Page 89

“Okay,” I tell him, voice resigned. “You have me. Now what?”

“Keys,” he barks at Willa, tightening his grip on her hair and making her cry out. “Where are the keys to your car?”

My heart thuds heavily in my chest. He’s going to take me somewhere. Then what? I used to only think he was capable of roughing me up, but now that he’s resorting to these bold extremes, there’s no telling what he could do next.

Still, it’s better me than her.

She’s pregnant and I’d never be able to live with myself if he hurt her because of me.

“On the bar,” Willa hisses.

Sean backs up through the living room, Willa in his grip. Once he reaches the bar in the kitchen, he pockets the keys.

“Just leave her alone,” I instruct. “I’ll go with you without argument.”

Sean smirks at me. “And leave her to go tattle the second we get in the car?”

I clench my teeth together, hating the antagonistic tone of his voice.

“Clean out the bullshit under the sink,” Sean barks to me. “Now. Do it quickly.”

Jolting at his harsh words, I rush over to the cabinets. There isn’t much underneath aside from a few cleaning bottles and a bucket of dishwashing tabs. Once it’s cleaned out, I take a step back.

“Inside,” Sean tells Willa. “Go calmly and I won’t have to hurt you. You’re such a tiny little thing. All it’d take is a good fist to your throat to end your pretty existence.”

Bile creeps up my throat at the thought of Sean killing my friend. Over my dead body. I shoot her a look that begs her to do as he says and to not be a hero. She tearfully obeys, crawling into the cabinet.

Sean snatches a dish towel from a drawer after ransacking half the kitchen to find it and then feeds it through the handles. He knots the towel twice before approaching me.

I want to shrink away from him or beg him not to do this. Nothing will help. He’ll still hurt me. It’s what he does. There’s no reasoning with Sean Baker.

“How are the wife and kids?” I choke out, hoping to appeal to his human side before the monster transforms him into something that cannot be reasoned with.

He sneers at me. “Perfect. They’re all so fucking perfect. But I don’t get to be myself with them. I live a goddamn lie. When I’m with you, though, I can be exactly who I was born to be.”

His hand seizes my throat before I can make a move to run away. I’m barely able to hiss out any words.

“J-Just go b-back home to them, Sean. I won’t t-tell anyone about t-today.”

A loud, booming laugh erupts out of him. I can’t believe at one time I found this man attractive. Now, all I see is a psychopath. That’s all he is beneath the perfect shell he’s created for the outside world.

“I’ll go home later, princess,” he growls, spittle landing on my face. “After I’ve fucked my naughty little toy. You know you missed me.”

I claw at his hand, aching for air, and he surprisingly releases me. Gasping, I attempt to suck air back into my lungs while still keeping an eye on this lunatic. He grins viciously at me and I know I’m in trouble. With a powerful right hook, he lays me out with just one punch. The last thing I see before blacking out is his horrible, terrifying frame towering over me, and I have a final, fleeting thought.

I won’t be coming back from this.

Jude

Adoor slams somewhere downstairs and I stop scrolling through Baker’s social media feed to cock my head. I glance over at Callum and he frowns. The slamming is soon followed by shouts and pounding up the stairs. Before I can even get to my feet, Callum is racing out of my office.

“Callum!”

Willa flings herself into Callum’s arms, sobbing and shaking. I prowl over to them, feeling unnerved and gut churning. The door to my bedroom stands open, which means Tate is awake, which somehow worsens the feeling inside me.

Something is off and I can feel it.

“Sweetheart,” Callum rumbles, gripping Willa’s tearstained, crimson face and pulling her back so he can look at her. “What’s wrong? Is it the baby?”