Semua Bab Satisfying Her Darkest Fantasies: Bab 261 - Bab 270

Luc understood that feeling well.“In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been surprised by Joshua’s behavior. All the signs were there.”“My God, you shouldn’t have had to know the signs at that age. You told your parents, right?”Her body wilted then, as if she had no more fight. “I told my mother.”Biting back the urge to prompt her, Luc waited while she closed her eyes, gathered her courage.“She didn’t believe me.”“What the hell? Certainly she could see . . . There was evidence.”Alyssa shook her head. “I was stupid. I panicked and cleaned up. Today, I’d have marched myself down to the hospital and demanded a rape kit and prosecuted the son of a bitch. But at fifteen, all I could think about was ‘getting caught.’“The day after it happened, Joshua was vile to me at school, told everyone he’d nailed me. He called me his convenient pussy and said he was going to get more that night. I was terrified.”Just when Luc thought this prick couldn’t get any lower, Alyssa revealed another fact ab

Biting her lip, she held in a cry of panic. There was every chance that the zealot would kill Tyler no matter what, but maybe she could buy Tyler enough time to get the two of them out of here. Right now, it was her best hope. She couldn’t sneak out, even if the squeaky door let her, and leave Tyler to die.Slowly, she pushed the door open. Predictably, the creaking alerted Primpton to her presence. He whipped his gaze around. The gun followed.The councilman stood near the back door. Tyler was lodged just in the open doorway, flat on his back, his entire body boneless and lax. Was he passed out? Had Primpton hit him on the head? Drugged him?Not two feet away, Hunter lay on the floor, blood pooling under a bullet wound in his shoulder. The red puddle seeped across the floor, spreading across the blue T-shirt that stretched across his wide chest.Fear gripped her throat, choked her. Dear God, she’d always known Primpton was whacked, but a murderer? He’d truly come here to kill, and sh

Had she just lumped him into the same category as Joshua? Fuck if that didn’t make his stomach clench and roll. “Alyssa—”“I should have asked more questions about your reasons for marrying me.” Her tone was a verbal lash to her own psyche, and hearing it damn near killed him. “I knew you’d proposed because of the baby. Deep down, I’d hoped that you cared for me, but . . . I never imagined that you actually married me believing the baby wasn’t yours.”Luc closed his eyes as his world imploded. Someone had told her his secret, his shame. Someone had given her the information and let her draw the worst conclusions. Since only two people knew, and Deke would never spill, he knew exactly who had revealed the truth.Kimber he’d deal with later. Now he had to talk to Alyssa, make her understand that his reasons for being married—staying married—had everything to do with her, not just the baby.“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about my . . . condition. The fact the baby likely isn’t mine do

She screamed.LUC pulled up in front of the house he had shared with Alyssa. Parked. Stared. She’d beat him home, based on the softly glowing lamp in the living room. Damn. Would she even answer the door at this time of night?During the long drive, he questioned himself a hundred times, his thoughts an endless loop of logic that always drew him back to one conclusion: He had to talk to her face-to-face, try to reconcile with her again. He wasn’t letting Alyssa go without a fight. Somehow, he had to make her believe that he loved her and would never do anything to betray her trust again.Armed with his conviction, he turned off the car, stepped out to the still night and chilly November wind. His palms were sweating as he approached the door.A faint feminine scream of terror burst across the night. The sound seared its way down his spine. It wasn’t the TV. It was real and human—and familiar.Alyssa!Running to the door, he grabbed the knob and wrenched it. But it was firmly locked.“

Sadie glanced at her watch. “Why don’t you get your purse together? I’ll meet you in the car. I’m parked out front.” Alyssa tried to stifle her disappointment at Luc’s no-show long enough to smile for her friend. “Sure. Thanks.” As soon as she heard the click of the door behind Sadie, Alyssa felt pesky tears sting her eyes. Damn it, she had a doctor to see, a baby to confer about. If Luc had suddenly embraced the annulment . . . well, maybe it was for the best. At least she tried to tell herself that. The last week without him, she’d come to realize that she would never be completely happy or completely whole without him. But she also knew that she couldn’t be married to a man she loved this fervently who remained only to be with the child he’d always dreamed of having. Without Luc’s love, sharing a home, a bed, and a last name would be hollow. Eventually, it would tear them apart. If he didn’t truly love her for her, better that she know now—not when the child was cranky for a nigh