Page 113 of Crossed

“Sorry, my brain’s a little foggy today.” I grin at him, trying to smooth things over.

He doesn’t smile back, and my gut sinks like a concrete boulder.

“Did you do anything exciting?” he continues, taking a bite of his steak and leaning back in his chair, chewing slowly.

My heart jumps into my throat. “Not much. Took Quinten around to school, ran some errands, and then went with Quin to therapy.” I stab the lettuce from my salad. “This is delicious, by the way. Thanks for ordering in tonight.”

He nods and picks up his tumbler of whiskey, the veins in his neck popping as he swallows and sets it back down, still silent.

Still watching.

Alarm bells ring in my head.

Does he know?

I’m under no illusion he doesn’t get reports back from my driver Barney over where I’m going and what I’m doing. But I wasn’t thinking of that when I was so lost in everything Cade. Besides, even if I had told Barney some made- up story of why I was going where I was going, it wouldn’t have mattered. The man never speaks a word to me.

“How about you?” I ask.

He nods. “It was…illuminating.”

“Oh, that’s good.” I swallow, my mouth suddenly dry. “Is everything okay?”

The second the words leave my lips, I wish I could suck them back in. But I’m trying to appear nonchalant, and I don’t know… normal?

“Perfect, sweet girl.” Parker’s responding smile is a thin line that doesn’t show his teeth. “Actually,” he continues, looking between Quinten and me, “I’ve decided we shouldn’t wait any longer. I’m tired of playing by the church’s rules.”

My stomach drops. “What do you mean? I thought the church was important.”

“Remind me again what you’ve learned in your one-on- one lessons?” he asks, tilting his head. “I can’t remember.”

My heart thumps so loudly, I worry he can hear it from across the table.

“I don’t— ”

“Right.” He nods, rubbing his hand along the bottom of his jaw. “We’ll get married next weekend.”

My fork drops, the clack of the metal against white china loud in my ears. Parker’s staring at me, and I clear my expression.

He places his silverware down gently, grabbing the linen napkin and dotting the sides of his mouth before setting that down as well. “I thought you’d be happy.”

I slide my gaze to Quinten, who keeps flicking his eyes to Parker and then to me.

“Can we talk about this later?” I ask, nodding toward Quinten.

Parker sighs, picking up his whiskey and bringing it to his lips, draining the last of the drink. Standing up, he buttons his suit jacket and walks over, pressing a firm kiss to the top of my head, his hand possessively cupping the back of my neck until every hair on my body stands on end.

His fingers press on Cade’s marks, and I bite my cheek from the pain it causes when he puts pressure against the bruises.

“No,” he says. “What’s done is done. My decision’s been made.”

And then he’s gone, back to wherever it is he goes, and I’m left with a wide-eyed Quinten and me trying to smile through the panic so he doesn’t know that anything is wrong.

Chapter45

Cade

I’VE HIT AN IMPASSE. A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE. I had thought once I made a firm decision, that would be it. No more looking back, no more questions.