“Hey, I still bring home any number of assholes, you know it,” Mary said, with a wink.
“Of course. But you’re not married to them. Look at Rachel’s situation.”
“Let’s not delve into this again.”
“How did he get you to marry him again?” Mary asked. “I still don’t see how my sweet, little sister would you know, succumb to … the assholery we’re witnessing.”
She sipped at her tea as her sisters teased. “Are you both quite finished?”
“Nope, we’re both very curious,” Alice said.
“You know what he was like. He was sweet, charming, nice, kind; he was everything.” She smiled, even recalling the time he came to her apartment just to give her a rose. He didn’t want to take her out, just that he’d seen a pure white, almost cream-looking rose and it reminded him of her hair, and he had to see her.
See, those moments, which were lies.
“No, you see, I got the asshole,” Mary said.
“I saw through him. I told you to be careful. He only wanted you to see what he did.” Alice shrugged. “And now he’s blackmailing you.”
“Yay,” Rachel said. “Is it really blackmailing? It sounds like such a dirty word.”
“It’s blackmail,” Mary said. “It’s a shame you couldn’t turn Benjamin against him. You could make his life miserable.”
“I couldn’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because … Benjamin is his son, and I just couldn’t do that.”
“You’re too nice for him,” Alice said.
She took another sip of her tea and thought about Wolfe and Benjamin. There was no way she would ever turn son against father. It was horrible, evil, and not something she was going to do.
“Do you still love him?” Mary asked.
“No, of course not.” She wrinkled her nose.
“Yes, she does,” Mary and Alice both said in unison.
Rachel’s cheeks heated. “No, I don’t.” She was still attracted to Wolfe, but after this afternoon, she was never going to tell her sisters that. Not in a million years. The way he’d advanced toward her, slamming his hands on the wall beside her, trapping her. She had felt the sheer magnetism of him surround her.
In five years, she’d felt arousal. She’d read erotic books filled with raunchy sex and hot romance, but never had she felt the pull and tug of instant attraction as she did that very afternoon with her husband.
She’d not cheated on Wolfe, not even been tempted. Ryan, to her, was just a friend. She didn’t know if he felt any differently, but she certainly didn’t encourage him. Like she had said to her sisters, she didn’t want to start dating or doing anything until she was a single woman again.
There was a sudden knock at the door, pulling her out of her thoughts.
“It’s past eight. Who the fuck could that be?” Mary asked.
Rachel put her cup down. “I have no idea.” She lived in a small town, a quaint little house on the border with lots of surrounding forest and space for Benjamin to grow up in. Her fairy tale had ended with Wolfe, but her plans of having a family and moving to a small town, hadn’t. She’d been determined to find somewhere she could live, make a life for herself, and her son.
Opening the door, she was a little taken aback by the sight of Wolfe, dressed in … not a suit. He wore a pair of jeans, and a plain white shirt with a few of the buttons undone.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Well, seeing as my wife today came to my office and demanded a divorce, I figured I better cover all my bases when it comes to her chasing after something I don’t want to give her.” He stepped into her home, and she didn’t put up a fight.
She quickly put her hand on his chest, hating how warm and nice, and even firm he felt. “You’re not coming in here.”
“I already am, and last time I checked, sweetheart, my name was on the deed to this place.”
“That’s impossible. I own this house. It’s mine. I can phone the cops and they can arrest you,” she said.
“Oh, sweetheart, you really need to start looking over contracts and deeds. You really think I would let you own anything without me? I have part ownership of your car as well, and I also own the little haberdashery you work at in town.” He took the door and closed it. “Your life, no matter what you think, is linked to mine and will be for a very long time. We do share a son, after all,” he said with a wink.
“Well, well, well, look at what hell brought in,” Mary said, folding her arms and glaring.
Alice stood beside her as well. Her two sisters were both giving Wolfe the stink eye.
“It’s time for you two to leave as well,” Wolfe said.
“We don’t take orders from you,” Alice said. “We never have, and we don’t do so now.”