Page 11 of Secrets of the Past
“You never called.”
“I left you twenty messages at least.”
Nicole blinked.“I never got any.”
His eyes narrowed.“And what about the email you sent me?”
She stiffened.“What email?”
“The one that said you didn’t want to hear from me again.That you’d made a mistake.”
Her throat closed.What had happened?
“I never sent any emails to you after you dumped me.I received one from you, saying you wanted to chase women and party.”
“And I never sent the one you received.”
They stared at each other, breathless.
It hit her like a punch to the gut.
Oh my God.We were lied to.
Both of us.
But she wasn’t ready to accept and forgive.Not yet.She needed time to process that they had been duped.Process that twenty years ago, someone had managed to tear them apart.
She shook her head.“As usual, you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“Nicole—”
“I don’t care.I don’t care about twenty voicemails or fake emails or whatever game this is.You walked away after promising me forever.After saying nothing would come between us.And then obviously someone or something did.I’m over it, Tripp.”
But was she?Her heart had leaped at the sight of him, and even now, all she wanted to do was lay her mouth over his and remember.But that wasn’t going to happen.
She turned on her heel and stormed into her building, heart pounding, throat raw.
Her office was cool, quiet, and blessedly empty.She closed the door, sank into her chair, and finally let her hands tremble.
Tripp Masterson was back.
And now, they weren’t just exes.
They were enemies.
In love.In court.In war.
Chapter3
Tripp Masterson didn’t remember leaving Nicole’s office building.
One second, he was staring at the back of Nicole’s perfectly tailored blazer as she stormed away, her heels echoing like gunshots in his ears.Like bullet holes to his heart.The next, he was gripping the leather steering wheel of his Corvette, heart pounding so hard, it felt like a fist in his chest.
The past had a way of showing up uninvited, and today, it had worn emerald eyes and glossy black hair, and left him shattered during one of the most important trials he’d taken on since returning to the island.A trial he had not originally been the counselor on until the lead lawyer went in for triple-bypass surgery.
He sat behind the wheel for a long moment, staring straight ahead, trying to process what had just happened.Trying to process the facts he’d learned that still left him stunned.
She thought he had broken up with her.By email.
