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Oakley steps closer, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Marissa grin.
“Don’t think me a fool. Something is off with all of this, and I will figure out what it is.”
Marissa’s smile is unhurried. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You’d better hope not because if I find out you had anything to do with …” She swallows. She can’t say it. “Nobody will be able to keep me from you.” Her eyes are low and purposeful as they drag back to me. “Not even your husband.”
Marissa laughs obnoxiously, and Oakley books it through the doors, practically fucking running with Rowan following behind.
And I’m right on her damn tail ’cause I don’t fucking think so.
“I swear to God, woman.” I increase my speed to catch up. “If you think you’re leaving here with him—”
She spins, her angry eyes fired up and way past the point of rational. She’s pissed off, confused, and fucking devastated, but she refuses to show the world her pain.
Like I said, strong as fuck.
She’s begging me to lay off.
Can’t do it.
“Alec …” She reads me right, knows I can’t back down, and her nostrils flare, her nose growing red. “Don’t.”
“If he takes you, I’ll follow, and then I’ll be right back in front of you when you step out. No point in all this. Do not leave here with him.”
“And who would you have me leave with, hmm? You and your wife?”
“This isn’t about her.”
She laughs incredulously, her hands moving to hit her thighs as she shakes her head at me.
“My dad is dead. Your mentor. And your wife, who is standing in front of the doorway, staring at us, posing like she’s on a fucking runway, might have had something to do with it. Or not. Who the fuck knows? It is taking everything inside me not to march right up to her and tear her fucking eyes out. Back. The fuck. Off.”
“No.”
Her head draws back, and it all becomes too much. Tears fill her eyes. She shifts her jaw and looks off, unwilling to cry in front of me. “I need to get out of here. Now. I can’t … I need to go.”
Arctic-blue eyes meet mine, a dam building and ready to burst.
I step forward, and anticipating my move, she steps back at the same exact moment.
“Don’t,” I growl, the pressure against my ribs growing tighter, making it hard to breathe. “Don’t step farther from me and closer to him.”
Rowan shifts his feet, catching my attention, and I cut my eyes his way to find his pinched at the edges as he stares at Oakley.
I know he caught what she’d said in there. He knows I had her.
Fuck that. He knows I have her.
“Let me leave, Alec. It’s been a real shitty day.” She sniffs, glancing away. “And night for that matter.”
“Don’t say that.”
Her voice is much quieter when she speaks again. “Don’t add to it by making me watch her touch you.”
Fuck, baby …
I grind my jaw to keep myself still. I wanna fucking hold her, but Marissa’s steps are growing closer.
“Go,” I force myself to say.
Her eyes fly to mine. I see the suspicion in the way she’s slow to step back. It’s rightfully placed. She’s gonna hate me for a while, even more after the shit I’m about to pull, but I meant what I said to her dad. Once the move is made, there’s no going back.
Not for me and damn sure not for her.
It’s the only way, and it’s guaranteed to piss her off.
She walks toward Rowan’s truck, and I let her.
I shift, glaring at my brother over my shoulder, speaking low so that Marissa can’t hear, “Watch yourself, Rowan. I fucking mean it.”
He scoffs, “You’ve got a lot of nerve, man. She’s not your woman to worry about.”
I spin, getting in his face, and he stands tall against me, daring me to lay fucking claim, knowing damn well my words are limited with Marissa now right behind me.
“Get out of here,” he growls. “Go back to where you came from and take your trouble with you.”
“Oh, honey,” Marissa speaks now, her hand landing on my arm. She grins proudly, tilting her head as she looks from my brother to my girl as she slides into Rowan’s truck. “I won’t be going anywhere for a while.”Chapter EighteenOakleyShe wants to see me break, right here, right now. At her hands.
I would never. A woman who might have something to do with my dad’s death, who shares the last name of the man who played me, made me fall for him before I even knew it was happening. Never.
The boldness she clearly has will be a problem. Coming up to me like that, making herself known to the daughter of the man she spoke to mere hours before his death.
