Page 101 of His Flawed Ride

She sits up slowly, still taking it easy after her c-section. When I look at her now, I don’t recognise her. Then again, I’ve never really known her that well.

“You don’t have cancer. Admit it!”

Her confusion turns to anger in the blink of an eye. “How dare you! I can’t believe you’d accuse me of doing something so terrible.”

For a fraction of a second, I regret doubting her but then her eyes slightly narrow and it’s like I can see her working her story out.

Before I know what I’m doing, I lean on the bed and grip her chin. “Tell me the fuckin’ truth!”

Her voice wobbles. “You love me. Tell me why you’re doing this, hurting me like this.”

What the fuck? “I’ve never told you I love you. Stop with this crazy shit and tell me the truth!”

She yanks her head back, freeing her chin from my grip. “I’m not doing this. I can’t… I…”

“Prove you’re sick.”

“How?”

“You must have paperwork? Doctors appointments? Treatment plans? I don’t know, but you must have something.”

“I don’t have to prove shit to you. You should believe what I say.”

“It all makes sense. I had Zach look into you. Not once did he mention you had cancer and trust me it would’ve come up on your hospital records. He digs deep when he does a search on someone.”

“I still can’t believe you did that.”

The first tear rolls down her cheek but like most tears, they don’t change my mood.

“Fuckin’ believe it. Come to think of it, not much came up about you. But at the time, I thought most people don’t have much about them.”

She bursts into tears and carefully gets out of bed. She comes around the room and stands before me. The moment her hands cup my cheeks, I recoil.

“I need to know the truth, Annie.”

“The truth?” she murmurs. “Men don’t care about the truth. I’ve given you a kid. I’ve been making you a home. I’ll open my legs for you any time you want. That’s what men want, and I can give you that. All I’ve wanted, since the night I met you, was for you to love me.”

She’s crazy. No, she’s more than that, she’s unhinged.

“Have you had this planned from the start. Fuck, is Wolf even mine?”

The doubt hurts that he might not be mine. Hurts like nothing has ever gotten to me before.

“If you don’t believe anything I say, believe he is yours. After being with you, I couldn’t imagine letting any other man touch me. I’m yours, Shane. Completely and for forever.”

More tears stream down her cheeks but they can’t be trusted. She’s running on survival mode right now.

“You’ve been bullshitting me from the start. You’ve tricked your way in… How long did you think you’d get away with it?” She’s obviously not going to admit it but it’s not stopping me. “Didn’t you think I would notice you weren’t going for treatment? And what about hospital trips, I’d be the one to take you and bring you home? Did you honestly believe I’d just have let you do it alone?”

“You’re such a good guy, Shane.”

Grabbing onto her wrists, I pull her hands away from my face and keep hold of them.

“You might not be cancer sick, but you are sick, Annie.”

“No! I’m not, I’m just… I love you.”

“Stop saying that!”