“Would I be that petty?” She smirks coldly. “I gave you a chance to come back, Elijah. Smarter men would have.”
“Why? There was no love between us. There was barely even care. You’re right, I was checked out and trying to make my mom happy. You found love elsewhere. What is there to talk about?”
“People talk, Elijah. Do you know what it did to me when you left? People talking about how ghastly I must be because you fled the state. Did it ever cross your mind how damaging a stain like that is?”
“Imogen… I didn’t leave to hurt you.”
“Sure you did.”
“No! I wasn’t thinking about you.”
“You never do!” She starts to yell. “Tell me, is there someone else?”
“Imogen.”
“Are you cheating on me?”
“We’re not together!” As hard as I try, I can’t keep my voice as low as I need it to be. “We’ve not been together for almost a year! Why can’t you accept that?”
“So you are cheating on me? You loved me and you ditched me?” She suddenly slams both hands into my chest, forcing me backward. “You’re an asshole, Elijah Baird. You’re a user and an asshole who just takes and takes from people!” She shoves me again and again, forcing me back further. “And now you think you can screw me out of the money I’m owed? Out of the company deals you’re only making because of me?”
“Imogen, you’re not making any sense!”
She lunges at me, screaming suddenly, and slams both her hands into my chest. “I hate you, Elijah! You’re a monster. You’re a fucking manipulative asshole, you hear me?” As she collides with me, something catches on my ankle and I trip back with a yell of alarm. Reflex has me reaching out for supportand the only thing near is Imogen’s arms. But as I make contact, rather than catching myself, Imogen falls with me while screaming.
We crash backward over a small coffee table, and I slam hard into a corner unit before hitting the floor with a yell and a crash of the vase knocked over by the impact of my body.
Imogen lands on top of me, yelling and hitting me with her fists. One punch catches me on the underside of my jaw so I raise my hands to catch her wrists. “Imogen, stop!”
A split second later, she’s gone, hauled off me by others while she screams about my attacking her. A hand lands on my arm and I’m hauled to my feet a second later, only to be shoved face first into the wall.
“Hey!”
“He attacked me!” Imogen screams behind me.
“I didn’t! I didn’t do anything!” I yell back, anger licking my words as my hand is wrenched behind my back.
“Save it for the officers,” barks a voice as something cold and hard snaps around my wrist.
Shit.
30
CALLIOPE
Elijah doesn’t call.
He doesn’t text me back either, and after dropping Sam back home with his parents, I go to bed with a small knot twisting in my stomach. That knot grows into one so large that I can’t stomach anything more than coffee the next morning as I get Nick ready for school. After I drop him off, I text Elijah again, and it goes unanswered.
Not even on read.
Is he ignoring me? Was the weekend not as delightful for him as it was to me? Maybe he hired his decorator friend as a way to let me down gently, since he seems to have vanished since then. As I drive to work, I take a detour toward the ice rink to see if his car is still there as my mind floods with the fear that he got into an accident and no one knows.
His car is gone.
The detour makes me late for work, and I have to deal with Jimmy berating me for ten minutes for being a bad example andsetting everyone’s day behind because of my own selfishness. I let him say what he wants because my thoughts are consumed by Elijah.
He sleeps with me, acts all sweet and caring, and then can’t even text me back? I vow to give him a piece of my mind when I meet him in the hallway, but it turns out he didn’t turn up to work, either. I spend an hour subtly calling some of the stores and the warehouse to see if he’s there, but no one has seen him.
