Page 42 of Duress
Let that brother develop feelings for you that you know he wouldn’t even consider if he knew the truth? Check.
Comfort him with your magic vagina when he’s sad about said dead dad? Double check.
“Hey, where are you? I just woke up.” My voice is husky, thick with sleep, hopefully masking the crisis of conscience that is happening in my mind.
“I couldn’t sleep so I went home to keep working on Bryce’s files. I found something I wanted to look into at work—” Dane starts to talk, then cuts himself off, like he’s debating what to say. “Ever, baby, we need to talk.” There is an urgency in Dane’s voice that has my pulse skyrocketing and goose bumps pebbling my skin.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, dread creeping up my spine, lifting the guilt of all of my sins like a rising tide.
“I’m on my way to your place. Can you pack up an overnight bag and be ready in twenty minutes? We can talk when I get there.” I can hear road noise in the background, and I realize Dane is driving. Driving to me. To…talk? Pick me up? He doesn’t sound like a man who just realized I’ve been harboring the biggest mind fuck of a secret ever kept. Maybe he wants to push me to leave Bryce for real? I can’t dothat. Not yet. Not until I find a way to get justice for Jake.
Just then, the chirp of the alarm system alerting the front door has been opened sounds through the house.
“Shit, I think Bryce just got home.” I’m out of bed, my body moving without thought as I hunt frantically for clothes to put on before Bryce comes up the stairs.
“Everly, listen to me?—”
“Everly, babe? You upstairs?” Bryce’s smooth baritone drifts up the stairs just a moment before his footsteps follow.
“He’s home. I have to go. Don’t come over.” I hiss out my warning before hanging up on Dane. The door to the bedroom opens just as I finish pulling on an oversized T-shirt, covering my nakedness and hopefully any marks Dane left on my body.
I turn around to face my husband. My hands grasp the dresser behind me with a death grip, desperately trying to hide the way my body is trembling with adrenaline. Bryce rakes his gaze over me. His eyes are dark with hunger and something more sinister.
“Did you just get out of bed, darling? It’s almost noon.” There is something in the tone of Bryce’s voice that does nothing to abate the nervous energy thrumming through my veins right now. It’s the tone he uses when cross-examining a witness, ready to catch them in a lie. That cool, aloof cadence that almost seems casually disarming but is really a trap ready to snap shut. His whole demeanor is cold, calculating, and assessing. He’s not looking at me like his wife. He’s looking at me like I’m on trial.
“Um, yeah, I, uh, guess that migraine really took it out of me.” I fumble through the lie while simultaneously creeping away from Bryce toward the bathroom, hoping like hell I don’t smell like sex, his brother’s cologne, or some unholy combination of the two. My eyes drift to the unmade bed, scanning for any evidence of Dane while my mind races for ways to buy more time before Bryce tries to touch me.Get to the bathroom! Claim you’re still sick! Rip a big fart!My brain screams for my body and mouth to do something. Anything to diffuse this situation.
“I-I thought you weren’t coming home until tonight?” I stammer out, my body refusing to cooperate and listen to the alarms blaring in my skull. Bryce prowls closer, closing the distance between us slowly, methodically. I watch in terrified fascination as he begins unbuttoning the cuffs of his white dress shirt before moving on to the front buttons.
“What? A man not allowed to miss his wife?” The look he gives me is lascivious, and if he had been giving me this look a year ago, or even six months ago, my reaction would be very different. Instead of hot arousal coursing through my veins, there is only cold fear. I can’t do this with him. Not again. Not after this weekend. Bryce reaches me, pinning me against the wall next to the bathroom door, halting my escape.
My breathing becomes rapid, shallow pants as panic truly begins to set in. Bryce leans in, breathing in my scent. He lets out a low, bitter sounding chuckle.
“You did it. I wasn’t sure if you would actually go through with it.”
I flinch, turning my face away from him as his warmbreath tickles my skin. “Did what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to contain the tears threatening to form and give me away.
“Don’t lie to me, wife. You smell like him.”
Oh, fuck.
Bryce grips my chin, forcing me to look at him.
“I’m not mad, darling. You did exactly what I told you to do. Is he going to help me now? Did you convince him to adjust his moral compass with that delicious cunt of yours?”
I whimper in pain from the harshness of his grip. “Bryce. Stop. Please.”
“Did the little simp just fall over himself to put his dick into you? I knew he always wanted to fuck you. He’s been panting after you for years.”
“Bryce!Stop!” I wedge my arms between us and shove, startling him enough that he stumbles back several steps. I keep my arms up in front of me in a pitiful attempt to ward him off.
“Fucking stop it! I can’t do this anymore!” I lunge forward, shoving him back another few feet. “Fuck you, you selfish bastard! I’m done. I’m done lying for you. Covering for you. I amdonewith you!” I punctuate each exclamation with a furious pound of my fist against his chest.
The lustful hunger that darkened his gazes morphs into pure unadulterated fury.
“You’re going to regret that.” Bryce grabs me by the neck, spinning us until my back is slammed against thewall hard enough to knock the air from my lungs. Or it would’ve, if he wasn’t closing off my windpipe.
“Let’s get something straight,darling,” Bryce spits the endearment at me with venom, his fingers digging into the tender flesh of my throat, cutting off my ability to breathe.
