Page 81 of Her Vampire, His Ruin

With that, she strides out of the room and I do what I’ve never done before and fall to my fucking knees.

Chapter 18

Edie

Fury churns in my chest as I stride down the dimly lit hallway past several rooms filled with couples fucking. At the end of the hallway, I jam my feet into my shoes, capturing a glimpse of a dark-haired woman dancing sensually before a man. Her hips sway to the relentless beat that throbs through the speakers as she performs. The man’s back is to me, but something in the set of his shoulders stops me cold. I edge closer, my stomach churning as I press my palm against the cool glass. Thick blonde hair brushes his collar, and he turns his head to the side.

“Robert?”

The beautiful woman locks her eyes with mine, and in that split second, my anger explodes into white-hot rage, not at her, but at the man she dances for. Robert catches her sudden stillness and follows her gaze, his expression flicking between shock and confusion.

I should walk away. After all, he’s nothing to me now, but all I can think about is the woman he left me for and the baby she carries for him. Without a second thought, I shove open the door and storm inside.

“You fucking bastard!” I yell, shoving him against his chest. “Have you no shame?”

“Edie, what the hell are you doing here?”

My fingers curl into fists as I glare at him. “You have a baby on the way with a woman you profess to love, and yet you’re here. You prick.”

I don’t care I’ve lost all control. I am done with men who break promises, who can’t master their own desires or emotions. I’m tired of women being tossed aside and treated like shit. I’m sick of women being handed empty promises, only to have them shattered by cowardice and utter disregard for their feelings.

“Should I leave?” the beautiful woman asks. “Or perhaps you would like to join us?”

I shoot her a glare that cannot be interpreted any other way. She nods once, then strides past me, shutting the door behind her. “What the hell are you doing, Robert? Haven’t you learned your goddamn lesson?” I shout, shoving him in the chest. “You have a baby on the way. You’re going to be a father, and instead of being with your pregnant girlfriend, supporting her, loving her, you’re here, about to fuck another woman.”

He actually dares to smile, and every part of me aches to wipe that smug grin off his face.

“Are you jealous, Edie?”

“Jealous? Are you insane? I’m furious. You’re a piece of shit, and if you think for one second I’m going to keep this from Lucette, you’re very much mistaken. She deserves to know exactly what you are.”

“I’m a man with needs, and Lucette is too tired, too heavily pregnant to tend to my needs right now,” he whines, and not for the first time, I wonder what the hell I saw in him. “What am I supposed to do?”

“I know exactly what you need—a lobotomy. Or maybe just your dick cut off and tossed away.”

“Fuck, I didn’t know you had it in you,” he retorts, reaching down to adjust himself. “If I knew you had this much fire, or that you’d enjoy a place like this, I’d never have asked for a divorce. Things could have been so very different, Little Duck.”

“Don’t you dare call me that,” I shout, and before I can stop myself, I slap him across the face.

His head whips to the side, my handprint reddening his cheek.

I don’t care that I’ve slapped him.

Right now, I want to hurl myself at him, to tear that smirk from his too-handsome face. Beneath it, he’s nothing but a monster, a liar, and a fucking cheat.

He steps towards me, a menacing smile lifting his lips as he slowly turns his head. “All these years you’ve been hiding from me, Edie. I can’t deny this turns me on. The fact you’re here in this club tells me everything I need to know.”

Something shifts inside me; anger and pain melt into a shred of fear. I take a step back. When he reaches out to touch me, I smack his hand away. “Don’t you dare come any closer.”

“Come now, we both know you’re still in love with me. Why would you be so angry at seeing me here if you weren’t?”

“Because I’m a decent human being. Because I’m disgusted with you,” I spit.

“Are you though?” he persists, taking another step towards me as I take another back.

“Do not fucking touch me.”

Just as he always did, he ignores my wishes, seizing my arm and pulling me hard against him. “I’ve missed you,” he lies.