Page 147 of Madness Behind the Mask
“Then come home.”
“I can’t.”
“You can. I can sleep in a different bedroom. We can –”
“Well, isn’t this sickening?” At Aleric’s sudden arrival, I stiffen, then turn towards him.
“If you find it sickening, then gouge your eyes out.”
He smirks as he looks me up and down. “Divorced life suits you.”
“We’re not divorced,” Caden and I say at the same time, and I look at him, hope in my eyes. He holds it for a second, then glances away. “Why are we here, Sau? You must know talks of peace are useless by now.”
“No, they’re not. But we need to wait for Antonio to get here.”
“Then say it so we can end this parley, and I can kill you already.”
Caden takes a step towards the newest arrival, then stops. My heart twisting, I turn to look at the alpha of theDeath Hunt.
“I have a treaty I drew up with Myers’ help. You are all going to sign it.” Pulling the stapled pieces of paper out of my bag, I hand them each a copy. Antonio, unsurprisingly, refuses to take it. “The faster you read, the faster this can be over.”
He growls as he snatches it from me. I just manage to release it fast enough before it tears.
“You want me to give upMiami?” Aleric snorts.
“To the Death Hunt, yes, and in exchange, we’ll end our sex trafficking operations.”
“Including David?” He quirks a brow, and I nod.
“David too. It’s time we put aside our grievances. I’ll never forgive him for what he did to me, but I can let it go as a show of commitment to this treaty.”
“No,” Caden says.
I turn to him, but he’s right behind me, and he shoves the treaty to my chest. “David suffers for the rest of his fucking long life. I’m not moving on that.”
“But I’m okay with it, Caden. I want –”
“He didn’t just hurt you, Sau!”
I jerk back, my pulse hammering.
“Ooooh. More trouble in paradise,” Aleric teases, but I block him out, all my attention on my husband.
“You said he didn’t touch Olivia,” I whisper, praying he tells me I have it wrong. That he means someone else in a different way.
“I lied,” he says.
“Why?” I cry.
His eyes soften just the tiniest bit. “So you wouldn’t blame yourself.”
I roll my lips in as a shudder rolls through me. I want to fall into his arms. I want to grieve our girl properly, want to scream and sob over her death being far from peaceful, but showing any weakness here will end this peace treatybefore it even begins.
Crying won’t bring her back.
Screaming won’t fix the pain inside me.
But this treaty will bring peace for all our children after.
