Page 118 of Tempt Her

“And all the times we talked about marriage,” I add, “you were lying. You’ve been cheating on your wifeandour love. Our arrangement, yeah, it’s unconventional, but I thought it was true. I thought we were real, but you’ve made our love a lie.”

Ford sighs, “I’m not cheating on her.”

Luke huffs, “So youarefucking married.”

“I was nineteen,” he sighs. “I was on leave, and some friends introduced us. We fell hard and fast. Three months later, Amber was pregnant, and I married her. I wanted to.” When he opens his eyes, he’s changing. The confession is softening him. “I loved her, and I wanted a family with her. It’s what she wanted, too, until I missed the birth of our daughter, Hannah. I missed everything, and the days I was home were never enough. Two years later, she resented the hell out of me. She said she never wanted to be a single mom and deserved a man who doesn’t leave.”

Luke shuffles beside me because this hits home. He doesn’t remember much about his dad. It breaks my heart for him. Luke lives for a ghost. A hero. His mom raised him all on her own too. That’s why he adores her so much.

“But we stayed legally married so I could at least support them,” Ford explains. “They’d always be taken care of. I was always a day away from being killed; it was the right thing to do. I gave Amber my blessing. She’s lived with the same man for eighteen years, but she’s still married to me. And she knows about you both. I told her. We’re open about it.”

Luke’s voice cracks. “What about your daughter?”

Ford swallows hard. I’ve never seen him cry, but he’s damn close now. “She doesn’t remember me. She was too young, and she’d cry so hard every time I’d hand her back to her mom; I couldn’t do it anymore. It wasn’t fair to her either. Hannah has a real dad, the man who raised her.”

It strangles me. I still can’t believe it. “Do you ever see her?”

“I go to her games sometimes. She’s a basketball player at Carolina and damn good.”

I lost years, and Ford lost his family. Pain is another thing that binds us. “That’s gotta hurt like hell,” I tell him.

“It’s been killing me,” he finally confesses.

“Why don’t you get to know her?” Luke asks. “She’s gotta be an adult by now. She’d want to know her father too.” Grief strains his voice. “I would.”

Ford clenches his jaw so tight, fighting back the agony. “Because I’m ashamed. It’s why I don’t bother her and why I never told you two. I failed my wife and daughter, just like I failed my mother. Every woman I’ve loved, I wasn’t there when they needed me.”

“Well, you’re here now,” I answer him. “And I’m so fucking pissed at you, but I love you too, so you’re gonna make this shit right.”

Luke barks, “That’s an order.”

A grin barely lifts Ford’s lips.

I add, “You love Stacey, don’t you?” His grin grows. “Yeah, that’s what I thought, so I’m ordering you to tell her too. Just like we did.”

CHAPTERTHIRTY

Therefore I Am by Billie Eilish

I’m counting the seconds. I’m counting heartbeats. I’m counting how many times the facts won’t stop jolting my body, the shock making my every muscle seize while my mind struggles to catch up.

Because it’s time.

“Stacey, did you hear me? Are you okay?”

It’s Cade. She’s on the phone, and my silence is scaring the shit out of her.

“Say it again,” I huff. “I don’t believe it, but I do, and I need to hear it again.”

Birds chirp at the sunny day while I stand on the patio and Gentry’s in the house.

The storm blew over yesterday while he slept like a little demon with all I drugged him with. I even lied, telling him the thermometer said he had a fever. He never asked to see it because he loved me treating him like a baby.

Oh, I did.

Trick #WantToHateYourHusband: Act like you’re his mom.

While he slept for hours, I went through his car. I finally cracked the code on his briefcase. I should’ve known—666. In it, I found the personnel file of a woman who’s been missing for months. She worked for the cleaning company that Gentry owns. There were also old newspaper clippings on a girl who went missing over ten years ago. She went to the same high school as Gentry and Cade, and my stomach twisted so hard I almost threw up. Knowing...

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