“Alone,” he declares with a hard look at Xane. “Trust me,” he adds with a softer look at me.
Whatever is inside that envelope, Cade thinks I might react badly to it. The dread wells up as I think I know what it might contain. “Xane, would you mind?” I ask, my eyes fixed on the envelope.
“Of course not,” he says, squeezing my hand, getting that my mood has changed to a somber one. He Astraports out and I hold my hand out for the envelope. I sit heavily on the bed as I open it and pull out the documents, I knew it would contain.
Divorce papers from Cole.
I choke back my sob. This is really happening. I thought–I had hoped–he would come around, that he would see that he can’t live without me.
“I’m sorry,” Cade says, sitting next to me. “He came yesterday. I’m not sure how he got here. No one could get to you to tell you.”
“He wanted to see me?” I ask through my tears.
“Yes, he wanted to give them to you himself,” Cade replies.
“Did you tell him where I was and why?” I ask.
“I told him you were next door and indisposed,” he says. “I wasn’t really sure if it was my place to tell him what happened to you.”
I smile my thanks at him and stare back down at the documents. There is only one reason he would do this under our circumstances. He is back in the real world and wanting to marry again.
“See, I knew they were just rumors,” Cade says with a small smile, bumping my shoulder with his.
“Hm?” I ask, looking back up at him.
“About you killing the messenger,” he says. “Here I am, still alive.”
I snort despite the sadness washing over me. “Killing you wouldn’t exactly send a message. No offense, but Cole probably wouldn’t care.”
Cade looks mock offended and puts his hand over his heart and says, “I am wounded. I thought we were BFFs.”
I laugh, but then he pats my hand and says, “I’ll leave you to do whatever you are going to do with them.”
“Burn them?” I ask him with hope in my voice.
“Up to you,” he says with a shrug. “But you should probably go and speak to him first.”
“Yeah,” I say with a sigh.
“I’ll cover for you. You-know-who is already in a pissy mood and I really don’t think you going off to see Cole will improve it any,” he says and hands me a slip of paper.
“Thanks, Cade,” I say and take it. I glance at it and I am relieved to see the name and room number of a hotel in L.A. and not Carolyn’s address. I stand up and, clutching the envelope in my hand, I close my eyes and without even caring about boundaries, I Astral myself straight into Cole’s hotel room.
He looks up from where he was pouring himself a drink at the bar and doesn’t look at all surprised to see me. “Hey,” he says.
“Hi,” I say and resist the urge to run to him. I do, however, take a few steps forward and he does the same, to my relief.
“You look…” He presses his lips together, not wanting to finish his sentence.
“So do you,” I say.
He bobs his head and I hold up the envelope.
“Is this really what you want?” I ask softly.
“No,” he says, “but it has to be this way.”
“Okay,” I whisper and then he is in front of me fisting his hands in my hair as he drags my mouth to his. He plunges his tongue into my mouth, and I respond to him with urgent thrusts of my own. He pulls me even closer to him and I start to rip at his clothes. I half expect him to stop me, but he lets me strip him naked and then he starts on me. My skirt is torn from hem to waistband and disc