Page 205 of Endgame

I was so happy to see him. So excited to tell him that I felt like tomorrow would be the day I finally learned the babies’ names.I’ve made up my mind, I wanted to say to him. I practically hopped up and down on the leather seat of the SUV.

Until I took a long look at his face. His expression wasn’t solemn or upset like it’d been on our wedding night. On the days that came after.

There was nothing behind his eyes. Nothing on his face to acknowledge that he cared I was there.

An emptiness that chilled me to the core.

Only when I asked him what was wrong, did I get the same response. Nothing.

I couldn’t do anything but wait.

Wait throughout the entire evening. Through the morning after. Through the breakfast I ate on my own. Then dinner.

His detachment rattled my bones. An old ache rose to the surface.

He seemed so lonely, so desolate, that he couldn’t see that he had me on his side.

My husband was gone. Checked out.

The few times he acknowledged me were to take off and put on my collar so I could shower.

This evening, I told him my period ended early. That we could try to have babies again.

That statement earned me a nod, then he lay beside me in bed, in nothing but his gray sleep pants that I loved, and he stared into space.

I didn’t cry before I fell asleep. But I did ask the universe to grant Everett peace.

I just wanted my husband back.

“Wake. Up.” He’s squeezing my throat now, cutting off my air supply.

The universe seemed to answer my pleas. It’s giving me exactly what I asked for. What I need.

The full force of Everett Quentin Alder unleashed on me.

I’m not dreaming this.

My eyes snap wide open. We’re enveloped by the dark room with only the moonlight illuminating the expansive space.

“Well, well, well.” Though he’s behind me, he can tell I’ve opened my eyes. Nothing escapes from this hunter. “There you are.”

“I—” His hand closes in tighter on me. Suffocating me. “Everett. Please.”

“Please.” The way he laughs. So cold. So cruel. He’s mocking me. “Are you begging me, princess? Asking me to stop?”

With his lips on my naked shoulder, the emotional pain grows tenfold. He’s tricking me. The gentle press of his mouth on my skin is a lie.

He’s in a mood. A cruel one.

“I’m asking you to be honest,” I wheeze out, tilting my hips back. Letting him have every part of me.

“I’m asking you for answers.”

My naked body is his. My heart belongs to no one but him.

For better or worse.

“You know who else must’ve begged for answers?” I’m being yanked out of bed. Dragged back until—oh my God—I’m up in the air, in Everett’s arms. “For mercy?”