revel in the way he touches me—as if he can’t get enough of me and how he never wants to.
And when he leaves the house under the same cover of night he came to me in, he doesn’t ask any questions, and he doesn’t beg me to explain the tears he kissed from my cheeks as he brought us pleasure. He just kisses me tenderly one last time and trusts that I’ll tell him the truth when the time is right.
Yes.
I love you, Ryker Lockhart.
More than you’ll ever know.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Ryker
“I have to admit, this is a first if I’ve ever had one before.” I shake my head and stare at the speaker on my desk phone as if Bianca can see me through it.
Obviously she can’t, but it doesn’t stop me from doing it.
“You didn’t deliver on what you promised,” she accuses.
“I didn’t deliver?” My voice starts to rise in pitch. “How about you didn’t hold up your end of the bargain? How about every question I asked you to answer took weeks to get a half-assed response?” My temper simmers to boiling at her accusations. “How about it feels like you hired me to represent you as some kind of fucked-up challenge to your husband? You never had any intention of actually filing for divorce. You just wanted to make sure to put him in his place by letting him know you could. By waltzing in here with some outrageous check as if it were some kind of challenge to see if I would throw it in his face.”
“You’re fired, Mr. Lockhart.” Her voice is cold and unfeeling, just like she is.
“Good. I’ll gladly cease representation. I refuse to be a pawn in your dysfunctional relationship.”
She chuckles for some reason. “You already were.”
“Good. Great. Go play your fucked-up games with some other firm. I won’t be manipulated.”
“I’ll expect my retainer returned less the small amount of billable hours, which are yours, of course. Promptly.”
I’m dumbfounded as she sits on the other end of the connection with her demands and bitchiness.
“Fine,” I finally answer.
The dial tone meets my ears.
I lean back in my chair, put my feet up on the desk, and steeple my fingers in front of me as I think.
What the fuck was that?
Definitely a first.
One I don’t want to repeat.
So this is what it feels like to be fired.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Vaughn
“Not very smart, Vaughn.”
I startle when I see Abel and Noah at my front door. They push their way past me without asking and shut the door behind them.
“What do you mean?” My voice jitters in a way I’ve never heard it before—pure fear. Especially when I see the handcuffs hanging from Abel’s belt loop.
He didn’t have those last time.
Why does he have them now?
Do they think I’m bluffing on having proof? Are they not going to grant me immunity?
They both stare at me as I shake my head and tears well in my eyes.
“So you give us ultimatums. Then you call Ryker. His car arrives shortly thereafter and remains parked here for three hours in the dead of night and you think we won’t notice?”
“I didn’t care if you noticed,” I say with a partial laugh to hide my nerves. “Isn’t a girl allowed to see her boyfriend for some much-needed sex?”
I hope my truth will shock them some. Will make them realize I’m not playing the games they seem to think I am. And the surprised expressions my statement causes tells me I might just have succeeded.
“Sex?” Abel asks.
“Yes. A booty call,” I say and hate that it cheapens everything about what Ryker and I shared, but I also refuse to tell them that. “I wasn’t aware I couldn’t see him.”
“The tough-girl act doesn’t fool us, Vaughn,” Noah says.
“Or shock us,” Abel interjects. “You’d be surprised the things people lie about to try to throw us off track.”
“Why would I do that? Throw you off track.”
“Ah, is that your precursor to get out of explaining your big buyout? Let me guess—you’re going to refuse to cooperate with us now?” Abel accuses. “You can handle us all on your own, you can afford some big hotshot attorney who can explain it all away and—”
His words make no sense. I admitted to seeing Ryker. I’m not lying. So what is the big deal here?
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Abel crosses his arms over his chest and assumes his pose of intimidation against the wall. “So what, you were just stringing us along until you could see