Page 5

Waiting for the menace to make her appearance, I walk up to my porch and lean against the railing. If she is going to have another fit, I'd rather she didn't do it in my place.

Just because I've got enough money to buy the place twenty times over doesn't mean I like getting custom furniture remade over and over.

After another three minutes, Violet finally pulls to a stop in front of me. She doesn't even smile as she's sitting in the car. Instead, she just stares at me through the window, glaring. Pissed.

Is she expecting me to walk over to her and beg for her forgiveness? Maybe to break down crying. It's not going to happen.

She gets out of her car and slams the door so hard the sound echoes in the air.

"I thought I told you about coming back here. Am I going to have to call the police and put in a restraining order?" I question as she makes her way in my direction.

"A restraining order? Like you ever would. You don't want those kinds of problems with me, Emmett." She hisses at me.

I clench my teeth together and breathe through my nose before I reply. She's right. I don't want those kinds of problems. The main reason I live all the way out in here in the wilderness is because I don't want any kinds of problems.

"What do you want, Violet?" I question and she gives me a sinister smirk.

"Oh nothing, I just came up here to see if you had any company. Wanted to warn the poor souls of what kind of monster you are."

"Monster? What the hell are you talking about? There was nothing monstrous about our relationship. Everything we did was consensual."

"Consensual? You were lying to me. Hiding what you really were from me." She squeezes her little hand together and takes a step in my direction.

"It's my personal business, I don't owe you any explanations."

"The hell you don't. How the hell do you think I should feel, finding out that the man I'm spending all my time with likes to beat on women. You probably tied them up, took pictures, got off to it. Don’t lie to me, Emmett. That’s who you really are, right?”

"What I did with any women before you is none of your business. Did I tie you up? Did I take any photos of you?"

Not once in my relationship with Violet did I ever try to bring in any dominant/ submissive play. She only heard about that part of my life when she found a key to my shed where I kept my equipment. I didn't expect her to go snooping in that area. I guess I should have hidden my dark secrets a little better.

"How the hell should I know. With your depraved mind, maybe you did, and I just don't know. Tell me the truth, Emmett did you drug me and have your way with me? Maybe you have hidden cameras in the house I don't know about?"

My jaw drops and I scoff at her ridiculousness. "Are you serious? Now, you're accusing me of drugging you? You know damn well I've never done anything to you that you didn't want me to do. Stop acting like you're some kind of victim in this whole thing. We were in a relationship. There are parts of me you don't like, and we ended it like grown adults. That's it. There's nothing more to the story."

"You wasted my life!" She screeches at me.

I'm through being yelled at. Through having to explain to her my reasons. I'm grown and can do whatever the hell I please. "I'm going to tell you this one time and one time only. Get the hell off my property and don't come back. There's nothing left for you here. You don't want anything to do with me. Fine. Leave me the hell alone." I snarl at her and turn my back to go into the house.

"Don't you walk away from me. I deserve better than this. I deserve some sort of compensation."

My feet skid to a stop the second I hear those words come out of her mouth. She's hinted at this before, but she's never out right said it.

Money. This is about money.

Slowly, I turn back to face her. "You think I'm going to pay you for bringing this chaos into my life." I squint my eyes at her but don't move closer. The last thing I need right now is for her to accuse me of being threatening.

Violet shrugs her shoulders and looks away from me. Good for her. She should be ashamed for how brazen a request that is.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I do know I'm not walking away from this without something to show for my time. Think on it, and I'm sure you'll come up with something."

"Get. Off. My. Property." I snarl through my teeth.

Finally, she heaves a sigh and curses me under her breath, but she turns and gets into her car. She peels out of my driveway, her tires spinning furiously, spitting dirt and gravel in my direction before she drives away.

I don't know what I ever saw in a woman like Violet.

She's sexy, sure. Has that I dare you quality about her, yeah. And the sex was...okay. But even all that isn't enough for me to deal with her bullshit any longer.