Page 207 of Deceit

“I better,” I vouch through my clamped jaw. “I’m married to her.”

I’m fully expecting Ky to stand in front of me, foaming from the mouth and looking like a ramped dog wanting to kill me for touching the precious Emmy Lou Rhodes. But the painting still remains in front of me, and silence shrouds the room.

“But not for long,” I add on to calm down whatever crazy emotions might be sprinting through his head. We don’t need both of us out of sorts and emotionally unstable.

“Why?” His simple, one-word question is more complicated than just that.

It makes no sense to want to divorce Emmy just when I have her back. When I found out about the so-called Mills father bit, I still wanted her.

But now that she’s someone I can scream and hate for making me go through all those uncomfortable things, I don’t want anything to do with her.

All lies.

Everything was a fucking lie.

“There’s no reason to be married to her anymore,” I reply.

Kyson bristles but doesn’t press any further. “I’ll call you later. I need some fucking air.”

He takes off, and I wish I could go with him, but I can’t pry myself from the wall.

I’m not able to physically remove myself from a football field from Emmy when I know she’s going to go off and kill Alexander.

And try to do it before I do.

It’s not that she wants to perform the act, I don’t give a fuck about that but because Kyson is right, it started with her.

So I remain in my spot so that nothing else can happen to her. My nightmares warn me that I have a second chance and she’s still meddling in danger right now.

And not just her—her twins too.

Twins, twins…twins that aren’t mine.

How would it feel for a mother to have to kill the father of her children? The betrayal that she laid at my feet hurts enough but the man who was supposed to be at her side to raise not just one but two children? Who turned on you and decided you didn’t deserve to walk the face of the Earth anymore.

I’m sorry. I missed you…so much.

She doesn’t know what her words did to me yesterday. How they upset me because I missed her too.

How I kept reliving all the things coursing through my head in the time she was gone, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Now I can.

And I don’t know what to do with it.

I want her out of my life and I want to punish her for breaking my heart. I need to feel her against me and kiss every inch of her skin and claim her as mine.

She’s my wife.

She’s the woman I’ve wanted for years.

She’s the only thing that doesn’t make sense but everything I want.

This woman has a hold on me that is past the meaning of aggrieving but my love for her is so strong that it's willing to push past and deal with it.

The door to Ledger’s opens and out comes a defeated and teary-eyed Emmy Lou who looks like she just battled through a wall of words and straight bitching from our commander.

Her browns fall on me immediately within seconds of clearing the doorway and she wipes at her eyes with the back of her hand. Ledger appears behind her and meets my gaze, then nods.

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