“You’re underestimating how much I can handle,” I whispered, every word laced with defiance and exhaustion and something far more dangerous than both.
“I really hope that’s true.”
And beneath his calm, beneath that careful restraint he wore like armor, there was a flicker of fear, telling me that whatever he was hiding wasn’t small.
Robert appeared beside us. “The woman of the night,” he said. “May I have a dance?”
A surprised laugh threatened to rise, but I managed a polite smile instead. “Oh, I—”
Before I could finish, Khalifa’s arm tightened around me. “No. My wife is good.”
I turned to him, disbelief slicing through the heat. “I don’t need you to speak for me.”
Robert’s brows lifted slightly. “It’s all good. Have a great rest of your night.” He nodded once, then slipped back into the crowd.
The second he was gone, I said, “You didn’t have to be rude. He’s my coworker.”
He let out a scoff. “Yeah. A coworker who has feelings for you.”
I snickered. “Excuse me?Robert? He flirts with every human that breathes. It’s called a bad personality, not a love confession.”
“And you have no problem letting him think that’s okay?”
My mouth fell open. “Wow. I can’t decide if I should be insulted or shocked by theabsolutehypocrisy,” I snapped.
His eyes narrowed. “How am I a hypocrite?”
“Oh, a couple of different ways,” I said, voice trembling from how hard I was trying not to yell. “But let’s start with how you have the audacity to accuse me of leading someone on when that’s exactly what you’ve been doing to me since the day we got married.”
His hand dropped from my waist, his face shuttered. Then he looked at his watch and said flatly, “Twelve-oh-one. Pretending’s over.” He turned, walking toward the table, collecting his things without another glance.
I followed, grabbing my bag, my heels clicking loudly on the marble floor. He was already halfway to the car by the time I caught up, practically sprinting. He didn’t open my door, didn’t even wait for it to close before the car lurched forward, tires biting the road.
For a moment, I just watched the lights smear past the window, my pulse a steady roar in my ears. Then I couldn’t help it. “I should congratulate you, Khalifa. I didn’t think you were capable of not being an irritating asshole for more than a few seconds. You really outdid yourself tonight.”
He said nothing. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel.
“God,” I said, shaking my head, “you’re such a typical, toxic man. Is that it? You feelthreatened? Is that why you won’t divorce me? You want to keep me locked in, like some possessive little claim, so no one else can have me?”
His jaw flexed, but he just kept driving.
“News flash, Khalifa,” I continued, my voice breaking into anger, “you never had me. I am notyours.”
The car jerked to a stop at our building. He was out before I could unbuckle, his door slamming behind him.
I matched his pace to the elevator. When the doors closed, I exhaled sharply. “You know,” I said, “you have some nerve getting mad at a man for speaking to me when half the women in that room were undressing you with their eyes, and you didn’t seem to mind. Notonce. I guess my attraction’s the only one you hate.”
He finally looked at me, and in the hush between us, the air cracked. His chest rose once, his throat working like he was trying to swallow something he didn’t want to say. Then, without warning, his hand shot out and slammed the emergency stop.
Chapter Thirty-Four
THE ELEVATOR JOLTED, a metallic groan filling the silence.
“What the hell are you doing?” The question scraped out of me, thinner than I intended.
He didn’t answer, he just stared at me—no,throughme, eyes locked on mine with that restless, stormy focus that always made me feel seen and cornered at the same time. His breathing was ragged, and the elevator suddenly felt too alive, vibrating with the kind of heat that made reason falter.
“You,” he said finally, voice rough, “are the most aggravating, difficult, loud-mouthed, no-filter human that I haveever—” He squeezed his eyes shut, and when he looked at me again, the anger had melted into a deep affection. “—had the pleasure of dealing with.”
