“When Simone finally returned home, she and Seth tried to make it work, but he was having trouble accepting what happened. Several weeks before the wedding, he broke it off. He told her he wasn't attracted to her anymore, and basically, to paraphrase the asshole,being intimate made him sick.”
My jaw hits the floor.Asshole is right.
“Simone was devastated, and to be truthful, never really the same after that. She went through a traumatic experience overseas and then came home to experience another one.”
A shitstorm of emotions thunders through me, and the whole room turns red. “Where can I find her?” I shoot out of my chair.
“Ty,” Joseph begins to protest. He doesn't think me seeing her is a good idea. I vehemently disagree. I’m exactly what Simone needs. And I’m going to prove it to him, and her, and the entire world.
“Joseph, tell me,” I all but roar. I’m not taking no for an answer.
He pauses for a long while, staring up at me. I never break eye contact. I will glare at him all goddamn day if I have to. “I’m not leaving this office without an address.”
“I can call security,” he threatens.
“Go ahead. It’s not going to stop me. I’ll hire a private investigator. I’ll find her one way or another.”
Joseph surprisingly smirks. “Okay, kid. You convinced me.” He picks up a pen and scribbles on a piece of paper. Just as he lifts the note to hand it to me, he fakes me out, pulling it back. “If you hurt her, Iwillkill you.” He’s dead serious. His cloudy gray eyes become cold and flat.
“I promise I won’t.”
He hands over the paper slowly, and I snatch it.
“Since I’m here, I might as well ask you.”
“Ask me what?” he grunts.
“For your permission to marry her.”
Joseph chokes.
“One thing at a time, Ty. Let’s see if she’ll even talk to you first.”
I smile victoriously.
“That’s not a no.”
9
Simone
I nearly jumpoff my couch when I hear sudden banging on my front door.
“Simone!”My name bellows through the wood. I freeze. Ty?
“Simone!”Bang! Bang! Bang!“Open the door! We need to talk!”
Pulling my knees into my chest, I stare at the door, at a loss what to do. I don’t want to see him, but it doesn’t seem like he’s going to give up so easily. I really hoped after I left he would just let me go. I made a complete fool of myself and crossed a line that was put there for a reason. A good, goddamn reason. So my heart never gets broken again. And once Ty sees the monster I truly am, that’s all I’ll have left—the broken pieces of my fragile heart.
“Go away!” I yell.
“Nope! Not happening. I’m not leaving. Open the door, or I’ll break it down this time. I’m not taking no for an answer!”
Break it down? He’s bluffing.
Bang! Bang! Bang!The hinges creek. Oh, shit, maybe he’s not.
“Ty! Stop!”
