“Money?” His tone was stern. “That is why you’re here?”
I looked away, unable to take the expression on his face and the harshness of his voice at the same time.
Not for the first time in the past sixteen years did I yearn for the boy I fell in love with and married. The one who was my protector.
But in his stead before me stood the man who’d come to hate me.
“Yes,” I whispered, giving him the answer he wanted.
“Of course,” he sneered.
“What about you?” The question came out of my anger. Why I was pissed, I didn’t know, but it propelled me to ask questions of my own. “What are you getting out of this?”
Ace stepped forward. When I thought he would stop, he continued to advance on me, forcing me back against the kitchen wall. His hand shot up, cupping the lower part of my face.
His movements were so swift, I didn’t have time to react before his mouth covered mine. His kiss was bruising, even more punishing than the words he’d thrown at me seconds earlier. But a small spark went off deep in my belly.
Somehow, I ended up kissing him back. And as soon as I did, Ace pulled away from me.
With his hand still around my face, he looked me right in the eye and said, “In six months, I’ll get what I want from this marriage.” He paused. “And then I get to forget all about you. I won’t ever think about you again. You will be dead to me.”
I didn’t think there could have been more words in any other language as cold and painful as the ones he just spat in my face.
I tried to search those grey irises for a glimpse of the old Ace. The one who would’ve never said anything remotely close to this to me.
“I get to forget you ever existed.” He pushed the dagger through my heart one more inch.
I sank into the wall behind me. Over the past sixteen years, I believed I’d cried every tear I had to give over the end of our relationship. But that old feeling of wanting to bury my head in my pillow and let the tears flow came over me again.
“Answer your phone.”
I blinked. “What?”
He dipped his head toward my shoulder bag, which was now on the floor. “Your phone is ringing,” he said before exiting the kitchen.
I steadied my breathing before digging through my bag.
“H-hello?” I answered my phone right before it went to voicemail.
“I was hoping you weren’t planning on ignoring me.”
My shoulders deflated at the sound of Vincent Reyes’ voice on the other end of the line. Hadn’t my heart just been shredded enough for one day?
Now, here was the guy blackmailing me in order to keep my son safe, calling.
“Hold on. I have to step outside.”
* * *
I shutthe door behind me as I exited the house. Slowly, I brought the phone back to my ear while rubbing my temple with my free hand. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to catch a break.
“Hello?”
“You do know who this is, don’t you?” the male voice asked with a sneer in his tone.
“Vincent,” I said, hating even the sound of his name.
“Did you believe you could hide from me by moving to Texas?”
