Page 38 of Tempt Her

I’m trapped. I’m stuck in a life with Gentry until my sweet dad dies, and at this rate… I just may die along with him. How long can I survive my husband’s violations and violence?

But I won’t let anyone else get hurt too. This is my mistake to suffer.

“You’re right.” I clench my jaw, not caring for the tears Ford makes me cry.

Funny, Gentry can’t do this to me—crying to his eyes—but Ford can. With one cruel truth, this man has shredded what little dignity I got back an hour ago. “That’s all I am, isn’t it—Mrs. Gentry Evans?”

What shakes Ford’s blue eyes, staring me down? My truth or my tears? It doesn’t matter. Both are real.

“Thank you, Mr. Alexander,”—broken glass fills my throat—“for reminding me of all I’lleverbe to anyone.”

“Stacey,” Luke mutters behind me, gently touching my arm to comfort me and sending tears down my cheeks.

“Stacey, he doesn’t mean it that way.” Mateo’s voice tries to soothe me more, trying to close the gaping wound Ford ripped open. “It’s just... we have to be careful. Your husband is a powerful man.”

“You’re right.” I put my chin up, my stare still holding Ford’s, and I don’t care about the tears dripping from my jaw; I can’t back down from my reality. “My husband is a powerful man. And if you only knewallthe ways he makes me pay for it.” What I just hinted at makes Ford’s nostrils flare even more while I insist, “Gentlemen, please see yourselves out ofmy husband’shome.”

Pushing past Ford, I can barely see through blurry eyes. Forcing my steps up the stairs, I’ve walked this lonely plank so many times. It only leads to darkness.

My steps know where to go, straight to my closet, where there are no cameras, either. Where I have a spot under the winter coats that hang above me as I sit, hugging my knees to my chest so I can stifle my sobs.

CHAPTERELEVEN

“Dude, you can be such a fucking dick sometimes,” I mutter as we hear Stacey disappear upstairs.

Ford glares at me. “She’s dangerous. We discussed this, and you know I’m not wrong.”

“You’re not wrong,” Luke answers him. “But that wasn’t right either. You made her fucking cry, and all she’s been is nice to me this week. She’s funny and sweet and easy to talk to. And dude, I can tell she’s lonely. No one comes over. It’s just her, by herself, with her dickhead husband.”

“Exactly,”—Ford’s glare whips to Luke—“her dickheadhusband. The one who owns half this island and half the state senate. The one who will kill your Army dream before you even start it, is that what you want?”

“No. But what do you expect me to do? Treat her like a piece of shit because she’s married to one?”

“No. You leave her alone.”

“But, man, sheisalone,” Luke protests, and I’ve never seen him talk back to Ford like this. “She’s so fucking alone, and it breaks my heart.”

Ford clenches his teeth. “Stacey Evans is not your problem to solve. You can’t help her. No matter how much you want to. No matter what an abusive dick her husband is. You can’t help someone who won’t help themselves too. They will only take you down with them.”

I watch the two of them hash this out, and man, I love Ford. The man’s done so much for me. And with me. Underneath his hard shell is the biggest heart I know; only Luke and I get to see it. But over that is an armor you don’t want to fuck with.

Ford Alexander is not a fight you’ll win.

“Is thatallshe’s been to you?” Ford challenges Luke. “Nice?You sure she’s not something else to you now?”

A cold front blows through the kitchen and across Luke’s eyes.

He’s busted, and he knows it. So do I, and I don’t need the evidence. I see it in the set of Luke’s jaw. He’s fallen for her.

“Is she gonna beyourtrophy now?” And Ford’s pissed.

Luke lowers his brow. “Don’t talk about her like that.”

Ford lowers his too. “You’re on camera right now while pussy-whipped is written all over your face. And you may not care about yourself.” Ford holds his face like we’re talking about business, not the one thing that can rip the three of us apart. “But if you care about her and what her husband will do to her when he finds out, grab your shit and go out to the van.”

Fear hits Luke’s eyes. Not for himself. The man’s about to be a fighting machine. He’s worried for Stacey.

“Now,” Ford says it so calmly.

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