My too-still wife.
I knew from the way she was holding herself, with that glacial look that could make grown men cower, that she needed space. But I never had known how to give Mallory Monroe space, so inthe next second, I was slipping out of my chair and crossing the small distance to hers.
Her eyes snapped to me, warning me from coming any closer, and I embraced the thrum of excitement slipping through my veins at the challenge. Violent Mallory really was my favorite.
Just as she reached for her earbuds, I grabbed her hand and hauled her from her chair, already walking toward the break room.
“Gray,” she mumbled, my name filled with even more of that warning.
“Don’t worry, Peach,” I muttered in a soft tease I was sure would frustrate her more. “I know what’s waiting for me.” But when she didn’t try breaking free from my hold or arguing, I wondered if maybe I didn’t.
Still, she let me lead her into the far side of the break room, all while I mentally reminded myself we needed to keep our voices low, so the rest of the office wouldn’t hear us. Again.
“You already said your piece,” she began once I released her, standing tall and glaring at me like it might make me back down. As if it ever had before. “I heard you the first time.”
The slant of my lips was slow and seemed to fascinate and infuriate her, given the way her eyes flared before narrowing into slits. “I’m glad to know you were listening. But now I wanna hear fromyou.”
“Hear what, exactly?”
“Everything,” I said without hesitation. “I was gonna wait until we left to talk through everything, but it looks like we’re not going anywhere for a while. So, drop those shields, Peach, and let me in.”
She didn’t respond. She didn’t lower her defenses. She just tipped her chin higher and held my stare as a minute passed.
Just when I started rocking backward, her jaw wavered ever so slightly before she exhaled as her attention shifted to the open doorway. “You were wrong.”
“I somehow doubt that. But about what?”
Another excruciating silence settled between us, but I just waited, giving her the time she clearly needed, even though I was dying to get inside that head of hers.
Her delicate throat shifted. “I do have to be strong.”
“No, you don’t.”
“You don’t understand?—”
“Except, I do,” I countered as I slipped a hand around her waist and tugged her closer. “Your dad is in your head. I can see that. But whatever you’re hearing—whatever he said—is messed up in ways I wish I could make you understand.”
Blue eyes shifted to mine, the glassiness of them the only crack in her armor. “Including how fatal it is to let an enemy sneak up on you?”
“That isn’t what happened with Davis,” I said patiently. “I also doubt your dad was that gentle when he drilled that particular lesson into your head.”
“That’s exactly what happened with Davis,” she countered, ignoring the rest of what I’d said. Not that it mattered, I already knew enough about her family to know I was right.
“Mallory, you can’t go through life being suspicious of every person you pass by,” I informed her. “You can’t expect neighbors or people at the store or the ones who make those disgusting drinks you love so much to be secretly plotting against you. You didn’t know—no one knew because they were all good at blending in. That’s why they were chosen for this.”
When her lips parted, I hurried to add, “And don’t say anything about me knowing. I didn’t know. I just couldn’t stand the guy because the thought of you with anyone else drove me crazy.”
She pressed her full lips firmly together as her focus drifted to the doorway again. When my grip on her waist tightened, she released a shuddering breath and whispered, “I’m the only one who fell for those water bottles.”
Lifting my other hand to her face, I gently grabbed her jaw and brought her stare back to me. “Don’t.”
“That won’t change that it happened,” she breathed. “That won’t change that I fell for multiple traps I should’veseen.”
“Weallshould’ve seen,” I reminded her.
“And you did,” she cried out, but the words were barely a breath as they wrenched from her throat. “You wouldn’t have drunk that water if I hadn’t given it to you. No matter what you say, you still questioned things about Davis. Evans didn’t think twice before throwing out afullbottle of water, even if he hadn’t known what prompted him to do it, and he said Wren’s Davis has always rubbed him the wrong way. EvenChloesubconsciously knew not to touch the water.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “I failed every test.”
“We can pick apart every situation until we’ve convinced ourselves we failed them,” I assured her. “That doesn’t make it true. And I’m telling you, you didn’t fail in this. Get out of your head,” I begged when her lips parted. “Get your dad’s words out of your head.”
