Page 74 of His Wife

“I’ll run a trace, find the trail,” Maximo says, his voice low yet determined. “I’ll make sure it’s clean.”

“My uncle is out for blood after receiving Micah’s letter about me planting a bullet in Jimmy’s skull. He has no proof, so he can’t do shit about it. But he’s going to keep digging until he figures out a way to ruin me, and if he finds out about this and tells her…fuck!”

There’s a loud bash, a thud of a fist being slammed against a table. I jerk and suck in a breath.

“Alexius, relax. I’ll take care of it,” Maximo assures him. “No one will ever know you replaced her birth control. I’ll make sure of it.”

My heart stops. For a second, I’m a goddamn ghost standing in the hall, ice creeping down my spine as blood drains from my body.

“Fuck that. I’m not chancing it. Take care of him. Shut him up before he gets a chance to talk.”

“Alexius, I don’t think it’s necessary—”

“I said—” Alexius’ voice booms through his office walls. “Shut him up. For good. Understood?”

There’s a short, silent pause followed by heavy footsteps. It’s coming closer to the door, but I can’t move. Too much weight is piled on my chest, squeezing all the air from my lungs while my heart pounds with a panicked tempo. It hurts, my bones crushed under the force of a deceit unleashed.

The door is jerked open, and I’m met with the sight of azure irises I’ve fallen hopelessly in love with. But now, I don’t recognize them at all.

“Leandra.” His voice is a mere breath, an echo of awareness, knowing his lies have reached my shattered heart.

I can’t get myself to open my mouth and say something, my mind as silent as my tongue. It’s as if the world flipped upside down, and I was sucked into a vortex where everything’s a jumbled mess, where the truth can’t be distinguished from the lies.

He takes a step, and I instantly retreat, staring at him like I’ve never seen his face before, searching to find something—anythingthat’s familiar. But there’s nothing. Not a single fucking thing.

The way he watches me, how the color drains from his eyes, I know he knows I heard enough. His betrayal clings to the air like toxic vapor, its only intention to destroy me. It’s too thick, too viscous, and I can’t fucking breathe with him this close.

“Leandra.” He tries to reach for me, but I turn and run the other way, needing to get the hell away from him before I suffocate. My mind goes from silence to swarming chaos as I race up the stairs, knocking into someone, and there’s an explosion of holly bush leaves and bright-red berries. “I’m sorry,” I whimper. “I’m so sorry.”

“Leandra!” Alexius calls, his voice coming closer, forcing more adrenaline through my veins, urging me to get away. “Leandra, stop!”

My feet race across the floor, my heart beating wildly. I don’t even realize I’m crying until I reach the bedroom, turning the doorknob, and a tear slips onto my hand.

“Leandra, wait!”

“No!” I scream as his arms wrap around me from behind, squeezing me so tight he lifts my feet off the ground. “Let me go!”

“Calm down!”

“No! Fuck you!” I kick and thrash against him, desperate to escape.

“Just calm down and listen to me.” He kicks the door closed behind him and loosens his grip, allowing me to jerk away from his hold.

I put as much distance between us as possible, inching backward like prey afraid to take her eyes off the predator. “You switched…you…”Dear God, I can’t say it. I can’t get myself to say it; the words are a bitter gall on my tongue. It’s disgusting.

“I’m pregnant,” I whisper. “I’m pregnant because you…you switched my birth control?” It doesn’t make sense. My mind can’t comprehend the magnitude of what I just said.

Alexius doesn’t answer me. He just stands there and watches with his confession emanating from the cruel, blue pools of his eyes.

“Please tell me I’m wrong.” A tear laps into my mouth. “I’m begging you to tell me what I heard is all wrong.” Desperation clings to me like dirt, filth seeping through my pores, and it hurts. It stings. It’s fucking slicing my soul with a thousand sharp blades, leaving nothing but gaping wounds of broken promises and hollowing the sweet midnight whispers of the man I love, so it’s now nothing but empty words. “Tell me what I heard isn’t right. Please, Alexius,” I cry. “Please tell me you didn’t…please!”

“I couldn’t risk it,” he blurts. “I couldn’t risk you walking out that door and out of my life.”

My legs give way, and I collapse, my frame a sagging mess on the floor while tears try to escape the fangs of betrayal eating through my goddamn soul.

Alexius takes a step closer. “I had to make sure that you stay. Here. With me.”

“How could you?” My tears taste like salt and fractured trust, and my fingers spread as I clutch my belly. “How could you do this?”

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