Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
I pushed off the column I was leaning against and almost moved in, but that’s when Veronica dropped the nice act and glared up at him, batting his hand out of her face.
“You’re crazy!” she snapped. “She’d be glad I didn’t marry you! You never loved me one bit. You just wanted to control me. You’d have made me miserable all my life.”
Neil’s face assumed a fake, overdramatic sad expression. “Oh, poor little Roni in her penthouse apartment with her closet full of Chanel and her Mercedes-Benz! I feel so sorry for you.” He smirked again. “Tell the truth. You miss it all now, don’t you?”
“Not one little bit,” she said venomously. “You don’t know the first goddamn thing about me if you think I care about any of that bullshit.”
I leaned back again and folded my arms. She had this.
“Then what are you doing here? You honestly expect me to believe you showed up looking for your ratty old clothes?” He raised his voice. “Admit it—you’re here because you know you made a mistake, and now you want me back.”
“The only mistake I made was saying yes to you in the first place! I wouldn’t want you back if you were the last person on earth.”
“Suit yourself, Veronica,” he said with a haughty sniff. “But you’ll never find anyone better.”
I burst out laughing—I couldn’t help it.
Neil turned toward me. “And just who are you?” he demanded. His eyes narrowed in judgment as they took in my work boots and jeans, the lazy way I leaned against the column.
“I’m someone better,” I informed him.
He moved closer and parked his hands on his hips. “Excuse me?”
“Asshole, I met her three weeks ago, and I’ll tell you right now, I know her better than you do, I treat her better than you do, and you can be damn sure I fuck her better.”
A collective gasp circled the lobby. I imagined women clutching their pearls, but I didn’t take my eyes off Neil’s furious face. Once the shock wore off, he cocked his right arm back and took the most obvious, inexperienced swing at me you’ve ever seen. He might as well have announced he was going to hit me and warned me to duck.
I easily blocked it, and before I could stop myself, I landed a blow to his nose with my right fist. It knocked him backward onto his ass, and he sat there, stunned. Blood trickled from his nostril. Gingerly, he reached up and touched his upper lip, then looked at his finger. “I’m bleeding!” he yelled, in the same panicked way someone else might scream, “I’ve been shot!”
“I didn’t even hit you that hard,” I snarled, my hand still curled into a fist. “Consider yourself lucky.”
“Someone call the police!” he howled, looking like a belligerent toddler on the floor. “And an ambulance! A surgeon! I think he broke my nose!”
Veronica grabbed me by the bicep and pulled me toward the door. “Let’s go. Now.”
We raced for the door, pushing our way out into the sunshine and then hurrying up the block. Neither of us said anything as we darted through groups of people on the sidewalk, but at one point I glanced back and didn’t see her. I stopped moving, and when she caught up, I took her by the hand and we hustled side by side all the way to the garage, up two flights of stairs, and down the row of cars until we reached the truck. I opened the passenger door for her, and she climbed in. By the time I rounded the truck and slid behind the wheel, she was sobbing.
I felt like shit. “I’m sorry, Roni. I fucked up.”
“It’s ok-kay,” she managed between shuddering breaths.
“No, it isn’t. I promised you I’d let you handle it, and then I let my temper get the better of me. I should have kept my fucking mouth shut.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” she wept. “He h-had it c-coming. I just w-wish I’d stood up to him s-sooner.”
“Me too. But I was so proud of you today. And your mom would have been, too.”
She cried harder.
Slinging an arm around her, I pulled her close. “Come here.”
She wept into my shoulder for a minute or two while I stroked her back. I was used to holding Owen or Adelaide while they cried, but comforting a grown woman was something else entirely. There was no scraped knee to bandage or banged-up elbow to rub. I wouldn’t be able to distract her with a cookie or a bike ride. For a second, I thought about offering to go down on her in the back seat, but just then she straightened up and wiped her nose with the back of her wrist.
“God, I don’t even know why I’m so upset. It’s not like this is surprising. Neil’s a jerk.”