Page 9 of Chasing After You

“H-he was your husband.”

Shelaughed, a sharp, bitter sound. “You think that means something? We never had any love between us.” Her eyesglittered. “Now I can finally collect the life insurance. It’s quite a generous policy, so thank you.”

My legs buckled and I sank into the nearest armchair. “You’re not calling the police. You’re… you’re happy about this?”

“You’ll leave tonight,” she said, ignoring me. “I’ll contact my cousin in Seattle. He owes me a favor. Just think of this as an early birthday present.”

I blinked at her. “What about Dorian? I need to say goodbye. He’ll be devastated.”

Victoria’s face hardened. “No. Youdon’tget to see him again.”

“But—”

“If you care about him, you’ll go,” she said flatly. “He doesn’t need more chaos. He doesn’t need a scandal. You’ll vanish, and he’ll never know what really happened. Let him think you ran.”

Tears stung my eyes. “That’ll destroy him.”

“Not as much as prison would destroyyou,” she replied coldly. “Now go pack what little you have. You have one hour.”

And just like that, the last fragile thread tying me to Dorian snapped.

“Please… just promise me you’ll take Dorian to the hospital. Daniel was hurting him. Please.”

Victoria sighed. “God, you’re so dumb. We can’t take him to a hospital, but I can promise you that we’ll have a private doctor summoned at once. Does that work?”

I cried, “O-okay.”

“Good. Now, please get out of our lives.”

2

Josh

Present Day

Today was the day.

I would ask for help today and brave my best friend’s boyfriends. Yes, one best friend, two boyfriends. I still wasn’t used to that.

God, they were terrifying.

It must’ve been one of those opposites-attract relationships, because Oliver was the furthest thing from terrifying. I wasn’t the best at describing people, but I was good at comparing them to dog breeds, which I guess is only helpful if you know dog breeds…

Oliver was like a Miniature Poodle.

His twin boyfriends were like Doberman Pinschers. Specifically, Doberman Pinschers with those spiky collars.

I, on the other hand, was a Corgi. A very large Corgi.

Anyway, today I needed to ask said Doberman Pinschers for help, which I’d been trying to do for the past four months but had kept chickening out.

Today, though, was different. I’d rehearsed the conversation in the shower, in the mirror, during my morning walk, and whenever the cafe had been slow.

I clutched the straps of my backpack tighter as I approached their house, a secluded, modern mansion on the outskirts of town.

My heart was hammering in my chest. But what was the worst that could happen? It was either this or going entirely off the grid, leaving my life behind to once again run from my past.

Before I could lose my nerve and bolt, the door opened. Hudson stood there, barefoot and wearing joggers and a fitted black T-shirt that accentuated his swimmer’s physique. He looked me up and down, expression unreadable. I always got the feeling that they weren’t quite human. Like maybe they were an elite alien race that saw humans as the scum on their shoes.