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Nodding once, I told him, “So, you see, I cannot begin to lecture you on what is right and what is wrong when it comes to her. If you want to chase after the girl, you’ll do it, and if she’s receptive to you, she’ll have you, just as she’ll do the same with Gareth… and me.” I got out of the car then, about to shut it, but Rick’s voice called out and stopped me momentarily.
“You know it can’t go on like that forever. Out of the three of us, someone’s bound to snap sooner or later,” Rick pointed out something that could very well be true.
We each wanted her to ourselves. How long could this last before one of us went too far to claim her as our own?
I didn’t say anything back to him. I simply shut the car door and waved him off, heading to the front door. And the moment I walked in, I was greeted by Nicole… almost like the woman was waiting for me, like she’d been spying out of the window and watched me walk up.
“Where were you today?” she asked, her tone short. She had a hand on her hip, a matching skirt and blouse on her slim body. Her light brown hair was loose, falling in curls to her shoulders, her blue eyes intense, almost like she was accusing me of something.
A pretty enough woman, though her personality left much to be desired. Any superficial man would probably love to have her as a wife. She took good care of herself physically, though she hated any type of chore around the house. Cleaning, laundry, cooking; she preferred not to do any of it.
I, however, had no interest in her at all. Let’s just say going on a honeymoon with her had been one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. The things I’d had to fake… I’d rather not relive it.
“I was with Rick,” I told her, pushing past her to get deeper into the house. I wanted to go upstairs and make sure Brianna was all right, but I had to get rid of Nicole, first, otherwise she’d follow me up there.
“Rick,” she spoke his name with distaste. “Your old brother-in-law?”
“Yeah.” I went to the kitchen and got myself some water, which I downed after a few gulps. Nicole had followed me, and she watched me all the while, still suspicious.
“What did he want?”
“Nothing. We were just catching up. It’s been… a long time.” I leaned against the island countertop, and Nicole mimicked my stance on its opposite side. “I saw you called. I’m sorry I didn’t answer. I didn’t want to be rude.”
She started to roll her eyes, but she stopped short and said, “What if I was having an emergency?”
“Then I assume you would also call your daughter, after leaving a message on my phone since I didn’t pick up—which you didn’t leave one. I would’ve gotten a notification if you did.” I had her there, she couldn’t argue with me on that.
Nicole decided to change the subject. “What were you and Rick catching up on? He’s one of the sheriffs around here, isn’t he?”
I nodded. “He is. We were just reminiscing a little. I thought it wouldn’t interfere with your business, since you left for the country club earlier.”
She moved around the island, coming toward me, and it took every ounce of willpower in my body to keep my feet rooted in place and not keep ten feet between us. Sleeping in bed with her beside me… let’s just say it wasn’t easy to do, especially knowing Brianna was under the same roof, fast asleep in a different bed.
“I don’t mean to nag about it, I was just worried, that’s all.” Nicole gave me a smile that was calculated, a smile meant to be seductive, and she set a hand on my shirt and stood on her tiptoes to bring her lips to mine.
Before her lips could touch mine, I turned away, faking a coughing fit. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I think I might be getting sick.”
Whether or not Nicole believed me didn’t matter, but my guess was no, because after that, she let out an annoyed groan and stormed out of the room, leaving me alone. Finally. She could go on thinking whatever she wanted to think. I didn’t care.
The truth was, I didn’t want her lips on mine. I didn’t want her body on mine, nor did I want hers beneath mine. There was only one girl I wanted, and she was upstairs somewhere, probably with Gareth. I wanted to go make sure she was all right, but with Nicole on edge, on high alert, now wasn’t the best time to be poking my head into my stepdaughter’s bedroom.
Chapter Five – Brianna
After Gareth and I came home, my mom didn’t even come see me. Of course, she had no idea that I’d been lured to a secret location by Neo, who, as it turned out, was hiding some hella big secrets. She didn’t know I’d been drugged, and that I had to seduce him to get free… and that the only way to get free had been to kill him.
And she definitely, one hundred percent didn’t know that I’d had a little playtime with his corpse afterward.
No, to my mom, it was just a normal Saturday. But it wasn’t.
Gareth wouldn’t leave me alone. He hung around in my bedroom, and when I went to the bathroom to see if I had to touch up my hair—hint, I did, but that’d be a tomorrow project—he was waiting for me when I returned, lounging on my bed like he owned the place.
I mean, he did, in a way. He and Alistair. But that was beside the point.
I shut my door when I saw him, rolling my eyes when I saw that blasted smirk. I used to hate that everlasting smirk, but now I found myself growing weaker to it the more often I saw it. That stupid smirk on that stupid boy.
Okay, Gareth was anything but a boy, but still, thinking that he was a stupid boy made me feel a little better about everything—and there was a lot to feel bad about, trust me.
I pulled out my phone as my feet brought me to the window on the far side of the room. Though I was no longer watching Gareth, I heard him roll onto his side so he could watch me as I moved.
