Page 59 of Ruthless Regret

The words slip out,cold and sharp, my eyes locking onto the guy coming toward us. It has to be the boyfriend. The one I forced her to dump.

“What are you talking about? Yourwife?” Emotions play across the guy’s face. Confusion, Disbelief. Anger. It’s all there, plain as day. “Ashley, what the hell is going on?”

I turn my attention back to Ashley. Her face is pale, eyes wide. She’s frozen in place, caught between us. The situation is messy, complicated, caused by me, but I can’t back down now.

“You didn’t tell him?”

“This isn’t the time or the place.” Her voice is tight.

The boyfriend—exboyfriend— steps forward, attempting to put himself between Ashley and me. “I think you need to leave.”

I don’t move. “I can’t do that. Not until she hears me out.”

“She’s not going anywhere with you.” He moves closer.Tooclose. Right into my space, and instincts honed from years in a dangerous environment take over.

“You need to back off.” My voice is low, sharp, and full of warning.

“Or what?”

My lip curls, but before I can do or say anything, Peter is there. He places a hand on my shoulder.

“This isn’t helping anyone. Scott, it’s not up to you what Ashley decides to do. It’s her choice.” He frowns at me, and the message is clear.I told you to wait in the car.

But I couldn’t sit out there any longer without knowing what was happening inside. “Ashley, we need to talk. It’s important.”

She shakes her head. “Whatever you have to say, you can say it right here.”

I weigh my options. She’s stubborn as fuck, and pissed with me. She’s not going to go anywhere with me without a good reason. I’d rather not air all this in front of people I don’t know well enough to trust, but if it’s what it takes …

“Fine. You’re in danger. I think you might have seen something more, and you’ve buried it. I think that whoever is behind all this is going to come after you to keep it buried.”

Her eyes narrow. “You have some nerve coming here and talking about danger after what you put me through.”

“What’s he talking about?” Scott interrupts.

I ignore him, keeping my attention firmly on Ashley. “I know you’re angry, but?—”

“Angry?Angry doesn’t even begin to cover it. Youblackmailedme,manipulatedme,usedme as fucking bait! And now you have the audacity to show up here talking about working together?”

“I didn’t use you as bait.”

She laughs, the sound humorless and shrill. “You expect me to believe that?”

“I know I made mistakes,” I say through gritted teeth. “But this is bigger than?—”

“Than what, Zain? Your revenge? Yourego?”

One of her friends steps forward. “Maybe we should all calm down and?—”

“No!”

At least I’m not the only one she’s talking over.

“I’m done being calm. I’m done letting everyone else tell me what I should do.” She turns back to me, eyes blazing. “Get out! Now!”

“Not until you hear me out.”

“There’s nothing you can say that I want to hear.” She storms down the hallway. I follow, ignoring the protests around me.

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