Page 32 of Resist

“Do you think I care?” she shrieks.

“I think you’re forgetting one thing, Roxanne,” I say with the smarmy smile I’ve perfected over the years and step closer into her. When I speak, my voice is low, even, threatening. “Your prenup is rendered invalid in the case of adultery. You and I both know the answer to that, so if you want to come at me . . . come at me. I promise you the cost you’ll face is much worse than the one I will.” I take a step back and shrug, knowing from the look on her face that I’ve just delivered the coup de grâce. “We’re done here.”

She sputters a litany of things as I skirt around her and head toward my elevator. I push the button and wait.

“Ryker,” she calls just as my door dings, and I step inside.

When I turn to face her, I see it in her eyes—the fact that she still loves me despite her venomous words—just before the door closes to separate us one last time.

I sigh in frustration and lean my head back against the wall as it begins to ascend, my mind already on the whiskey I’m going to pour the minute I walk in the door.

And I pour it too. Three fingers’ worth of a serving.

It sure as shit doesn’t do anything to complement the workout I just did, but it helps deal with the shit in my head.

First my mom.

Then Vee.

And now Roxanne.

But it’s only one of them I’m thinking about now as I let the alcohol burn the back of my throat and slowly begin to unwind after a long day.

It’s only one of them who has piqued my interest enough that I want to know more.

And of course it’s the one woman I should probably stay as far away from as I possibly can . . . but for some reason I can’t get her out of my goddamn mind.

Not even after she lied to me earlier today.

A woman who lies is one I stay away from. I chuckle to my nonexistent company because that means I better steer clear of all of them since they all lie.

Every damn one of them.

So why is it Vee’s lies are the ones I want to understand? Why is it her lies that make me want to know more about her? Why is it her goddamn trap I want to fall into?

Another sip. A little less of the burn. A whole lot of exhaustion.

I see the desperation in Roxanne’s eyes. I remember the taste of it in Saxony/Vee’s kiss. Two women. Two completely different reactions elicited from me.

“Christ.” I run a hand through my hair, knowing the only thing I need desperately is a shower.

But I don’t move. Instead, I sink back into my chair and prop my feet up onto the railing of my outdoor terrace. The sounds of a city’s nightlife starting to come alive filters up—horns honking, laughter faint but there, music from several directions—while I’m up here in my tower removed from all of it.

Thinking of a particular woman when there are hundreds of others out there. Wondering if it’s a simple case of wanting what I can’t have. Is that the uncomplicated truth? That I’d rather waste my time thinking about her when I should be working on a brief simply because she’s a challenge to be conquered?

Fucking women.

No matter how good a relationship starts, it always turns to shit. Always. And then they’ll take you to the cleaners—financially and emotionally—until you’ve got nothing left.

Nothing.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Vaughn

“Lola? Is everything okay? I was just running out the door,” I lie into my cell phone as I slip on my heels in the empty locker room at work.

“Yes. Fine. Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m healing quickly. The bruises are fading.”