’m one-hundred-percent certain now that I shouldn’t have left North Carolina.

But his telling me that the winery is some sort of drug hub? I cannot even begin to fathom that. I’ve worked there for years, and I’ve never seen a single shady thing happening. I don’t say any of that, though. If he is trying to poison me against anyone who gives half of a shit about me in order to break me in some way, it won’t work.

“If I’m not your wife, then why the hell are you here? Why did you come back? Just to hurt me? Why are you here now?” I pepper him with questions as my anxiety rises to new heights I didn’t know were possible.

His lips curve up into a grin. “You’re collateral damage, Posey. I’ve come back to get this shit under control, and you need to go.”

“Why?” I ask in a whisper.

I’m trying not to panic, but I’m basically failing because I feel like I’m panicking right now—overly so. My body starts to tremble, and I know he can see it from where he stands, but I can’t control it. I’m scared to fucking death that this means… well,death.

I need Ivy. I need Justin.Now.

IVY

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