My jaw clenched so hard it hurt. “Ignoring me isn’t going to fix the issue. I can’t help if I don't know what’s wrong.”
He didn’t even look in my direction as he loosened his bowtie, taking it off slowly and laying it on top of his performance jacket. Then, he snatched the neon orange balloon dog off the table, considered it for a moment, and squeezed it until it popped. He tossed the latex in the trash without signing anything else.
My cheeks burned hot as I watched him pretend I wasn’t even there.
“Why are you like this?” I ground out, losing my patience. “What have I ever done for you to treat me like this? You only acknowledge me when you want something and, even then, I’m lucky if you give me the time of day.”
I’d tried so hard to toe the line and keep him happy over the years.
I’d done everything he asked, but nothing was ever good enough.
Iwas never good enough.
“Fine,” I snapped when he started unbuttoning his shirt without even looking at me. I snatched my keys off the counter and stomped over toward the door. “I’ll leave, since that’s what you want. Maybe I won’t come back at all. I’m sure you’d be happier then.”
I slammed the door behind me, and a dull ache throbbed in my chest.
Maybe time apart was what he needed to decide what he wanted. Whether he actually wanted me, or if I was just a space filler. A pet to drag along on a leash until he got bored and replaced me.
Arina was waiting, leaning against the trailer next to ours. Her arms were folded over her chest, and she was staring out across the parking lot. Obviously lost in thought.
“You ready?” I asked, stopping next to her.
Her head snapped in my direction, and her face lit up. “Yep. Where are we going?”
Truthfully, I no longer cared where we went, so long as we were far away from Night and his trailer. We could wander all night, get lost in a park, lay under the stars. Whatever she wanted.
I lifted one shoulder in a shrug and gestured for her to follow with a jerk of my head.
“On an adventure.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
NIGHT
A muscle in my jaw ticked when the door slammed.
I didn’t bother turning around.
Daze was… gone.
Thankfully, he’d taken the fucking beta woman with him.
Arina.
I’d disliked her from the first time Daze uttered her name, but seeing her in the flesh had cemented my contempt. For the briefest second when I opened the door, I’d panicked. Seeing her standing there made me think my psychotic ex had returned to finish what she started. That she’d come back to kill me.
It wasn’t Arina’s fault that she looked like my ex-mate. No. With her dark hair, pouty lips, and petite, curvy physique, she only vaguely resembled Erika. But her face had brought up horrible memories, nevertheless. Ones I’d spent the last few years trying to bury. Toforget.
Erika leading me on for months while planning my murder… Erika slipping poison into my food… Erika grabbinga knife and coming toward me as I struggled to drag myself off the floor…
My chest had clenched, and my stomach dropped.
Everything slammed to a stop, the blood draining from my face as I watched the woman and Daze in my trailer.
A beat later, I remembered why it was impossible for my ex-mate to be here…
She was dead—by my hand.
