Page 151 of The Bad Husband

The loud noise tears into the early morning hours.

I can’t remember a time when his phone was so loud.

His expression hardens as he picks up the phone and answers the call.

“Yeah,” he says as if he was expecting this call.

At once, he pushes off the bed and dashes to the bathroom.

He’s still on the phone when he returns, buttoning up his shirt and sliding his jacket on.

“No problem.”

With that, he ends the call, and just as quickly, another alert arrives, and I quickly learn it’s the gate. He taps the screen and shifts his focus to me.

He seems like a different man, and with every passing second, I feel like I’m swept away by whatever bad event I had a feeling would happen.

“I’m sorry that this night had to end like this,” he says, rushed as the swirling red and blue lights of the police cars glow around the property.

He studies my befuddled expression briefly, mulls over something, and then quickly closes the space between us.

“Leave with Henrietta tomorrow morning. It’s better that way. All right?’

He’s not waiting for an answer. Even if he were, I wouldn’t be able to offer him one.

I should put some clothes on and get ready to watch those people swarm his house.

I start doing just that when he stops me with a gesture.

“They’re waiting for me downstairs.”

“Something happened?” I murmur, naked in front of him.

“It did. But it doesn’t matter,” he says, calm for the first time this evening.

His hand slides into the back of my hair before his lips glide over mine, leaving what might be our last kiss.

“I love you, Lila Skye. I love everything about you. Don’t listen to her. Just go with her. My men will be with you two at all times, so she won’t be able to do anything to you.”

He leaves another kiss on my otherwise frozen lips.

“We’ll see each other again. What better test than this, right?” he murmurs, a sad smile claiming his lips.

It breaks my heart to see him sail these moments with grace, when we both know that this is a bad moment that will change our lives forever.

He winks at me, runs his hand over my hair, gives me a hug, and places a kiss on the top of my head before heading out.

Moments later, voices drift from downstairs, filling the house.

I put on a robe and dash to the window.

The police cars are slowly moving toward the exit.

I don’t even want to know what this is all about.

Frantically, I try to figure out what to do next before I swivel at once and storm out, looking for a room with a TV.

Scrolling through the channels, I find the local news, and there it is. The morning headline news.