Page 140 of Stay for Me

So no, he decided against the duct tape—even though she deserved it.

Weeks.

For weeks, he’d being watching the woman who was supposed to be his wife continued to live her life as if she hadn’t rejected him. As if she hadn’t broken his heart again. He was over this little game of hers. He’d spent years waiting for her to realize her mistake, but he was done waiting.

Two days ago, when she left the house dressed in a workout outfit, he snuck into her home and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

She didn’t come back until earlier this evening, and the flowers he’d gotten her had already been thrown out. He hid in her small attic, listening to her talk to that damn cowboy on the phone. He heard his Diana tell the cowboy she loved him.

That was lie, it had to be.

Diana would love no one but Lucas.

When she finally fell asleep, he made his move.

That was three and a half hours ago.

“Lucas, what have you done?”

He twisted his head to find an older couple standing a few feet from him, the lone gas station on the side of the highway behind them. The woman, Diana’s mother, was everything a woman should be. Timid. Obedient. Submissive. He couldn’t wrap his head around where Diana’s parents fucked up with her. Somewhere down the line, mistakes were made. If they hadn’t been, then maybe, Lucas would have the wife and children he was promised.

“Getting my life back on track, Mr. And Mrs. Harper,” he clipped.

“What did you do to her?” Diana’s mother whispered in horror, fear shining behind her glasses.

“What I had to do get her back home,” Lucas seethed. “Now, get—”

“—you said we were coming her to talk to her,” her father cut in, his voice firm. “Son, you told us she wanted to have a conversation. This isn’t—”

“We can have that conversation when we get home!” Lucas barked.

The couple stared at him in horror.

He slicked his hair back, feeling the drugs in his system wearing off. “Now, we don’t have long until the sun begins to rise, and I don’t want to be around when that fuck ass sheriff wakes up. Get in the car.”

When they didn’t move, Lucas rolled his neck, a frustrated sigh leaving him as he reached behind to grab his gun. He pointed it at them without hesitation. “Get in the car.”

They both paled. “We have our car—”

He roared at them then, his patience obliterated. “Get in the fuckin’ car! We cannot plan a wedding on the side of the highway in Colorado!”

“Lucas,” Mrs. Harper whispered.

“Three seconds,” he warned.

Approximately one minute later, everyone was in the car, and Lucas was pulling out of the parking lot, leaving Colorado and that fuckin’ cowboy in the dust.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Mags

Shedidn’tcall.

I’d woken up early, as I always did, got to the barn at five in the morning, had a cup of coffee with Jigs, woke the twins up, and started the day. It was now mid-morning, and I still hadn’t heard from Diana. My focus wasn’t on my work, the demons committed to torturing me, uncertainty spreading throughout my blood stream.

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