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“That’s not surprising, I’ve always wanted to come to the Forum. You, however, avoided it like the plague,” she said.
She’d begged him to come to the Forum. Even drew up diagrams to explain why it would help the business if they just presented something with the rest of the industry.
We don’t have competition. We’re the best on the market and we organize our own events.
Richard shrugged with a laugh. “I just realized you were right. The Forum can help our company.”
Our. He always used to call it that.Ourcompany.Ourproject.Ourdevice. They were all his. He’d made damn sure of that.
The silence was heavy, broken only by his threatening steps.
But the pause gave Darcy space to think. The shock was starting to wear off. She might’ve been trembling, but her brain was doing what it did best–trying to understand the incomprehensible.
Why was Richard here, talking to her?
“I knew you’d visit the pool eventually,” he said. “Remember when you used to swim in mine? To clear your head?”
Yes, because naive little Darcy had moved into her college boyfriend’s ultra-fancy, gated, super-protected house–which she joked was more like a fortress than a home–as soon as he’d asked. Because after being ignored throughout highschool, Richard’s attention had felt like a breath of fresh air. He was hot, smart, charming. Everyone on campus salivated when he’d walk by. She’d seen her roommates try to get his attention at parties, professors fawning over him when they heard the great Dyson name, and guys inviting him to any and all events.
Then they got assigned to the same project in their Introduction to Robotics class and after Darcy basically did all of the heavy lifting, he finally noticed her.
She’d been so flattered that he told her she was so smart. She wasn’t a nerd anymore. Oh, no. Now she wasintelligentandinteresting.
She got caught up in the same craze as everyone else at their university. She’d only seen Richard’s charm and his intelligence andshehad thought she wasn’t good enough forhim.
“We also did other things in my pool,” he went on, his grin turning vicious.
Darcy clenched her jaw to keep from screaming. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. “I preferred swimming.”
His gaze darkened. “You seemed to enjoy it well enough.”
Darcy shrugged, mimicking him. She was done with over-explaining herself whenever he got pissed at anything she said or did. As if she was trying to make him understand why she existed in the first place.
Why she’d folded his socks like that.
Why she’d put almonds in the salad, even though he loved almonds.
Why she had laughed at that joke his assistant had said.
She’d been walking on eggshells their whole relationship, trying to appease him.
Darcy felt sorry for the girl she’d been. She wanted to go back in time and give herself a hug–then help her pack and get the hell away from Richard much faster than she had.
“So…” he tried again, an iciness in his voice. “Alien Inc., huh? I met your new boss, he seems nice.”
He was. Nazyn was everything Richard pretended to be.
This was the second time he’d mentioned Alien Inc. Either he wanted information or–
“How’s it like working for glorified mailmen with horns?” he asked, the venom he kept so well-hidden behind his carefree facade finally showing.
“Beats working for an egomaniac.”
Richard laughed; it sounded like poison to Darcy’s ears. “You wound me.”
“No, if I really wanted to wound you, I would’ve called you auselessegomaniac.” Darcy gulped. This was it. She’d never said this out loud. The shame had kept her from telling the truth as ifshehad done something wrong. “And we both know why.”
A grimace finally replaced Richard’s grin. There it was. His true face. “You knew what you were getting into.”
