جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 210

9Claire. I couldn’t sleep.He was in my bloodstream, in my chest, between my thighs. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him, saw the way he looked at me when he came, the way he kissed me like he was trying to stake a claim.My husband lay beside me in the hotel bed, snoring softly and oblivious to what was going on in my head.I stared at the ceiling and felt like I was suffocating.I waited another twenty minutes, then slipped out of bed without a sound, pulled on jeans, a tank top but wore no bra. I grabbed my phone and my keycard but left my ring on the bathroom counter.I didn’t even know where I was going until I was already outside.And then I saw the car.His car.Julian was parked beneath the shadow of a tree across the street, driver’s window down, arm resting casually on the door like he hadn’t been sitting there for hours and he knew I’d come.I walked straight toward him without thinking or breathing.He didn’t speak as I opened the passenger door and slid in. Didn’t lo

E fiancé uncle Raina. I never planned to see him again. Especially not like this; sweaty, irritable, and standing in a dusty garage while my ex-fiancé’s mother yelled about a missing casserole dish.But there he was.Dominic Vale. Tall, broad, and so deliberately silent it made every glance feel like a dare. He was stacking boxes by the water heater like he had all the time in the world. Like I wasn’t standing five feet away, surrounded by the ghosts of a wedding that never happened.I cleared my throat. Loudly.He didn’t look up.“Still ignoring me after all this time?” I asked, wiping my hands on my jeans. “Charming.”His head turned slowly. Those gray eyes landed on me precise and cool like they always had.“I’m not ignoring you,” he said, calm as ever. “I just don’t care to make small talk.”God, he hadn’t changed.I let out a sharp breath. “You know, you could at least pretend not to hate me.”“I don’t hate you.” He set down a box. “I just don’t like liars.”That stung. “I didn

3Raina. He asked me to dinner like it was casual and we were just friends. Like he hadn’t already had me moaning against my shower tiles with his mouth on me. Like he hadn’t whispered things into my skin that I still heard when I was alone in the dark.But I said yes anyway.It was easier than pretending we weren’t already halfway to something dangerous.I didn’t bother dressing up. I just wore a black camisole and jeans, did soft makeup, didn’t use perfume. I wanted him to smell me, not the mask of me.He arrived exactly on time. Of course he did.Dominic didn’t do late. Or early. He did precision.He stood in my doorway holding a bottle of wine and wearing a navy button-down with the sleeves pushed up just enough to make my thoughts inappropriate.“This still a bad idea?” he asked.“The worst.”“Good.” His mouth twitched. “I brought red.”“Figures.”“Why?”“You look like the type who drinks wine with the word ‘reserve’ on the label.”He stepped inside. “And you look like someone wh

5Raina. There’s a kind of lie you learn to wear like perfume. Not too thick. Just enough to make people lean in, smile politely, and pretend not to smell the fire underneath.That’s the lie I wore to Caleb’s mother’s birthday party.The dress helped. It was pale yellow, had thin straps, and a soft cotton that clung in the right places without looking like I tried too hard. My hair was pulled up, loose tendrils falling down my neck. My lipstick was light.I walked into the backyard like I hadn’t fucked his uncle twice in one week, like I hadn’t whispered Dominic’s name with my legs shaking and my back pressed to cold window glass just days ago.I smiled at the right people, hugged the right cousins, ate a cucumber sandwich I didn’t want, all the while pretending I was just another ex-fiancée showing up with grace and no hard feelings.Caleb looked surprised to see me.Which was sweet, considering the party invitation came from his mother, a woman who still insisted I called her “mama”

7Raina. I didn’t tell him I was coming.I didn’t text, didn’t call, didn’t even pretend to make up an excuse. I just put on a black pencil skirt, tied my hair up, slipped on heels that made me feel like I knew exactly what I was doing, and showed up.The front desk girl blinked at me, then gave a polite, confused smile.“Can I help you?”“I’m here to see Dominic Vale.”“Do you have an appointment?”“No.” I smiled. “But he won’t mind.”I could see it in her eyes, that uncertainty and slight tension that always shows up when a young woman walks into a man’s office like she belongs there. I let her sit with that and moved past before she could stop me.His door was slightly open. He was behind the desk, sleeves rolled up, collar loose, and reading something on his screen with his jaw set tight.He didn’t look up when I entered. Not right away. But I didn’t need him to.I closed the door behind me and leaned against it quietly. It only took a second before his eyes lifted and met mine.H