Page 6 of Sins of Autumn

He continued to stare at me, his expression eerily blank.

“Don’t just stand there. Help me make this make sense because all I see is you with a backup harem.” I ran a hand over my face. “I’m such a fucking idiot.”

“Stop,” he warned lowly.

Did this motherfucker just tellmeto stop?

“You know what?” I pointed toward the glass doors leading to his balcony. “We should have this conversation outside. You can explain how ‘work’ makes you a total piece of shit while you enjoy the view. You might get so carried away; that you’ll slip.”

He grinned, the kind of dark, twisted smile that didn’t belong in a conversation like this. His eyes raked over me, and he tilted his head, that grin widening. “You’re gorgeous when you’re murderous.” His voice was close to a purr.

“What the…what the fuck is wrong with you?” I was completely thrown, every warning bell in my head going off at once. I needed to get the hell away from him before I ended up as a highlight on Snapped or a true crime podcast.

“You know what. It doesn’t matter. The before, during, after—it all blurs together. I’m done, Wilder.”

I snatched my phone and key fob from the dresser, my mind racing. My things were scattered everywhere in this penthouse. Clothes in his drawers, my birth control in the bathroom, my favorite shampoo in the shower. I couldn’t stay to gather them, not when I felt like I was about to either fall apart or make headlines as a murder statistic. I turned to make a break for the door, but he was suddenly right there, looming over me, backing me against the wall, and caging me in.

“Done?” he questioned lowly. “I told you on our first date this was forever. Till we’re sharing a grave and whatever life comes next.”

Yeah. That was a blazing red flag I ignored like a colorblind fool.

“Pretty sure you having a dirty dick makes that null and void, you fucking psycho,” I damn near hissed.

He laughed. "Psycho? I think you almost meant it this time."

I glared, tallying up yet another red flag I ignored. If I sat and took stock of all of them, I could plant a whole damn forest.

His grin widened. "I love that you see me for who I really am. That’s what makes you so perfect for me, Mint."

I stared at him, my chest heaving, at a complete loss for words. How the hell could anyone say something like that and sound so damn sure of it? Oh, right. Wilder Carson.

“Was perfect you,” I couldn’t help but correct.

“You think I’d give you up for anything or anyone? Have you forgotten how obsessed I am with you?” He leaned back slightly, and his expression became contemplative. “I thought I did a good job showing it. I’ll have to do better.”

His audacity broke something loose in me.

I shoved him, my hands hitting his chest with everything I had, my anger surging to the surface. He stepped back, not because I’d managed to move him, but because he let me. The maddening grin never left his lips, his body a wall of control, radiating calm.

“You’re insane,” I spat, my hands trembling from the effort not to swing on him.

“And you love it.” He watched me like a predator indulging his prey. I damn near speed-walked toward the door. I flung it open with more force than necessary, the sound echoing. Just as I stepped into the hall, his voice followed.

“You’re everything to me, Mint. We’re not done. We can never be done. You start where I end, remember?”

I swallowed but didn’t look back. As I passed through the sleek, modern living space, I muttered a curse under my breath, a specific one directed at Wilder’s asshole friends.

They were all there, sprawled out on the plush sectional at nearly two in the morning, texting each other, their faces lit by the glow of their screens. Lucian, Thorne, Hunter, Atlas. Romeo’s crazy ass was God knows where. They were all in that thread and not a single one of them looked up, didn’t say a word.

They sat there, fingers tapping away in their little group chat. The whole scene was all around weird and unsettling, like some twisted cult gathering. I fought the urge to flip them off on my way out. I was done with this place, and as much as it was alreadykillingme, I was done with the man I loved more than anything.

CHAPTER TWO

I kept my head down and powered through. I held it together as I stepped into the elevator, entering the pin that got it moving and then practically assaulting the ground button with shaking hands. The ride down was agonizingly slow, the silence thick and suffocating.

When the doors finally slid open, I flipped off the camera that gave them a view of the lift and called Wilder a piece of shit again. Then I walked into the parking garage, passing their ridiculous line of luxury cars, my footsteps echoing in the dimly lit space. My breath felt tight in my chest, but I kept going, determined to get to my car without falling apart.

Not yet.

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