Page 81 of Filthy Liar

Then pulls away with my fucking wife.

I've barely blinked before they’re racing past me, engine revving as the car picks up speed. Speed I can't match on foot, regardless of how many miles I put in every morning.

I still try. Still do my damnedest to catch up, but it's futile. "Fuck." My voice echoes off the buildings around me as I watch the car growing smaller and smaller in the distance.

I may not have seen who was behind the wheel or who made the mistake of putting their hands on Valerie, but I can narrow down my list of suspects.

"Bloody, thieving bastard." I whip out my phone and dial the number of the only person who can help me now. As always, Elaine answers almost immediately. I don't give her time to greet me. Every second matters. "He's got her."

"Elaine groans. "Fucking, idiotic bastard." Her endearment is similar to my own, but I have hope hers is more accurate. The best-case scenario is Valerie's father being just as stupid as Elaine believes him to be.

Regardless, he won't be stupid much longer, because, while I have yet to use my money for the sorts of things Elaine uses hers for, that is going to change. I've never been one to shy away from a good investment, and seeing Valerie's father at the bottom of the ocean is one I can get behind.

"How long has she been gone?" Elaine asks.

"Seconds. I was on my way to collect her from my mother's and it happened right in front of me. They were pulling away before I could get to her." I'm still walking, though I have no idea where I'm headed. I just can't stand still and allow them to keep putting more distance between us. "They’re headed north along Sweet Side Drive. Black, four-door sedan with tinted windows. I only saw one of them. Male, over six feet. Soon to be dead."

Now that I've decided where to put my money, I might as well fully back.

The phone line muffles, and I can barely make out Elaine's voice as she carries on a conversation with someone else. The line clears, and she barks out orders. "Meet me at my office at The Sweet Spot. I'll be there in ten minutes."

The line goes dead in my ear, and I appreciate it. I'm grateful she's taking this seriously. That she's taking control of a situation I am incapable of handling on my own.

I begin to run again, this time going straight to my building, down to the garage, where I collect my car and break every speed limit law on my way to Elaine's space at Sweet Side’s oldest supper club. I make it there in eleven minutes, thanks to the late hour and the reduced traffic it provides, but, as promised, Elaine has beaten me. When I step inside the upscale business suite at the back of the building, she's already surrounded by a group of men and women, all of them frowning and focused as she lays out a plan.

A plan I am obviously very behind on.

"What have you found out?" It's difficult to breathe. Difficult to think. Difficult to imagine where my life will be tomorrow.

Because, unlike Gavin, there is nothing I crave more than for my entire life—my entire happiness—to rest on Valerie's shoulders. And I will do whatever it takes to bring her back where she belongs.

Elaine's eyes lift to mine, her expression tight enough to bring a sick feeling to my gut. "We're going to the docks."

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

VALERIE

I THINK I'M going to throw up.

I don't feel bad about it either, because no one deserves for the interior of their expensive car to be covered in the remnants of my lunch more than the man smirking at me from his spot in the front passenger’s seat.

"What are you doing here, Warren?" I'm a little proud of the venom in my tone. I'm not sure how long it will last, but I'm hoping I can dig deep and find enough anger to carry me through this. Because if I suddenly revert back to the woman I used to be, I'm going to be abducted and humiliated.

Warren clicks his tongue, but the smile on his face holds. "Is that any way to greet the man you were once supposed to marry?"

Is he serious? It really seems like he's serious. "Considering it was basically an arranged marriage and you were planning to have a whole ass woman on the side, yeah. I think my greeting is more than appropriate." Again, I'm a little proud of how I'm handling this. I haven't been in Sweet Side for what most people would consider a long time, so I wouldn't have expected my newfound inner strength to be quite as shored-up as it seems to be. But I'm gonna take it, because Warren deserves every bit of nastiness I can give him.

But, while I am thrilled at this new backbone I've acquired, Warren doesn't seem to be as fond of it. His sandy eyebrows pinch together and the already hard line of his mouth flattens into a frown. "I would watch what I say, Valerie."

Two months ago that sort of a reaction would have me withdrawing. Shrinking back and doing whatever possible to smooth things over. But being small and quiet and good is what landed me almost betrothed to the awful man scowling my way. Being ballsy and brave got me to Fynn once. Hopefully it can do it again.

"Now, we both know that's not true. You would never watch what you say." Every retort I make gets easier to spit at him. Louder. Sharper.

Hopefully the next cuts him, because I'm not dumb enough to think he's here because he missed me. It's more likely he decided my father shouldn't be the only one to benefit from my current husband’s hefty bank account, and he wants his cut.

Warren runs his tongue across the front of his perfectly straight, overly whitened teeth, eyes narrowing on me. "Don't ever act like I haven't earned the right to be what I am." His nostrils flare. "And don't for a single second believe that because you found some dumbass who has more money than sense to marry you, that you will ever be remotely on my level." The harsh lines of his tragically attractive face twist into something that has my stomach rolling. "That's why I knew I'd need another woman. Having only that boring cunt of yours to fuck every night would have driven me over the edge."

I would argue the edge he’s referencing is far, far behind him at this point, but Warren’s jab has hit me in a somewhat touchy spot.

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