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“You’re not the maid?” Blondie asks, cuddling Rosie closer.

“Bitch, get away from my dog!” I yell.

“Your dog?” she asks, likethat’sthe problem here.

“You heard her,” Trin says, her chin out and her hands on her hips where they belong. “Drop the dog and get the hell out of my house.”

“Your house?” Blondie asks, ignoring Hale and his pleas for everyone to calm down.

“Did I stutter?” Trin demands. “Leave the dog alone, put some clothes on, and get out.”

Blondie adjusts Rosie, her focus drifting to Hale. She’s not afraid of me or Trin, but she should be. “What exactly is going on? Who are these people?”

“These people?” Trin says. “Ma’am, are you messing with me right now? I hope not. Just ’cause you saw me holding a baby doesn’t mean I won’t smack you all the way back to New York if you keep gettin’ lippy.”

“How dare you?” Pris says.

She rises, dog and all and takes a step forward. I take a step, too. “Oh, sugar,” I say. “No way in hell are you getting anywhere near her.”

Hale shoves his way between us, cursing as Trin and I lay into Blondie. Blondie puts Rosie down, screaming, waving her armsandbreasts.

“Stop,” Hale says. “All of y’all just stop.”

The fire burning within me surges, blurring my vision. “You cheating,whoring, little—”

“I didn’t cheat,” Hale says, his sharp tone instantly silencing me. His expression is weary, but it’s the guilt that stills me in place. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“I don’t know about that,” Blondie says, fluffing her hair.

Blondie’s words are a rough strike upside my head. I jerk away from Hale when he reaches for me, feeling more emotional than I want to be. He hurt me. My God, all I did was leave him a handful of days and he did this to me.

“Don’t touch me,” I tell him. “Don’t you ever put your hands on me again.”

Chapter Sixteen

Hale

This morning wasn’t supposed to happen. I wasn’t supposed to come downstairs to find Becks here and I especially wasn’t supposed to find Pris naked with Becks. I shouldn’t be surprised. Pris did her best to drag me to bed.

If I hadn’t spent most of the night grilling her about what she knew, and if it wasn’t too late for her to find a place to sleep, I never would have let her stay here.

Becca doesn’t know that and neither does Trin. Both are plenty pissed, but it’s the hurt and disappointment in Becca’s eyes that just about tears me apart.

“Nothing happened,” I say. “Priscilla’s not my fiancée.” I pause. I don’t want to admit what I do next, but I need to be honest. “We dated for a time.”

“We did more than that, Hale,” Priscilla purrs.

She smiles, enjoying herself. Pris has always had a mean streak, but I’ll damned if I let Becca bear the brunt of it.

I meet Becca’s gaze. “What Pris and me had has been over for a while. She came here yesterday, unannounced, and spent the night.”

“I certainly did,” Pris says.

“In the guestroom, by herself,” I snarl through my teeth.

Trin races into the guestroom. “Someone slept in here,” she calls out.

Becca swallows hard. She doesn’t appear any less relieved, nor does she seem to believe me. But I think she wants to. Trin bounces out of the bedroom and tosses—never mind, “tosses” is too mild a word. ShethrowsPris’s clothes at her, shoes and all. If Pris didn’t duck, Trin would have taken out an eye with a leopard print shoe.

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