Page 30 of Perfect Satisfaction

Hours later, Brendan’s not the only one ready for revenge.

It’s not possible, is it? Why hurt me like this?

Why?

The time has come to end the last tie I have to my past.

Angie’s beyond his reach.

The pain I’ve endured is never going to go away.

The alert pinged my phone as we wait for the CT scan Brendan insisted Smith have before he allows the doctors to clear Smith to travel back to Nashville.

I read the article aloud to JB. “We wonder if supermodel Danielle Madison is aware her husband has a deep fascination with New York. It appears he wants something more—Ursula Moore. The international program manager having returned from living abroad—apparently ended her relationship with CEO and billionaire, Joshua Basset of Moore Software Worldwide. Tonight, the duo was spotted cozying up in Beckett Miller’s dressing room backstage atThe Golden Lady.”

JB sucks in air through his teeth.

Out of control, I rattle off a formula, “F(t) = a/(1+3e^(-bt)).”

“What the hell is that?”

“It’s a differential equation used to determine the rate gossip spreads.” And it’s rolling off my tongue right now as I stave off hysterics.

You just changed the game. You had someone physically hurt in order to cause me pain.A part of me that’s been slowly dying for a long while finally turns to ash and drifts away.

“Sula?” Brendan’s voice comes from behind us. We turn around. “If you say the name I think you’re about to say, he’ll have nowhere to hide.”

“I don’t need to say it. You already know.” I slide past my brothers, needing just a moment alone. A moment to say goodbye to the man I loved.

The man I swore wedding vows to in front of a justice of the peace.

The man I promised my life to.

Heart, body, and soul.

I search for a good memory about Arek. Something that doesn’t make me feel foolish for loving him. After tonight—a night that started out so spectacularly—it might as well be impossible for me to find one. I’ll never be able to escape his ghost. No, from now on no movement I make will go without being watched either by the bodyguards I’m certain will be hired or by the paparazzi.

Thanks to my dear husband.

Everything in my life is about to become available for public consumption.

My father? My mother? Will my farce of a marriage become public? The fact I’ve been living a dual life since college? How will all this affect JB? Brendan? Dani? Their kids?

“I didn’t finish reading the rest of it,” I manage.

“Finish it,” JB clips out.

Lifting my phone up, I read verbatim, “‘However it may appear, we’d like to personally wish Ursula Moore a very happy birthday.’”

Brendan curses prolifically. JB’s jaw becomes so hard I’m afraid it’s going to snap.

I conclude with the byline, “StellaNova.”

It’s JB who steps forward and reminds me, “We promised you whatever you needed for you to find forgiveness.”

“That’s when I thought I was fighting my own feelings because of his infidelity.”

“Well, now things have changed.”