Page 151 of Reckless
His voice is pure venom, but he doesn’t scare me anymore. I step closer to him, lifting my chin and narrowing my eyes as I pluck a dead petal off one rose and drop it, watching it fall away like all my loyalty to this man.
I thought I loved him once, but I didn’t know what love was.
I do now though.
“Oh, but I would.” My tone is cool and controlled. It bites. “Because you didn’t just come for me this time, you slimy fucking weasel. You came formydaughter. You came for the man Ilove. You came for myfamily. You went too damn far this time.”
“I’m going to—”
I don’t let him get a word in at all. “I haven’t fucked you since the day I found out you were a predator. And noweveryoneis going to know it.”
I turn and walk away from him, ignoring his curses and threats. The smashing sound of the glass vase does nothing but make me smile. I feel like I tossed a grenade into that depressing house and walked away.
I feel free.
* * *
Vivi’s birthday party is perfect.
Everyone has pitched in to make turning one a special occasion for her. She looks precious in her sundress, covered in a print of oranges and leaves. The decorations are hysterical. Custom printed—compliments of Willa—with photos of Vivi’s favorite thing in the world...Peter. And the setting at Wishing Well Ranch is perfect, just like the weather. Our end-of-summer heat is warm but not unbearable, and the smell of freshly cut hay permeates the air.
Rhett set up the big white tent on the back field near the main ranch house, and everyone who’s here is family, in some way or another.
Loretta. The Eatons. Theo, who keeps trying to carry Vivi around with him, but she went from walking to running pretty damn fast and gets a thrill out of making her dad chase her. His mom gets a kick out of it too. Tells him it’s payback for the way he was as a toddler.
She keeps us on our toes.
Willa baked the cake. Summer and Sloane decorated. Cade is manning the barbecue. Jasper is playing a game of field hockey with Luke, who just yelled, “Oh, fuck off!” when he thought he was going to score on Jasper, but didn’t. Harvey made a bowl of punch that tastes like fruit juice, but I suspect contains far more alcohol than necessary for a one-year-old’s birthday celebration.
Beau has yet to show up.
“Harvey, how much booze is in what I’m drinking right now?”
He grins over at me from where we’re leaning against the fence. “Enough to take the edge off for you.”
“What edge? I’m relaxed. If you take too much edge off me, I might spill your beans just to get even.”
His brows lift as he takes a sip out of his red Solo cup. “What beans?”
I smirk and drink again. “The you and Cordelia beans.”
He chokes on his drink, and I slap his back while he thumps a fist on his chest.
“Oof. Okay, well, no one would forgive me for killing you, so maybe I’ll just keep that one to myself. Though I’m really not sure how no one has noticed.”
Harvey clears his throat and glances around at the group of family and friends. Music plays. Burgers get flipped. Everyone carries on in the most comfortable sort of rhythm. “Same way they never noticed Vivi is a tiny version of her dad. They weren’t looking.”
I nod, staring at Theo holding his mini-me as they cheer Luke on to get a ball past Jasper.
“I’m not ready to tell them yet,” Harvey says after a few beats of silence.
“I was joking.”
“It feels off-limits. Her being who she is. But sometimes—”
“Sometimes things just happen, and you don’t realize how right they are until you’re in the thick of it.”
He gives me a grunt and a nod from where we stand, propped against the fence.
