“When’s the next flight on CDS?Because I miss playing wife whisperer.”The words hung in the air, as sweet and poisonous as her intentions.“I’ve got a very particular set of skills after all, and since my time is running out before I leave for Hawaii, I’d better find Mrs.Perfect for you.”
Rex’s voice was clipped.“Two weeks.I expect you’ll be available.”
“Of course.I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”She traced a finger along the couch’s armrest as she struggled to keep up the facade.“How many potentials this time?”
“Six.”
Xia’s heart cracked a little further.“Send me the link to their profiles.I’ll make sure you get your money’s worth this time.”
“This time, I expect you to find at least one or two worthy of the golden ticket to my bedroom.”
Xia let out a laugh, bright and brittle.“Oh, you can be sure of that, Mr.Oliver.If you chose the right potentials, all six might get to fuck you.”
Another pause.Then he said on a sigh, “Xia.”
She cut him off before he could say anything else.“Gotta run.There’s someone at the door.See you in two weeks...toodles!”She hung up, tossing the phone onto the couch as if it burned her.
Cheri gaped at her.“What the hell was that?”
Xia’s smile didn’t waver, but her hands were shaking.“That,” she said in a steady voice, “was me making sure he never sees me break.”
Cheri’s expression softened.“Oh, baby.”
Xia stood abruptly, smoothing down her shirt.“I need booze.”
“Xia—”
“No.”She turned, her eyes burning.“I’m not doing this.Not right now.”She grabbed her phone, shoving it into her pocket.“I’m going to make sure he regrets ever letting me go.Then I’m going to walk away.”
Cheri watched her, worry etched into every line of her face.“And if he doesn’t let you?”
Xia’s smile was brittle as she finally lost the battle.The first sob tore uncontrollably out of her.It wasn’t a pretty, silent cry.It came untamed from deep within.Xia’s body jerked as if she’d been struck, and her knuckles turned white as she struggled to control the flood.
“Shh—” Cheri started, but Xia wasn’t listening.
Another sob ripped free.An ache shot through her ribs.Her breath came in short, uneven gasps, each one catching in her throat like barbed wire.She pressed her face into Cheri’s shoulder.Her teeth sank into her own lip hard enough to taste copper, but it didn’t stop the sound.Nothing could.
“It’s...it’s not fair,” Xia choked.Her hands trembled against Cheri’s back as her whole body shook.“I was so sure...I never felt like this.He unleashed the wildness in me.God...sob...it was amazing.Freaking wild and slutty but...fuck me...I bent for him.I let him—” Her voice cracked, and she swallowed hard.“And he just...he just took everything, molded and twisted me.It made me feel like...likehis.Meanwhile...I was nothing.”
Cheri’s arms tightened around her, one hand cradling the back of Xia’s head, the other rubbing slow, soothing circles between her shoulder blades.“I know, baby,” she murmured in a thick voice.“I know.”
Xia’s breath hitched again as her chest heaved.The tears came faster now.The wetness on her cheeks, the way her nose started to run, and the way her throat burned with every sob were humiliating.She wasn’t the crying type.This wasn’t who she was, and yet, at this moment, this was the real her.
“I hate him,” she gasped, her voice trembling.“I hate him so much it hurts.”She pressed her forehead against Cheri’s collarbone as her body wracked with another shuddering breath.
“No, honey, you don’t.”
“You’re right...I-I miss him.And that’s the worst part.I miss the way he—” Her voice broke into another sob.“I miss the way he looks at me.Like in that moment, I am the only thing that matters.”
Cheri’s fingers tangled in Xia’s hair.“Oh, sweetheart,” she whispered in a rough voice.“You are the only one that matters.”
Xia shook her head, her breath coming in short, sharp bursts.“Not to him.”The words were muffled against Cheri’s skin.“God, I’m so pathetic, crying over something that was never mine.I was fooling myself all along.”
She was now weeping in earnest, great, heaving sobs that shook her entire body, her fingers clutching Cheri like she was the only thing keeping her from falling apart completely.The sound of it was raw, ugly—the sound of a heart breaking in real time.Cheri murmured words of comfort that neither of them really believed.
Because some wounds didn’t heal with time.
Some wounds just ached.
