Page 32 of Some Kinda Romance

“I saw the article,” he said, his voice like honey.

It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. This was his apology voice, the one he used to lull me into a false sense of security. His head tilted slowly, his eyes wholly trained on mine. “I can’t believe you moved on so soon, Serenity. You and Dash St. Clair? It’s never going to work, baby.”

I stiffened, not saying anything as I stared back at him. My internal mental alarms started pulsing. They weren’t quite blaring yet, but that voice and the way he was looking at me were dangerous. This was how it had always started, with the sweet, genuine imploring.

It wouldn’t be long now until he snapped. He took a few more steps closer to me, that green-eyed gaze still stuck on mine. “I always knew you were just waiting to get away from me. You were never happy, were you? You were just biding your time. Were you with him even when we were together? Is he the real reason behind all this nonsense?”

Nonsense?

I swallowed hard. “No, he’s not. What do you want, Ethan? You didn’t come here to tell me about some article you read. You know better than to believe what the tabloids write, so what is this visit really about?”

“It’s about me wanting you back,” he said. “I just want you back, baby. You know that. I love you. What will it take for you to come back to me?”

I looked him right in the eyes, digging deep for the courage to say what had to be said. “A complete change in personality.”

Immediately, I saw the switch trip behind his eyes. He hadn’t liked that and he got closer to me, lowering his voice to a menacing tone that was harsh and threatening. “I built you, Serenity. I made you and I can break you whenever I want. I can destroy you so easily, baby. You’d never be able to show your face in this town again and I wouldn’t even break a sweat. I’d think carefully if I was you.”

“Thankfully, you’re not me.” I got up, giving him a wide berth as I strode to my door and opened it. “Leave, Ethan. It’s time for you to go.”

With the door now open, he returned to his fake persona, his features smoothing out, his spine straightening and his voice back to normal. “I’ll see you later.”

As he said it, he leveled me with another intent look that told me he meant it when he said he would see me later. Then he was gone. My shoulders sagged, the encounter having drained me even if I hadn’t entertained his shit for very long.

Julie came rushing in, her brow furrowed as she skidded to a stop. “Are you okay? What did he want? Why was he here?”

“I hate that man,” I whispered before inhaling deeply and blowing the breath back out again. I squared my shoulders once more. “I’m fine. I just need a minute. He…” I trailed off, closing my eyes as I attempted to compose myself. “I’m okay. I’m okay. I just need a minute.”

When my eyes opened again, she was giving me a dubious look but she nodded. “Yeah. Okay. I can give you that, but I won’t go far. If you need me, shout. Or call.”

“I will, thanks.”

Julie left the door open when she left, but I didn’t close it. Having it open was nice right now. Comforting. Striding to the windows overlooking the city and the blue swells of the ocean in the distance, I crossed my arms tightly against my chest, taking a few more shuddering breaths before my breathing finally evened out.

Life at Ethan’s hands had never been a physical battle for survival. He’d never struck me or pushed me around, but he’d sure done a number on my head. Obliterated my self-confidence and taken away my freedom of choice. Of movement.

He’d chosen the clothes I wore and the food I ate. The events I attended and the people I interacted with. At first, I’d fought him every step of the way, but little by little, I’d lost my spark. I’d accepted my circumstances and I was too humiliated to ask for help. To tell even Julie what I was really going through behind closed doors.

None of it had happened overnight, but in time, I’d lost myself and I’d had to claw out of the depths of hell to get back to who I was. A visit like the one I’d just had threatened to send me spiraling again and I couldn’t allow that to happen, but when my phone rang with the number for the front desk again, I let out an involuntary mewl, my hands shaking. I took the call.

“Ms. Halverson, I have Dash St. Clair for you. Can I send him back?”

I frowned. “Sure. Of course. Yes, send him on in.”

What on earth was he doing back here?

He had to have just missed Ethan and I couldn’t be more thankful. During the divorce proceedings, I’d done my best to keep as much detail as I could private. Some things had surfaced, but only my lawyer, the judge, and a few of the other people involved with the process knew how bad things had truly gotten. Somehow, at least we’d managed to keep everything from getting out.

Dash strode into my office a minute later, and I stared into those golden-brown eyes, comparing the way it made me feel to be looking into them to the way I’d felt looking into Ethan’s just a little while ago. There was no comparison.

Still pissed at Dash but feeling warm, safe, and tingly anyway, I frowned at him. “What are you⁠—”

“I’m sorry,” he said, cutting me off, but I didn’t mind. If he was sorry, I was more interested in hearing what he was sorry about than I was in the niceties. “I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did about the press and Ethan. None of it was your fault, and besides, you two are divorced. You shouldn’t be punished for having friends and I’d like to think that’s what we are. Friends. If he believed there was more to it, then I suppose that’s on him. Can I take you to dinner to make up for it?”

Well, at least he came to his senses reasonably fast.It was actually pretty sweet that he’d come back to apologize and that he wanted to make up for it. Even so, I made him sweat for a minute, thinking it over before I finally nodded. “I’d like that but only as friends.”

“You got it,” he said, a relieved grin breaking out across his face. “How’s eight o’clock sound?”