Page 169 of Sweet Ruin

“He loved that car,” I mumble.

Kane’s mouth twitches. “He can walk around town now. It’ll give him lots of time to think over his decision-making.”

Out of nowhere, I’m consumed by laughter.

It starts as one startled little snort. Then I picture Connor standing on the curb while a tow truck hauls his beloved car away, and I laugh again.

Then louder.

And snortier.

And louder again.

Kane sits back in his chair and watches.

I laugh until my stomach hurts. Until tears gather in my eyes and I have to blot beneath them so my reconstructed makeup survives. Every time I think I am done, I imagine Connor polishing the rims in our driveway while I unloaded groceries by myself, and it begins again.

I press the pages to my chest. “This may be the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me.”

“Your standards are poor.”

“My husband slept with my sister. The bar is in hell.”

Kane’s smile deepens.

Then one detail intrudes on my happiness.

I frown. “Did anyone hurt him?”

“No.”

“Kane. Promise me.”

“He handed over the keys.”

“Without an argument?”

“… I didn’t say that.”

“But nobody broke his hand or took him to a basement?”

“He was not harmed, Delilah.”

I relax into the chair. Connor is an asshole and I wish nothing but the worst for him. But I don’t want him in pain. That’s not right. I’m not that cruel.

Still, I do hope he has to spend a lot of time on the bus. And if I also add to that a wish list that the bus is always late and every seat is always mysteriously damp and sticky… Well, I’m only human.

“Why are you doing this?” I ask.

Kane studies me across the desk. “You wanted the car returned to him?”

“God, no. I want to print this receipt on a sheet cake and eat it just so I know exactly how good revenge tastes.” I set the papers down. “But you already got him out of my house. He signed the settlement. I get the divorce. Why keep dismantling his life?”

“Connor built his life out of favors, lies, and things that belonged to other people.”

“Including me.”

“Yes.” Kane reaches across the desk and taps the repossession documentation. “Eventually, consequences arrive. I am those consequences.”