Page 116 of All Bets Are Off

Dad blinked. Then he swallowed hard. When his eyes swung to me, there was terror there. “You can’t let them do this.”

“Really?” It was funny to me that I was the one he was trying to get on his side. “You hurt my wife. On purpose. You’re lucky this is all we’re doing to you.” I started for the door. “Get the lawyers up here. Get it moving. I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?” Ruby asked.

“After my wife. I won’t lose her. Plus, this is a family affair.” I smirked as I opened the door. “All of our family should be here.”

Ruby shot me a thumbs-up. “Bring back Rex when you come. We might need some muscle.”

“That’s a good idea.”

The last thing I heard as the door fell shut behind me was my father’s anguished yell of my name.

He was finished, though, and I wasn’t going to miss him even a little bit.

28

TWENTY-EIGHT

Ipanicked.

Deep down, I knew I did the right thing by leaving Zach to talk with his father. Once I was away from him, though, the things Ryder had said to me sat heavy in my soul.

They were looking for a new wife for Zach? Just like that?

Taking the information I’d uncovered to Ryder was the right move. I didn’t want to involve Zach because I figured it would be too hard for him to accept. By going straight to his father, I’d hoped—fruitlessly of course—that Ryder would do the right thing. Instead, I found them plotting against me.

Zach wouldn’t do that.

My inner voice told me over and over again that Zach wouldn’t do what his father was suggesting. We’d been getting along so well that I was debating telling Zach that I wanted to stay married. I’d thought—was that a mistake?—that he’d been thinking the same thing. What if I’d been wrong, though? What if this had all been a way for Zach to move up in his father’s estimation and I was about to be left in the dust?

I had to get out. That’s all I could think about. I couldn’t be here when Zach returned because hearing that he’d decided to move on was going to crush me.

That fear had me throwing a few things in a small suitcase—I would have Rex collect the rest of it at a later date—and racing toward the door, my suitcase rolling behind me. I was quick when throwing open the door and I hurried through it, only to smack into Rex, who was apparently coming to check on me.

My brother went low, catching me around the waist, and threw me over his shoulder. He was athletic, so he deftly caught the handle of the suitcase and pulled it behind him as he carried me back inside the penthouse.

“I don’t think so,” he said as I fought against him.

My fists on his back were inefficient, and when he dumped me on the couch and fixed me with an “are you kidding me” look, my face was flushed and I was terrified that I was near tears.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I looked up at him, debating, then I did the one thing he wasn’t prepared for, and burst into tears.

“Oh, crap!” Rex’s face went ashen. It was one thing to fight with me—we’d done that our whole lives—but tears he couldn’t deal with. “Livvie, no.” He held his hands out at his sides, helpless in the face of my tears.

“I need to go,” I said as I swiped at my cheeks. “I can’t be here when he tells me.”

Rex’s voice was gentle as he sat on the couch next to me. “Tells you what?”

“That he’s going with his father’s plan and he wants a divorce.”

“What’s his father’s plan?”

“There’s some woman he thinks will be a better match for Zach. Her name is Dawber. I really hope that’s her last name because I don’t want to feel sorry for her when she steals myhusband.” Had I just said that out loud? Good grief, I was pathetic. Just the worst of the worst.

“Um…” Rex scratched his cheek. “If you’re talking about Lisa Dawber, I don’t think you have to worry about that.”

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