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“God, you can’t even figure out what to say, can you?” I rolled my eyes. “Did you forget I know you? I know when you’re trying to figure out the right thing to say and how to say it, so let me help you out. There’s nothing you can say that’s the right thing in this situation.”
“I forgot how high and mighty you can fucking be,” Killian said under his breath. High and mighty? How dare he! “I didn’t come here to fight. I said talk, princess—”
“Don’t you dare call me that,” I interrupted. My temper flared at the word. It’d be a cold day in hell before I allowed him to ever call me that again. “You lost every right to—”
“I’ll call you whatever the hell I want, Genevieve,” he snapped. He stepped closer, and I took one back. “I came here to talk, to clear the fucking air between us. You came out of that room like a fucking bull in a goddamn china shop. You came out here looking to fight, not me.”
“How dare—”
“I wasn’t finished talking, princess.” There was no endearment when he spit out the word. He took one more long step toward me, making me retreat. My back hit the door, and my flight-or-fight response smashed through the roof. The scent of tobacco and vanilla overwhelmed me. God, he didn’t even smell the same. When he braced his palms on the door behind me, I knew I was in trouble. “Now, I said we’re going to talk, which means we’re going to talk. You and me, we have a lot of shit we need to figure out. Put the fucking teeth away, Genevieve. I know you’re all bark and no bite.”
“Oh? Am I?” I exclaimed. Fight it was. “Did you forget our entire childhood too while you were off doing whatever the heck you were doing these last three years? Were they a good three years, Killian? Did you have fun? Fighting? Tattoos? Throw a few whores in there too? Was it easy to forget the wife you left in the hospital? Was it easy to forget about—”
I squealed as his fist punched the door, and the wood cracked.
“Don’t you fucking go there,” Killian snarled. “You have no fucking clue what the hell the last three years were like for me.”
“How could I? You left me in the hospital! You called your baby brother to come get me! I never would’ve done that to you.” My eyes burned with tears that I rapidly tried to blink away. “You didn’t call, you didn’t text, you couldn’t even email for Christ’s sake! You walked out on me, remember? You left me when I needed you the most, so you don’t get to tell me that I don’t know what the last three years have been like! They’ve been hell, Killian! That’s what they were. And you walked away like the coward you are.”
I tried to slap him because damn it, I was mad, but he caught my wrist. His grip was painfully tight as he dragged me close. Nose-to-nose, those midnight eyes flashed with something dangerous.
“Don’t you dare hit me,” he growled. That sound was liquid heat rolling down my spine, sending my heart racing. My body betrayed me. His nearness did things to me—unspeakable things as my arousal soared. I hated how turned on I felt. I hated him for still having such an effect on me.
Mostly, I just hated him.
“Or what?” I challenged. My wolf growled in response, the loud sound vibrating against my ribs. “What’re you going to do, Killian? Hurt me? I think you’ve already done all the damage you can do.”
Wrenching free, I shoved him away from me—or at least tried to. The man was a freaking solid wall. He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off and said the one thing my God-fearing, church-going little self had vowed to never say to another person.
“You can rot in hell for all I care,” I snapped and stormed away. If he knew what was good for him, he wouldn’t follow.
Chapter 12
Killian
The smart thing to do was talk to her. Clear the air. Clear what air exactly?
God, what the fuck was I supposed to say to her? I pushed a hand through my hair, shoving dark strands out of my eyes. I sagged against the hallway wall and shut them. Using deep breaths, I tried to calm my racing heart.
Fuck, that look on her face… it haunted me. It was watching her world crumble in a crowd full of people the moment she’d seen me. No one had told her either. I’d thought at least one of us had known, but it seemed as if my brothers decided to keep both of us in the dark.
I hit the back of my head against the wall with tiny thumps. Fuck, fuck, fuck. This wasn’t at all how I pictured the Fall Games going. This was supposed to be a fun and easy transition—spend time with my brothers, spend time with pack leaders, and get reacquainted with it all. And then—only then—would I show up on my wife’s doorstep, talk to her, and ask for a divorce.
But now I needed to talk to her before all of this shit got out of hand.
Sighing, I stood and shoved my hands in my pockets—yeah, I was wearing fucking jeans this time to keep my goddamn dick in check. The woman still had me in a total vice grip, but she didn’t need to know that. I could do this.
I kept the thought on repeat as I navigated through the winding hallways. When I turned down the last hall, I found Nolan sitting on the floor with his bags in front of him. Fuck, she must’ve kicked him out. His glasses were on the floor, and his head was in his hands.
“Hey.” I crouched and tapped him on the head until he looked up. Jesus fucking Christ, the kid looked miserable. The absolute distress in his eyes fucking filled me.
“She hates me,” Nolan whispered.
“She doesn’t fucking hate you, kid,” I told him. Swiping up his glasses, I used the bottom of my shirt to clean them off before plopping them on his face. “She’s mad. Genevieve’s never been good at being blindsided. There’s an order to everything, you know? Her order was disrupted, Nol.”
“Yeah,” he replied and looked away. I felt bad for the kid. Genevieve was Nolan’s only real friend. Sure, the kid knew everyone but very few knew him. He kept himself locked away behind so many doors that most people gave up long before they ever got to know him.
“Here,” I said as I took out my room key and gave it to him. “You get the top bunk. My room is one of the few with a desk, so you can write too. And it’s on the bottom floor with a garden door. Good for a quick getaway.”
