Page 167 of Tangled In Lies

Chapter 43

Phoenix

Tyler touches Eve, and I’m forced to watch. I’m two seconds away from ripping my hands off to get to her, no matter how much my wrists scream at me.

This is my wife. It should be me doing this. Not this excuse of a human.

“How many of these damn pearls are there?” Tyler heaves a sigh, as if the poor bastard is actually inconvenienced.

If it was me, I’d savor each pearl, unwrapping my wife inch by inch like the present she is.

The fact it’s another thing he’s taken away from me only adds to the mental shit list I already have for him.

Tyler’s frustration is getting the best of him, and he yanks on the back of the dress so hard that Eve is tightening the grip on the back of the chair for balance.

Several pearls pop off the dress and scatter around the room, and I want to pick them all up and shove them down his throat.

“Fucking finally.” Tyler takes a step back. “Show your husband the underwear I got you.”

This guy knows how to play his sick mindfuck games, I’ll give him that much. He knows exactly what buttons to push to get the biggest reaction out of us.

Boiling with fury, I grind my teeth so hard it hurts. But I welcome the pain and hold on to it. It’s so much better than this constant fear and unease Tyler’s instilled in me.

I tighten my hands into fists when Eve gasps. Her hands try to grasp the front of the dress, but it’s too late. It’s already sliding down her waist and legs, pooling in a puffy heap on the floor. And fuck. This woman. My wife. I hate it, but she’s an absolute stunner in the black panties and bra set.

“What do you think, brother? I did good, didn’t I?” He reaches out with his hand.

I hold my breath and snap at him, “No.”

I’m not sure how much more I can take. It’s absolute torture.

If he’d only come a little closer.

I avert my gaze from him to Eve. She’s already watching me. There’s something in her gaze I can’t identify. I can’t even tell if it’s good or bad. At first, it seems like she’s calm, but then her chest expands on an extra-long inhale, and she mouths my new favorite three words.

I. Love. You.

Aswooshsound fills the air around me, and I blink. Then I blink again. Eve is in the middle of doing a one-eighty with the chair clasped in her hands, swinging it straight toward Tyler’s head. She catches him so off guard that the wooden legs connect full-on with his head. His eyes go wide, and hestumbles back a step. Then two. She swings it again. He crumples to the floor. Fuck. He’s on the floor, not moving.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. Is he dead?” Eve’s breaths come in harsh bursts. She’s trying to get to Tyler, only to stop short.

Fucking chain.

“You did so good, Angel.” And she did. So good. But shit, he fell in the wrong direction, away from both of us toward the foot of the bed. “Give me a second.”

I move closer to the headboard, which gives my wrists the relief they’ve been begging for, and try to force the bed back with my legs. Turning around, I push with all my strength. I don’t know where the hell this bed is from, but it’s heavy as hell.

“Keep your eye on him.” Once the bed is far enough back, I grab the headboard and pull it sideways toward where Tyler is lying. It’s a process, and by the time I’m halfway across the room, my shirt is soaked in sweat.

“Almost there.”

Eve’s voice is lighter than I’ve heard it in the last two days.

It gives me hope. The bed bumps into the corner behind me, and I can’t go any farther. Tyler is almost within reach, so I sink to the floor and wrap my feet around his legs to drag him toward me, which isn’t as easy as I thought it would be.

“Come on, come on, come on.” I clench my teeth, wishing I could get a better grip on him.

Eve is leaning on the chair, watching the scene with knitted brows. “Just a little more, baby.”

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