Page 55 of Rejected Pretend Mate

"Don't answer that," she said, her eyes looking at the name on my screen.

I grabbed it, tempted to ignore it, but I couldn't. I needed to know if he knew about Weslie and me. Was he finally going back home?

I answered it, pulling it up to my ear. "Hello?"

"Do you miss me yet?" he spoke in a husky voice, his voice slightly off, and I wondered if he'd been drinking again.

I sighed. "No."

"Not even after the little gift I gave you?"

I stiffened. "What are you talking about?"

"Your apartment, beautiful little space. Nothing like our house, of course."

Riley's eyes widened as she listened in, and I frowned. "What about my apartment?"

"I set it on fire."

I frowned. Why hadn't I known that? Why hadn't anyone told me? But the look on Riley's face told me she knew, and I'm guessing the guys didn't want her to tell me.

I ground my teeth together, a little angry now. Why did everyone feel the need to hide everything from me? Like I was some broken doll.

I straightened my back. "Why did you do that?"

"To make a point, you belong with me, April."

I snorted. "I'm guessing you don't know I've remarried then."

He went quiet, too quiet for my liking. It was the silence before the storm.

"What?"

"I've remarried. I've already moved on and started a new job. I've become part of this pack, and you can do nothing to change that. The old pack will have to acknowledge the change, so I'm part of this pack now."

"Why would you do that?" he yelled.

"Because I'm not yours anymore," I snapped back, tightening my hold on the phone. "So you need to go home and leave me alone."

"You're going to regret that, April. You and I both know you belong with me, and once I get my hands on you, I'm going to…" I ended the line before he could finish, and Riley's eyebrows went up.

"Damn, you grew some balls."

"I've always had them," I said with a smile. I just let Ivan change me, and I was done doing that. I was done living in the shadow where I had to tiptoe around.

"Are the guys at work?" I asked, pulling myself off the bed.

"I think so."

"Good. I'm tired of those two fighting."

Riley raised an eyebrow at me. "And you plan on changing that how?"

"I've known the guys for a long time, and they need to talk. They will be talking." I grabbed my purse and gave Riley a quick hug. "You looked good. Wear that dress."

I hurried out of the house, got to my car, and headed to the fire station. I found Ayden standing at the door talking with Miles. I still felt a little embarrassed about the other day, not to mention the fact that word got out about Weslie and me in his house's coat closet.

Ayden spotted me first and offered me a gentle smile. "Hey, April. Need something?"

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