Wright that Got Away (Wright)

I took a step backward. This had just gotten to be…too much. I’d thought it would be an easy firing. She was in love with my boyfriend. She’d overstepped. It was worse than that.

“And Campbell was going to take you away from me. I couldn’t have that,” Honey said frantically.

“Take me away from you? What does that even mean, Honey? You were my assistant. I wasn’t ever planning to leave Lubbock.”

“You say that now. But Campbell was planning it. I just know. And I couldn’t live without you.”

I took a step backward in fear at those words. I’d thought this had been about Campbell, but really it had been about me all along? She’d changed her appearance to look more like me. She’d borrowed my clothes because she wanted to be like me. She’d been trying to ruin my relationships so that she could have me all to herself.

Was she…in love with me?

“Honey, you should go,” I said, my voice shaking. “Whatever you did was wrong. With Nate and Campbell and how you’ve started to look like me, it’s too far. You need help.”

Honey’s face fell, and something dark entered her eyes. “I can’t…I can’t do this, Blaire. I had to get you back home. I needed you here. Not in LA. Please!”

She stumbled into the kitchen and grabbed the butcher knife from the block.

“You can’t do this, Blaire,” Honey said as tears ran down her cheeks. She held the knife and then brought it to her wrist.

My eyes widened. “Honey, what are you doing?”

“I can’t live without you.”

41

Campbell

Hollin dropped me off at my Range Rover with a half-smile. “Good luck.”

I tipped my head at him. “Hope I don’t need it. But thanks. For everything.”

It took me ten minutes to get to Blaire’s house. Nerves had eaten at me the whole drive. I tucked them safely away, where they belonged, and lifted my hand to knock on the door.

That was when I heard the first shout.

“Don’t do this! Honey, stop!”

I didn’t think; I just barged into Blaire’s house.

What I saw stopped me dead.

Blaire stood with a hand outstretched toward Honey. Her other hand was on her cell phone on the dining room table. Honey stood in the kitchen. A knife was poised on her wrist. Red blood dripped from the self-inflicted wound.

“Campbell,” Blaire said with relief.

“Stay back!” Honey shouted at me. Her eyes found Blaire’s. “You called him? You told him to come?”

“No,” Blaire said. “I had no idea he was going to be here.”

“It’s true,” I said quickly. “It was supposed to be a surprise. What is going on here?”

“What’s going on is that you’re trying to steal her from me!” Honey shouted. “You show up, and suddenly, she’s too busy for anyone else and she’s going to LA and she wants to move there.”

“I’m not moving to LA,” Blaire said. Her eyes flickered to mine briefly. “Honey leaked the photo and info about us from high school. She thinks she’s protecting me.”

I reeled from that information. That her own assistant was the one who had done that. I wanted to lunge for her. She hadn’t been there when Blaire was mobbed. When I’d gotten the phone call and thought she was in actual trouble. I never wanted to hear that from her again. I’d thought Honey was off before. That her drastic change in appearance had been suspicious, but I’d never thought it would come to this.

I mouthed, 911, to Blaire.

She nodded and gestured to her phone. Good. I just needed to keep Honey talking until someone showed up.

“Honey, look, I never intended to take Blaire away from her home. You can hate me all you want, but I love her and want what is best for her.” I took another step forward. “I want what is best for you, too. Maybe you should put that knife down and let me look at your arm.”

“Stay back,” she said, brandishing the knife again.

“Okay, okay.” I stopped in my tracks. I didn’t want her to turn on me either. “Tell me the problem. Maybe we can fix this.”

“We can’t fix anything. You are a worthless piece of scum compared to Blaire.”

“That’s true. I agree with that,” I said easily.

She narrowed her eyes at me. The one thing that she couldn’t change to look like Blaire. She didn’t have Blaire’s bright blue eyes. “You’re not good enough for her.”

“True. I’m not. I’ve never been good enough for her. No one is.”

“Right. That’s what I told her,” she said. “That you can’t possibly deserve her.”

“Not even a little.”

“You’re going to hurt her.”

“Now, that’s where we disagree.” I peeked a glance at Blaire. Tears were welling in her eyes at my words. “I already hurt her. I did it, and I regret it with every fiber of my being. I would never do that to her again if I could help it.”