Page 67 of All Mine

“I didn’t find wearing heels and schmoozing particularly rewarding.”

“I suppose you find making little desserts and screwing Camden a bit more rewarding.”

The verbal gut punch left it difficult to breathe. “What I do now isn’t your concern.”

“I gotta hand it to you. I didn’t know you had it in you to seduce the guy to try to stop the sale. He thought he was playing you, but I know better.” He walked around the table, dragging his fingers along the mahogany wood. “It’s amazing to watch how desperate you’ve become over that old Victorian house.”

I would not let this man’s words get to me again. “So why do you want to buy the whole thing?”

“It was painful for me to watch you pick that over me. I should have been your priority.”

“Because I didn’t fall in line, you didn’t support me at all.”

“You humiliated me in front of the entire town.” He inched closer, but I couldn’t move, legs glued into place. Powerless to do anything after all the progress and working so hard for my independence. My first instinct with him was to make myself small and hope he got bored of me quickly. I can’t let him keep doing this to me.

“So this is your way of getting back at me? Is that it?” I crossed my arms over my chest in an attempt to control the shaking in my hands.

Stephen slid closer. “You’re looking well,” he snaked an arm around my waist, his fingers cold on the small of my back. “So how far are you willing to go to keep this silly little bakery of yours?” he whispered close in my ear.

“What’s going on in here?” Camden’s voice came from behind me. He carried a fast food bag and a drink. He sat the cup on the table and reached into the bag.

“I met your client,” I said, taking a huge step back and breathing in a full breath for the first time since I’d walked in. “My ex-husband.”

Camden lowered the French fry halfway to his mouth and set the bag on the table, staring at Stephen.

Maybe Stephen was the reason that Camden walked away from me, but it didn’t matter anymore. We existed on opposite sides of an ever-widening chasm, and he wasn’t about to stick around after the vote was over. I’d come to that truth days ago that he and I were never really going to have a relationship. I had to protect myself. No one else was going to do it for me.

“You’re her ex-husband?” Camden asked, finding his voice.

“I believe we already covered that,” Stephen said.

“I don’t understand,” Camden put his hands on his hips. “Why would you want to do this?”

The cackle that burst from Stephen sent a chill up my spine and left warning bells clanging in my brain.

“What’s so funny?” Camden snapped.

“That neither of you is smart enough to understand. I cannot wait.” Stephen reached over and tried to touch my chin. I jerked away. “To walk into your bakery and kick you out. If you’re lucky, I’ll let you pack your personal belongings.”

“You will not win,” I said.

“How cute,” Stephen said wryly. “Always the optimist. I hope you’ll stick around to watch the wrecking ball I’ve procured destroy that house. Oh, the fun it’ll be.” He swung his hand back and forth like a pendulum, made a crashing noise, and laughed.

“You’re an asshole,” I yelled, heat flashing through my body. “I’ll never let you get your hands on it. Are you really this stupid to waste all that money just to get back at me because I couldn’t be the perfect wife?”

The room blurred, and my head jerked to the side before the sting radiated across my cheek. I grabbed my face with my hands, stumbling backward. What happened? Did he hit me?

A cracking noise and a muffled cry seeped through the ringing in my ears. The stars cleared, revealing Camden’s back. He’d stepped between Stephen and me.

A hand grabbed my elbow from behind, and I pulled away.

“It’s me,” Eddie, the security guard, said. “Are you okay?”

“He hit me.” My jaw ached through every syllable.

“Which one?”

“Stephen.”

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