Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 89303 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89303 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
I stared back, angry just looking at her. She was as beautiful as the photograph he’d thrown away, with that perfect hair and perfect features. But I wasn’t angry that she was this drop-dead gorgeous woman I could never compete with. I was pissed that she’d hurt Dex, someone who didn’t deserve to be hurt, and ripped him apart so mercilessly that he lost who he was entirely. She blamed him for something he wasn’t guilty of—and it was disgusting. “Would you like me to take a message?” I could barely keep my tone civil, because I wanted to rip her apart just the way Deacon had ripped Mason apart.
Her eyes shifted past me and stilled.
Dex must have been behind me.
His footsteps were audible as he came close then stopped right behind me. “Catherine, what are you doing here?” He didn’t sound panicked, like he had anything to hide, but he was definitely annoyed.
I stepped away and moved back into the bedroom so they could have some privacy—even though I could hear everything.
Catherine didn’t speak.
“I told you I’m seeing somebody,” Dex said. “So why would you just show up on my doorstep like this?”
She was still quiet.
“Are you gonna say anything, or…?”
“I just…I just wanted to talk to you—”
“About what?” His temper flared. “Catherine, we’ve talked. We’ve talked long and hard. There is nothing else to say.”
“You didn’t deposit the check—”
“Because I don’t want it. It’s part of my past—and I’m not living in the past anymore. Keep it, Catherine. If you don’t want it, give it to charity. I really don’t care. I’ve got everything I need now. That money isn’t going to make me any happier, especially when I can’t be happier than I already am.”
I sat in bed with my arms crossed over my chest, relieved to hear him stand his ground and not flinch.
“What do you want from me, Catherine? It’s shitty that things ended this way, but they did. We can’t fix them. We can’t go back in time and change it. This is the hand we’ve been dealt. I’m sorry that I’ve hurt you, because I have no interest in hurting you, but I told you I made my decision, that I want to be with Sicily. You can’t show up at my front door like this. It’s completely inappropriate.”
Damn right, it was.
“If you really love me the way you claim, you’ll let me be happy. Because I’m finally happy after a very long year of being unhappy.” Dex ended his speech.
And Catherine said nothing.
I waited, my heart racing.
Finally, she said something. “Um…alright.”
That was all she had to say? She knew he was seeing me, but she still showed up late at night, like she might catch him with his guard down and take advantage of him.
Dex spoke before he closed the door. “Goodbye, Catherine.” I imagined he closed it in her face because there was no footfall to indicate she had walked away. He turned all the locks and headed back to the bedroom, giving a loud sigh. He stopped in the doorway and looked at me, his eyes lidded with guilt. “I’m so sorry.” The fear in his eyes was unmistakable, like her unexpected visit would prompt insecurities that had actually just disappeared.
It chased away all the anger I had. “It’s not your fault.”
He came to the bed and sat at the edge, right next to me. “I told her about you. I told her that I wouldn’t take her back. I made my decision, and I have no regrets about it. I just…I don’t want anything to happen to us.” His hand moved to my thigh, his eyes down, still afraid. “Please don’t let it change us.”
My hand moved on top of his. “I’m not going anywhere, Dex.” Seeing her was like a knife to old wounds, and yes, I was angry, jealous, insecure, but when he looked at me like that, pledged his commitment, the wounds quickly closed up again. I didn’t want an ex showing up at his doorstep, but I also loved this man beyond reason, and I wasn’t going to let her chase me away—because that was exactly what she wanted.
His hand squeezed mine before he brought it to his lips for a kiss. “Thank you.”
My arms circled him and pulled him close, pulling him on top of me, bringing us together on the bed.
He held me close and pressed his face into my neck, keeping our bodies tightly wrapped around each other, my thigh hiked over his hip. We didn’t say another word, and quickly, we fell asleep like nothing happened at all.
Eighteen
Dex
Derek shook his head slightly, his eyes showing his annoyance. “That could have been bad.”
“You’re telling me!” I threw my arms up in ferocity. “You have no idea how fucking scared I was. I seriously thought Sicily would storm out of there and dump my ass.”