Page 62 of The Vow Thief
I looked at her. I mean, really looked at her. Red hair, green eyes, athletic build, and a pouty mouth that will one day soon be wrapped around my dick. In all of that, she still lacked something. Or maybe it was me. Maybe I was starting to cool off, and tiny bits of loneliness were starting to creep in.
“No need, Tawny. Thank you again. I will be around Velvet soon enough; we’ll catch up. You know the way out,” I said, dismissing her outright. Moments ago, I wanted more, and now, I just want her to leave.
Without another word, she turned and walked out.
I showered quickly, then went to my home office. I pulled up the Sarah Taylor file that Sean compiled for me. I was becoming quite a fan of hers. She was elegance and beauty wrapped in a tall blonde package of class. She was stunning. Matt Taylor was a fool. Lily might be beautiful, but Sarah Taylor was the total package.
I had spent the past few days stalking her. Online. At her house. At her kids’school. Anywhere I could catch a glimpse. I found out she was an executive for The Concord Initiative, a non-profit with the most impressive balance sheet in the game. I almost fanned out like a peacock when I found her email address on her executive bio page.
Julianne’s Second Sight Foundation would give me the opening I needed. I could picture them in the same room, mirrors of ambition and poise. I wondered which one would see through the other first. My money was on Sarah.
I knew I was obsessed. I needed something from her that I couldn’t quite understand. She fit the pattern I respected most; composed, principled, convinced she couldn’t be bought. In a way, she reminded me of a polished version of Sean.
It wasn’t like me, but I took a leap and submitted a request to Sarah’s work email asking to meet her this week to discuss Second Sight Foundation. The thought of being in her presence
I received the gala pictures of Julianne and Matt in my inbox about an hour before she texted me. Now I just need to make sure Lily sees them. I wonder how Sean will react seeing his ex-girlfriend of five years in the arms of the same man who posed a threat to his arranged marriage. I laughed out loud.
And Sarah. How would she react to her ex already parading another woman around Charleston? She would call it predictable. She would be right. But she would still feel it.
I checked the clock. 2:50 a.m. Even the city was asleep by now. I finished the last of my Scotch and set the glass down on the edge of my desk, the ring it left on the wood neat and deliberate.
Soon, I’d meet Sarah Taylor. She just didn’t know yet how lucky that made her. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to study her or consume her.
Chapter 28 - Lily Takes the Bait
I heard the footsteps before I saw her.
A girl leaving my dad’s room hurried down the stairs and out the front door. I didn’t engage, and I never kept a tally. My father was an unapologetic man whore.
I had fallen asleep in the den watching The Sopranos with Sean. We’d been reviewing wedding plans, plans neither of us had much say in, which suited us both just fine. Lately, he had been almost too attentive. The kind of attention that felt more like surveillance than care. I was starting to see the cracks beneath his good-guy act, the darker pieces he hid from the world.
He’d started tracking the small things. Asking who I texted, why I needed certain errands, why I didn’t answer right away. This wasn’t caring or curiosity. It was control.
It made me wonder if I should tighten up my exit strategy.
The clock on the cable box glowed 4:00 a.m. It was the perfect hour to make bad decisions. Sean was in a deep sleep, which made it a safe time to check on Matt Taylor’s socials. It’s how I found out that the bastard had moved to Charleston without his fucking wife. No phone call, no text, nothing.
I quietly eased off the couch and made my way up the stairs to my room, careful not to wake anyone. The house was still as I sat on the edge of my bed, phone in hand, pretending this was casual.
It was his Instagram that delivered the punch to my heart. Some woman had tagged him in a series of photos from a party. They both looked sexy as hell. She was beautiful in that polished, practiced way that photographed well. The caption read: WOW, I didn’t realize we were fodder for the paps. A winking emoji followed, which somehow made it worse.
My eyes welled up with tears that spilled down my cheeks. My stomach felt like a rock had been dropped into it.
Why do I still care about this man? Why do I feel so betrayed? Why can’t I just move on?
The sobs came hard, the kind that stole your breath. The real questions followed, the ones that cut the deepest.
What does she have that I don’t?
Why not me?
Why. Not. Me.
To further torture myself, I zoomed in on the image. Matt in a tux. The woman in a midnight-blue dress that could have stopped traffic. Their smiles were too natural to be staged. She leaned in like she’d been there for a while.
My first thought was that he looked good. Healthier. Lighter. My second thought was that I hated her.
Then, I thought of Dr. Colleen and how she would react when I told her about this moment. I was going to tell her.
