arms over his chest, staring at her like he wasn’t exactly sure which way to go from here.
“You want to lay into me over what’s going on, I’m sure. Have at it.” She pretended to study her nails. A few days ago, she’d decided to have a “girl’s day” with Jillian, hoping to cheer the kid up. She’d been bored out of her mind, and Jillian had figured that out about halfway through the manicure, but they’d finished up. Then they’d gone to the beach instead of getting a pedicure. The pale, silvery bluish-green was starting to chip a little. A waste of money, Taige thought. Pretty. But a waste of money.
“I . . . shit. Taige, are you going to look at me or admire your manicure?”
She studied him from under her lashes. “Cullen, I’m tired. It’s been a lousy few days, and I want to go to bed. So if you have something to say, please say it. Otherwise . . .”
His mouth opened. Closed. His lids drooped, shielding the lovely blue-green of his eyes. “You ever feel like making things easy, Taige?”
“Sure. I’ll make this easy.” She got up off the couch and sauntered past him. “Good night. Let me know when you decide to stop being an ass.”
She was five inches past him when he caught her arm.
As he whirled her around to face him, she blanked her expression. “Come on, Taige, would you cut me some slack? The last time that bastard was near my daughter, I’d just gotten her back. I’d almost lost you. He’d been pushing and probing at her head and . . .”
* * *
THE warm, smooth gold of her skin had gone pale.
After all these years together, Cullen knew when he’d hurt her, but he didn’t quite realize what he’d done.
Snapping his mouth shut, he tugged her close. “What now, baby?” Stroking her hair back from her face, he dipped his head, nuzzling her neck.
Taige stood woodenly, her body rigid. Unyielding.
Groaning, Cullen dropped his head and rested it on her shoulder. “Taige, darlin’, you need to remember, I can’t read your mind. I don’t know what you’re thinking unless you tell me.”
Without saying a word, she extricated herself from his arms.
Unable to do anything but let go, Cullen stood. Frustrated, he opened his hands, closed them.
What in the hell had he done now . . .
“She’s my daughter, too,” Taige said quietly. “I know I didn’t give birth to her, but she’s my baby, and sometimes I think you forget how much I love her. Sometimes . . .” Her voice trembled, shuddered. Then she took a deep breath and said again, her voice steady once more, “Sometimes I think you forget that we both agreed to do this together. I’d die before I’d do anything that would harm her. But you don’t seem to think that. You lump me in the same class you’ve placed Taylor in.”
Then she sighed and shoved her hair back from her face. “But here’s the thing . . . I know you hate him. God knows I’ve had my differences with him. But he understands something about people like me and Jillian. What he’s doing right now will probably keep her from going insane—she saw too much this time, Cullen. And it almost broke her.” She slanted a look at him, her gray eyes as cold as ice. “So think about that the next time you decide to demonize him. He’s an icy piece of work, but he understands what this shit can do to people like me, like Jillian. I don’t like his methods, and heaven help him if he seeks her out. But he understand how it haunts us . . . he knows it’s a hell we live with. He could have worked this solo, figured out another way to go forward. But he knew she needed to be a part of it. This was the only safe way she could do it.”
While his mind whirled, tried to process that, she shut the door.
She saw too much.
Almost broke her.
By the time he could even think of anything to say, his legs were numb, his heart too heavy.
“Taige . . .”
But when he went to his wife, she wasn’t there.
She’d settled down in the bedroom where their daughter slept.
Leaving him out there.
Alone.
* * *
SHE stood on the bridge, gazing down into the lake.
It was her birthday, and she was spending it in the only place she could imagine being.