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“I can’t believe you were considering his offer!” Gunnar yelled, his eyes flashing a stony gray.
I stepped back, shocked that he was turning his anger on me.
“I wasn’t—”
“Bullshit! I thought you’d been kidnapped. Then I get here to find you laughing with him?”
“We were just—”
“I don’t fucking care what you were doing. You tried to protect him!”
“Yes, because you jumped to conclusions and attacked him! You didn’t even ask, you just assu—”
“How much money did he offer you?”
I heard Tansy’s audible gasp and knew I hadn’t misheard.
What the fuck? Okay, now I was angry. It was bad enough that he was cutting me off every sentence and refusing to listen. Did Gunnar really think I’d entertain leaving him just because someone offered me some money? What type of fickle, shallow woman did he think I was?
I thought of the gossip mag I’d ripped up the other day. I’d expect this from them, but not from Gunnar. It was shitty enough to read that bullcrap written by a stranger. To have my husband imply it right to my face was devastating. I wanted to curl up into a ball and cry.
But no. Nu-uh. I wasn’t going to cower while my husband accused me of being able to be bought. I’d never once done anything to let him believe I was in this for the money. I’d thought he was a simple security guard at first. And we signed a prenup. Which meant when we parted, I’d get nothing. Nada. Zilch.
Was that why he thought I’d agreed to stay around? Because I wouldn’t get anything if I left? Well, fuck that.
“He didn’t offer me a thing. And for your information, he didn’t come to convince me to take the offer. You’d have heard that if you hadn’t been too busy jumping to conclusions. He came to convince me not to take Dr. Shen’s offer. He has a girlfriend. A supermodel girlfriend. Who he’s going to propose to. And I told him I wouldn’t leave myhusband,” I stressed the word, “for anyone. And, for what it’s worth, we were laughing at how disappointed Dr. Shen was going to be.”
Gunnar had finally calmed down enough to listen, which was just as well because now I was really pissed.
“But silly me. My husband clearly thinks I could be bought with money.” Suddenly, I was beyond talking, beyond explaining. “You know, I thought we had something here. Something good, and real. But I guess I was wrong.”
I needed to get away from him. If my cat had its way right now, I’d go all murder mittens on him, and that would kind of be abuse. I turned to Tansy. “I need to leave. Now.”
Tansy, who had released Gunnar from her magical bonds, put a hand on my shoulder. “You got it.”
“Wait, Lillian—”
Before I could think it through, I blurted out, “And you can forget about trying to make this work after. We’re done!”
“Come on, let’s get you home.” Tansy waved her hand and murmured something under her breath, and a portal opened up in front of us.
Numb with anger and disappointment, I let her guide me through it.
Chapter 28
Gunnar
Iwatchedasmymate disappeared through the portal. My rage, which had just moments before controlled my words and actions, faded away.
Shit!
What the hell had I done? I took a step toward the portal, but it had already closed behind them, and I was left staring at a blank wall. The soft whooshing sound from the portal closing lingered in the room, taunting me.
I’d never meant to hurt her, but my accusatory words had popped out before I could stop them. In all my years, nothing had prepared me for the horrible sinking feeling that the woman I loved might find a better option than me somewhere else. I’d let that insecurity control me and turn into anger because anger was so much easier compared to admitting that I might not be enough.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Eamon smacked me upside of the head.
I didn’t even try to stop him. I deserved it. “I’m an idiot.”
