Page 99 of Audiophile

I ignore her, switching calls. “Hello?”

“Hello?” Kinley asks, surprised.

Her shy act throws me off. “You stole my phone.”

“It was time for an upgrade.” She laughs. “Now you have the newest model. Isn’t that better, Pooki?”

It’s all a game to her. Months of rage builds hot in my stomach.

She ruined my dream house back in LA. She drove a wedge between me and Amanda. She annihilated my friendship with Holly. She tattooed me and ripped me apart. I laid down and took all of it. But not this. Not Petra.

“Why the fuck do you have my last name?”

She giggles, but it’s saccharine and fake. “Knew that would get your attention. I earned your name, Daddy. Divorce won’t make it go away.”

She’s lost her grip on reality, fixated on a guy I’d only pretended to be. I grip the steering wheel as my vision shakes, and red bleeds in from the edges. “It wasn’t a fucking divorce. It wasnever real.You can’t play with someone like they’re a doll and call it real life.”

“You’re only mad that I spilled our little secret. I wouldn’t have, if you’d called your phone. Tracked it, even. I was waiting for you. You’re so sexy in those jeans, Daddy. Are they new?”

Horror wells up inside me. I’m naked again, waking up in a foreign bed with Kinley beside me. The scent of her rose perfume fills the car, and my stomach churns. I’m gonna be sick again.

“You would’ve gotten your phone back. We could’ve had a nice steak dinner,” she continues, planning her fucked up date.

“How did you find me?”

“That’s not nice,” Kinley growls. “Makes it sound like I’m hunting you. You shouldn’t post where you are if you don’t want anyone to know.”

Amanda. Damn it. “Is that how you knew to call Petra? From my story?”

“She called me first. I can’t believe you had her in your bed, you dick. You’re mine.”

“I’mhers.”

“Fuck you,” she spits out. “You can pretend we aren’t endgame. You can lie and hide from the truth, but we both know deep down that we’re meant to be.”

“You are the vilest mistake I ever made,” I grit out. “We will never beanything.”

“Daddy, how could you say that to me?” She’s on the verge of tears, but she’s also an excellent actress. “We were good together. Don’t you remember the night on the balcony? When I crawled under the table—”

If I wasn’t driving, I’d slam my fist through a wall. “You don’t understand that ignoring my boundaries didn’t make it sexy or fun. I was in the middle of dinner with Holly!”

“Holly,” she snarls. “I wasn’t going to lose you to some whore—”

“Holly is a thousand times the person you are.”

“She wanted you, Daddy. C’mon, you think she just wanted to be friends? But she learned the only vacancy for a woman in your life has been filled. Your new little pet will too.”

I go clammy all over. “What will it take to get you to go away? Money? Therapy? A recording purely for you?” I hate myself, even as I offer it. “Name your price.”

“My price is you,” Kinley says, voice cold and harsh. “I’m not going to step back so you can replace me withPetra.No way.”

I hate how Petra’s name sounds in Kinley’s voice. She’s desecrating an altar—destroying something precious and holy. “Leave Petra alone. She stays out of this or, I swear to God, you will regret it.”

“Ifinallyfound your button, Reed,” Kinley notes, amused. “Wonder what will happen when I push it.”

“Don’t you fucki—” Three beeps cuts me off. Kinley hung up.

Not if.When.I don’t know how she found Petra, or how much she knows, but it’s imperative I get her out of Swift River.

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