Page 39 of Kisses Sweeter than Wine

She’d lied about one of the most important aspects of her disappearance.

He slammed the door shut. It rattled so hard, it knocked one of the pictures off the wall.

Talbot startled awake, brushing the hair from her face. She groaned. “What the hell?”

“Get the fuck out,” he yelled. He sucked in a deep breath. He needed to control his emotions. He hadn’t been this full of fury since Rachel.

She stared at him with a pale face.

He had no sympathy left. No empathy. No pain. Only rage in his heart.

“What’s going on?” She pulled the covers to her chin.

“Get your things and get the hell out of my house.”

“Merlot, what happened? Why are you so angry?” Tears filled her eyes. “I know I got a little out of control last night and it’s all kind of fuzzy, but—”

“Stop talking and leave. Don’t make me pick you up out of that bed and toss you out, because I will.”

Her hands trembled as she tucked her hair behind her ears and crawled to the edge of the mattress. “Not until you tell me what’s going on.”

He laughed. “You failed to mention to me last night that it was my father who put you on that bus twenty-one years ago and that my mother was standing right next to him when he did it.”

“You talked to your parents? You told them you knew I was alive?”

“What the fuck did you think I was going to do? I needed someone to talk to about all this. Stupid me, I thought I could trust them. How the hell was I supposed to know they were the ones who set the entire fake death up in the first place. They have lied to me my entire life and I’m fucking done.” He clenched his fists as he marched to the bar and lifted the tequila, not bothering to pour a glass. He chugged straight from the bottle.

“I think it’s a little early for that.”

“I really don’t give a shit what you think.” He pointed to the door. “I’m not going to say it again.” He took another gulp, letting the alcohol seep into his brain.

She climbed from the bed and dared to move closer.

He held up his hand.

“We’re not done talking. There are things I need to tell you.”

“I don’t want to know anything about you or your life. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. This last lie just made it damn fucking easy to forget I ever met you.”

“I don’t believe that,” she said softly.

He set the bottle down and gathered up her clothes and handed them to her. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

“There’s no reason to be this way. Your parents were doing what my mother asked. They were only trying—”

“Please, do me a favor and leave because I don’t want to be the kind of man who takes you by the arm and forcibly tosses you out. But I will.” He lowered his chin. “Hand to God, I swear I will turn into something I won’t be proud of.”

“Merlot, I really need to tell you—”

“Nope. You and I have nothing to say to one another. I will be booking a flight this afternoon and getting the fuck out of this godforsaken shithole of a town. We will never lay eyes on each other again.”

Tears rolled down Talbot’s cheeks.

A pang of guilt filled his soul.

She’d been seventeen when she’d been taken from him. A child. A victim.

But the woman standing before him was a grown-ass adult. And she’d lied to him about so many things.

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