Someone sits across from me. I look up. Irvin rests in the seat, changed into a navy-blue suit. His fingers flex on the dark cloth that covers the table.
I smile tightly. My pulse hammers in my ears. I tuck the phone into my purse.
“What are you doing here? How did you find me?”
“Oh, I thought when you said we were going on a date…” His tone is emotionless.
He flags down a waitress and orders himself a meal.
I fold my arms across my chest. “No. My date is on his way. You need to leave before he gets here.” I shoo him away.
“Nah, I’m going to wait for him. See if he has the balls to fail—attempt—to take my wife out on a date.”
The waitress brings him his bourbon on the rocks and his food. Irvin sips his drink slowly, watching me from the rim of the glass, studying my every move.
I crinkle my nose. “What are you going to do to him when he gets here?”
He shrugs. “We’ll see when the time arrives.” His words sound like a promise that he’ll hurt the guy.
My stomach feels hollow. My shoulders slump.Please. Just. Go. Away.
“You wouldn’t hurt him, would you?”
He cuts into his dry-aged steak and bites into the meat. “I’ll slit his throat, then hang his head on a spike. No one touches what’s mine.”
My arms and legs tremble. “You wouldn’t.”
He smiles viciously. “Oh, I would. He’s a threat to my relationship. And anyone who’s a threat needs to be eliminated—especially someone who touches what’s mine.”
I shake my head. “You told me you don’t hurt innocent people.”
His eyes are vacant.
“I hurt anyone who I see as a threat—to me or to you.” His tone is cold.
I fake a smile, but I break out in a cold sweat.
The waitress brings me a glass of wine. I swallow as the berry flavor explodes in my mouth.
I inhale.In. Out. In. Out.I have to get myself out of this sticky situation.
I pretend my phone vibrates and glance at the screen. “He’s not coming. He bailed.”
I want to smack that smirk off his face.
“Good. I didn’t want to kill anyone in this suit. Blood is hard to get out of clothing.”
I sigh in relief, and sip my wine slowly, not taking my eyes off him.
“Let me make something clear.” His tone is cool and deadly. He yanks my chair next to his, strokes my chin before gripping it gently, and presses a kiss to my forehead. “Don’t ever cheat on me. It will never turn out pleasant for him.”
Irvin
Ilean against my bike, watching the blue dot on my phone screen as she makes her way to the mansion on campus.
My princess forgets she’s mine—that she wears my ring on her finger. I need to keep a close eye on her and control every aspect of her life. This is the only way I know how to express my love for her. She doesn’t understand this is how I care about her. But she will learn. I just have to give her time.
I placed a tracking device on her phone the night I found her passed out on the floor. I don’t want the same pattern to happen again where I can’t find her. My lips thin, and my fingers tingle as I breathe in deeply through my nose and exhale.
