Page 46 of Sunshine & Sinful

Right. He doesn’t know. Whatever.

As if he finds this entertaining, Sunshine lifts his phone above his head and presses a button. Theding, ding, dingof a boxing bell rings through the space. “Sweets. You won. Now come here.” Sunshine secures my elbow and escorts me into the kitchen, where we strategically step over the mess I made until he finds a smashed box of zippy bags tossed against the wall. Leaving me by the table, he fills the bag full of ice from the freezer, swipes a discarded hand towel from the floor, and wraps it around the cold bag before he hands it to me.

“Ice your fist.” Following his orders, I set the bag in place as he secures my elbow and helps me from the room. “Watch your step.” He kicks a pan out of the way so I don’t accidentally slip. “You sure did a number in here.” He chuckles, moving us back into the living room, where Dark’s collapsed into Anthony’s chair. The gun now rests on his knee.

“Talk,” my ex-husband barks at my ex-boyfriend, waving his hand for him to get on with it.

Staring straight ahead, Anthony says nothing.

Not keen on being ignored when he’s already riled up, Dark licks his lips, rolls his eyes, and shoots Anthony in the foot as quick as a snake strikes.

The man screams.

And screams.

Rolling off the couch onto the floor, he grabs his holey foot and tries to staunch the bleeding. It pours over the green carpet, turning it an ugly shade of reddish brown.

Not down to play games, Dark rises from the chair like some Greek god and aims at Anthony’s head. “You fucked with my wife. You have a spank bank on a wall upstairs. Now tell me what the hell Penelope has to do with this.”

Not this wife crap again.

I inwardly sigh as Sunshine stands beside me, drawing designs across my lower back.

Sweat beading on Anthony’s brow, face screwed up in pain, his words are choppy as he tries to explain. “S-she hired me… to scare her an… and keep an eye on things.”

“Scare her?” Dark grunts, as that’s the stupidest thing he’s ever heard. “How the fuck are some stalkers gonna scare my wife? Have you met her?” Jutting his chin at me, my ex winks then flashes me a panty-melting grin that does nothing more than make my eyes roll, and maybe I smirk for half a second. Maybe.

Sunshine chuckles.

“I… I don’t know,” Anthony whines. “She wanted me to keep in touch. To… to see if you were lying.”

As if some lightbulb goes off in Dark’s fucked-upbrain, he pulls out his phone but doesn’t lower the gun when he connects a call and a sultry woman’s voice fills the room. “Hello, Darling.”

My stomach cramps as I hear her voice for the first time. The other, other woman. Her tone’s sexier than mine. Far more sophisticated. Reading my body language like a pro, Sunshine’s fingertips slide up my spine, where he cuffs the back of my neck. Not hard. It’s supportive, communicating what I need,that he’s got me,that he’s here, andeverything is gonna be alright, despite the throbbing in my fist and the ache in my heart.

“Don’t youhello, darlingme,” Dark growls at his wife. “I’ve got your hired stalker here. You wanna tell me why he’s got a shrine to Kali in his attic and what you have to do with it?”

“Oh. Right.” The bitch giggles. Not in an evil villain way, but like a snobby high schooler who takes nothing seriously.

Dark glares at his phone. “Talk. Now,” he barks.

The other woman sighs. “Okay. Okay. You know how I get jealous, Maxim. I don’t like to share.”

His jaw clenches. “Who the fuck do you think you’re sharing with?”

Yeah. Who the fuck is she sharing him with? We haven’t been together for ages if you ignore the yacht incident. There is Abby, but that has nothing to do with me. Dark has made it clear he doesn’t love her.

“Her, of course. It’s always been her. You won’t move here because of her. You won’t commit because of her.”

Lips pursed in agitation, Dark spares me a glance. “We’re divorced, Penelope. That should tell you enough.”

“All that tells me is your father finally won,” she volleys in a brusque, no-nonsense way. I look over to Sunshine for something… I don’t know what. The grip on my neck squeezes twice, and he leans in to peck my cheek, forcing me to blush.

“No more of this,” Dark demands, and Anthony, having removed his shoe, sits up and props his back against the couch, where he applies pressure to his wound.

“Oh. Fine. I wasn’t really going to do anything. It was all in good fun, Darling,” Penelope replies.

Fucking excuse me? Stalking me was all in good fun? We have different definitions of the word. I open my mouth to tell the bitch just that, but just as quickly, I press my lips together. Inserting myself into the situation won’t fix this.

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