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Prologue

NYX

Circa November

I should have taken my ass home.

That singular thought played on a loop in my mind as I sat perched in the passenger seat of my best friend’s car. The longer I sat, the more anger pumped through my veins.

Misplaced anger.

Raelynn hadn’t betrayed my trust. She hadn’t destroyed my relationship, and most importantly, she wasn’t the one who’d been living a double life for the better part of twelve months. That blame belonged to Shane Walker, the man I’d been growing and building with.

So I thought.

With my eyes glued to the dining room window of what I assumed to be his home, I watched as he sat across from a beautiful woman with flawless mahogany skin, and a little girl who had stolen his entire face. She turned her head a fraction, and I watched her adorable cheeks hitch as she said something that left both her parents riddled with laughter.

My heart fragmented with each second that ticked by. How could I have missed something like this?

I thought back over each moment we spent together, trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle. As far as I could remember, there had never been any signs that Shane was hiding a secret life. A life that included a family.

He had an apartment I’d visited multiple times, enough to keep a few personal belongings there. His car was always clean and free of any evidence of anyone, let alone an entire child, in his life.

Shane called when I answered, texted back swiftly, and never made me feel as if I wasn’t a priority in his life.

So, how the fuck could I have missed this!?

“Nyx,” Rae’s voice was quiet as she addressed me. “I’m sorry.”

Wetting my bottom lip with my tongue, I took a beat before responding, trying to keep my emotions together. Static filled my ears as I fiercely attempted to keep a tight hold on my temper. Closing my eyes, I exhaled slowly. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not. You don’t deserve this. And I didn’t know what to think when I first spotted them together. But I knew I couldn’t⁠—”

A burst of anger shot through me, and I quickly cut her off. “Rae—please.”

I felt my control slipping by the minute, and Raelynn truly hadn’t done anything she needed to apologize for. But her tendency to over-explain herself when she felt her actions caused someone pain, combined with my spiraling feelings about Shane’s deception, would have me losing my cool with the wrong person. She didn’t deserve that.

When I got the text message from her about Shane being out with another woman, I laughed. There was no way I was in his apartment, putting together a romantic set-up for our anniversary, while he was out running the streets with another woman.

Then, the pictures came through—visual proof that he was living foul. My heart stopped. A pain I’d never experienced spread in my abdomen, curling upwards until it reached my throat, choking me.

I noted the care he took with her, which emitted even through photos. It was the looks Shane gave, the subtle touches, and, in the last picture, how gently he kissed her.

I nearly threw up.

I had no recollection of how I got to Nickman’s so quickly, but by the time I reached the grocery store, they were loading up their car to leave. Raelynn and I decided to follow them in her car since Shane was less familiar with hers.

We trailed them to the immaculate Fox Crest neighborhood, where the housing price tags were more expensive than I’d seen in a lifetime. We stopped in front of a beautiful Victorian home—a home we’d been parked a few feet down from while I contemplated what to do.

Confronting him seemed like the only logical option. Under different circumstances, I wouldn’t have questioned it.

But a part of me didn’t want an explanation. The fear of facing my inadequacy gave me pause. Why would he do something like this to me? Was I only good enough to be his escape away from home?

“I think we should go,” Raelynn suggested, placing her hand on my shoulder. “Watching them won’t help⁠—”

Something snapped the minute shred of sanity I’d been holding on to. Yanking on the car handle, I pushed the door open and stormed out. Common sense was replaced with blind anger with each step I took.

I didn’t care how stupid I made myself look. Shane needed to feel everything that I did. It didn’t matter how.