And when someone threw acid at me out of jealousy, he didn’t hesitate. He stepped in front of me like it was instinct.
His back got burned. Blood everywhere.
And he just held me and whispered, “Hey… hey, don’t cry. I got you. You’re okay. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
So tell me… Was all of that fake? Was I just… stupid?
I didn’t even realize I had already gotten into a taxi.
“Where to, ma’am?” the driver asked.
I hesitated for half a second.
Then I said it.
“Sun Valley.”
The place where Felix kept Shannon. My hands clenched in my lap.
If she was his wife… Then who the hell was I?
I heard faint sobbing coming from the garden and my legs moved before my brain could catch up. I stepped closer, ducking under the drooping wisteria, and froze.
Felix. My husband. Dressed in a suit, looking untouchable, a predator in every sense. He held a soft leather whip, striking Shannon over and over. She was tied to the antique chaise lounge I had spent weeks choosing for our villa, completely naked.
And then, just like that, he dropped the whip, leaned over her, and kissed her. Hard. Dominant. His hands everywhere, his sweat slick on his back.