Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78977 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78977 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
He didn’t look at me, as if he didn’t notice I was there.
I got the topless blonde’s attention and ordered a drink. I took a sip of the scotch and turned to him, forcing myself to extend some kindness. “You fought well tonight.”
He didn’t look at me, staring into his glass. “It’s strange. I used to want to fight more than anything. Now it means nothing to me.” He swirled his drink before he took a sip. His nostrils flared as it burned his throat down to his stomach.
I couldn’t bring myself to show him pity, to say I was sorry about what happened. “You’ll get back into it.”
“Maybe…maybe not.”
Hades would just coerce him if he didn’t want to.
“You want a ride home?”
He shook his head. “I hate that house.”
I didn’t need to ask why.
“This divorce seems to be harder than the first one…”
Still didn’t feel anything for him.
“I don’t know why I fucked it up so bad. I don’t know why I lost my temper. I don’t know why…” He bowed his head and rubbed his hands over his short hair. “I don’t know why I had to throw away the only person I actually care about…”
I didn’t get it either.
“I love her so much. But why would she believe that?”
She shouldn’t.
He turned quiet and stared at his drink awhile.
I let the silence pass and had no response to his sadness. I just wanted him to get back to work and move on. Listening to him complain about his despair seemed stupid when he wasn’t even the victim.
He finished his drink then asked for another, not even looking at the pretty waitress.
“Things will get better.”
“No, they won’t,” he whispered. “I’ve lived without her before…and it was terrible.”
Then he should have learned his lesson.
“When she looked at me like that…” He shook his head. “So angry. So upset. I felt like shit. When she knew what I’d done, the hurt on her face was indescribable. I hate myself for what I did to her…when I heard her tell me what I did.”
I stared into my glass.
“I just…” He suddenly turned quiet.
I continued to stare at my scotch.
Then his head slowly turned my way, his blue eyes burning into my face for the first time.
I met his gaze.
He stared at me for several heartbeats. “You were there that night…”
My palms started to sweat, and my heart began to race. I watched his mind work to connect the dots, to deduce what had happened right under his nose.
“And she knew about it…because you told her.”
I gripped my glass and took a deep breath.
“And you told her…because you’re Damien.” He stared at me without blinking, rage slowly creeping into his features. He knew exactly who I was, finally understood this wasn’t a coincidence. The past six months seemed to play across his mind, remembering all the times Anna and I were together and he’d assumed it was harmless. But now he understood I was the guy who’d fucked his wife…who’d stolen her heart.
He squeezed the tumbler in his hand until the glass shattered in his fingertips, the shards exploding across the surface of the bar. His knuckles turned white as his fingers closed into a fist. The vein down his forehead thickened and throbbed, the tint of his fair skin making him look as red as a tomato.
Adrenaline spiked in my blood, but not from fear. A part of me wanted this to happen, to look him in the eye when he knew I was the man who’d fucked his wife, who’d claimed her heart and never let it go. She would be mine soon enough, and he’d have to live the rest of his life knowing he was the reason Annabella was sleeping with another man.
I didn’t sugarcoat the truth or connect his assumption. This moment was bound to happen, and now I was relieved the truth was out in the open. I didn’t have to pretend to like the guy. I finished my drink and left the empty glass on the table. “She was always too good for you. You know it.” I slid off the stool and got to my feet. “She’s better off without you. And she’ll be better off with me.” I turned my back and walked away. Fighting him when he was drunk was cheap. Not my style.
He got off his stool and yelled after me. “I’m going to kill you, Damien!”
I stopped and turned around.