Page 5 of Simon Says

“Is that right?”

“You love me.”

He shook his head on a laugh. “No.”

“We have something special.”

“I was dumb enough to think so.” Simon nodded toward the photos. “Thanks for pointing out my error.”

“Simon,please!”

Never had he heard Bonnie beg. He sure as hell didn’t want to hear it now. “Save it.”

She took a combative stance in front of him. “You’re a family man, Simon. You like the security and familiarity of the same woman, the same place. You cherish stability.”

“I like honesty and loyalty, too. What I don’t like is being played for a fool.”

“You could never be that.”

He laughed again.

“Simon, listen to me. From the time we decided to move in together, you’ve been saying that love and commitment was give-and-take, and—”

“Yeah, I know what I said, Bonnie. But you gave a little too much to the wrong man.” Simon physically set her away from him.

“I won’t just let you go,” she stated. “I won’t just stand by while you throw away five good years.” When Simon said nothing, she screamed, “I uprooted and moved to Harmony for you!”

Once again, she shocked him. It was unlike Bonnie to cause a scene. “Save the hysterics, babe. You wanted the move, the fresh start, as much as I did. Don’t use it as an excuse now.”

“I’ll win you back.” Bonnie lifted her chin with that atrocious statement. “One way or another, you will come back to me.”

Simon tossed his shaving kit toward the rest of his belongings. “Here’s the thing, Bonnie. I’m not all that broke up about you cheating.”

Her glossy red lips parted.

“Yeah, that surprises me, too, but I guess you weren’t the big draw.” Simon smiled. “Like you said, it was the comfort of familiarity.”

“Simon…”

“Now that you shot that to hell, there’s nothing here for me. Nothing.”

“You can’t mean that.”

“Every word. So do us both a favor and don’t waste your time pestering me.”

Gregor chose that moment to reenter with more than enough boxes. God bless him and his perfect timing. Simon could hear Dean explaining the situation as he and Gregor came into the bedroom.

SBC fighters were nothing if not loyal to each other.

As if Bonnie weren’t standing there, five feet nine inches of stacked female smelling of perfume and looking like a fashion icon, the three of them went about their business. Simon didn’t look at her, but he was aware of her all the same. How could he not be? She stayed silent, but she continued to plead with her eyes.

And even distressed, she was one of the sexiest women he’d ever seen.

But the second he’d seen those photos, his interest had vanished as if it had never existed. He had no room in his life for rank disloyalty.

Within an hour, Simon had removed every trace of himself from the apartment. It took another hour at the manager’s office, a lot of paperwork, and a chunk of his savings, but he got his name off the lease. While Dean drove and Gregor stewed, Simon used his cell phone and credit card to pay off all the utilities, and then have his name removed. He wasn’t really worried about Bonnie running up deliberate bills. She didn’t operate that way. But neither was he a man to leave things to chance.

When he finished, Bonnie was out of his life. Simon felt…renewed. Ready to start over. Challenged by upcoming changes. Yes, it’d be good to spend an extended time with his family.

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