Page 50 of Perdition
He chuckled, tipping his head toward the sign over the next aisle that read “RUM.”
She cracked a smile. “Ah, pina coladas and getting caught in the rain?” she teased.
Something in his eyes shifted, the whole of them going dark with a promise she knew was dangerous.
His voice was heat and decadent invitation when he replied, “Only if I get caught with you, Em.”
Stone. She was made of stone. That was the only thing she could think that would explain why she didn’t pull away when Bradley Copper leaned in to kiss her.
FIFTEEN
His heart limping,his eyes burning, his hands shaking, he swiped his palm down his face, hating himself.
His cell chimed with another text, no doubt from Sarah who’d been blowing up his phone since just after he’d last talked to Em. He had no idea what the texts said, and he didn’t give a fuck.
That woman was poison.
It had just taken him too fucking long to realize he’d been infected. Defiled. Tainted.
And now, that infection, taint, poison had spread into his club…and his marriage. The brothers had looked at him like they didn’t know him as he slunk through the common room to hide—fucking hide, because he couldn’t face what he’d done. Couldn’t face what he knew Patriot and Locust were burning to say. He’d already heard enough from Stallion tonight, for fucks sake.
And his marriage…fuck….
Em.
Madsen William Flowers had royally fucked up on the phone with Em. He could admit it; he’d allowed his frustration about everything—his fear of losing Em, his family, his heart and soul—and his anger at himself for his fuck ups,andat Em for not giving him a chance to speak to her to take the wheel and drive.
More like take his mouth, grab hold of his tongue, and made it say shit he could never take back.
He’d actually told her that their red maple, one place on earth that meant more to them than any other place, was just a fucking tree!
Holy fuck, he’d really screwed up, and he’d known it the moment those words were out. But by then, it was too late, and his spiraling thoughts and emotions, and runaway train of words had already derailed, destroying everything in their path.
Like his marriage.
As soon as Em hung up on him, he was out of Cool Hands, on his bike, racing toward Em’s shop, hoping to catch her there, to hear what happened, why Sarah was there and what she’d said to Em. He needed to see his wife with his own eyes, to wrap her in his arms, to beg her to let him hold her, to apologize for being a piece of shit and saying what he’d said.
Because he hadn’t meant any of it—what he’d said in his office to Sarah, and what he’d said to Emily.
The shop was dark when he got there, the only lights from the coolers where Em kept the more temperamental flower arrangements.
He called her.
Right to voicemail.
No surprise.
Fuck, he didn’t know where else to go because he knew that if set foot on Cheri’s property, that woman would put a bullet in his ass. She’s barely tolerated him over the years, hating that Em was “stuck” married to a ghost who only came around to haunt her on leave. And she hated that he’d dedicated so much time to the Unchained, rightly believing that all that focus left too little time and attention for Emily.
Fuck…the red flags had been there for years, and he’d been ignoring them. And Em had been building a life for them, loving him, supporting him, defending him….even when those flags were flying high.
Goddamn, he’d really fucked up.
A knock on his office door made him call out, “Come in,” even though he didn’t want to see or talk to anyone for the next however long it fucking took to get his wife back.
Clusterfuck stuck his head through the door way, concern and fuckery both playing in his expression.
“What?” Frost demanded.
