Page 20 of The Hand that Frays

His eyes turn feral on a dime as his lip curls up, and he bares his teeth. “I never knew one word could cause such a bodily reaction.”

I grin. “Want me to repeat it?”

He bites his lower lip, his gaze raking over my face. Searching.

But for what?

“If you repeat it, I’ll find a dark corner in this museum and fuck you senseless. Fuck you until you can’t move, and they’ll mistake you as part of the collection.”

I lean forward, kissing him softly, as I hear a commotion near the entrance to the museum.

Neo tries to turn my face back as I swing around to see what’s happening.

There are reporters everywhere as a couple moves through the museum arm in arm.

A flash of blonde hair and sunglasses catches my attention as my heart thrums.

“Is that…” I whisper, turning around fully to watch Anne Hatt and her husband move through the crowd like any other day.

As if she hadn’t only been released a week ago.

Why is she already in public?

To prove she’s innocent? To show face?

As I assess their body language, I see her husband is the only one who looks apprehensive.

“Steady. Tell me what you see,” Neo whispers.

His little tests are usually fun. This one has too much weight for its importance.

There’s a gnawing anger clawing my stomach, and I’m not used to the feeling. It’s directly related to how my husband lured me here as if he knew Anne would show up.

He knew his prey would be in the open and wanted to stalk her.

I grit my teeth, trying to tamp the anger. “She’s uncomfortable. Not only does she not want to be here, but she’s been forced.”

Neo hums in my ear in agreement. “And who forced her?”

I run my eyes over them as Anne’s husband stops them at a display of a turn-of-the-century sculpture that Neo and I had looked at a few moments ago.

Her husband’s hand is gripping her arm enough that I catch a wince of pain flicker across Anne’s face. She hides it well, but not well enough for the trained eye.

“He’s forced her out of hiding,” I whisper.

“He has. Why would he do that?”

I cock my head, rolling my mind over the puzzle of the Hatts.

“He wants her in the public eye,” Neo adds. “But why?”

“His ego is tied to her strength somehow,” I whisper, looking at how the man’s holding himself. His chin is jutting further into the air, the more his wife shakes. “Even when it’s contrived, her braving the media’s scrutiny is almost…” I look the man up and down, catching something I bet no media worker is noticing: his hard cock. “Getting off on it. He thinks her innocent, and he’s turned on by the frenzy caused by her case?”

“Is that your answer? Or are you asking me, stupid girl?”

I swallow. For once, I’m not sure. The way Anne is shaking and the way her husband is behaving confuses my usually keen eye.

The Hatts don’t wander through the museum for much longer. Neo and I tail them as they look at a few more displays and then leave, the media going with them.

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