Chapter 57
Gemma
My breath heaves in and out of my lungs. One of the male dancers comes to stand beside me. “Is this man bothering you,
miss?”
Cassian has death in his eyes, but something in the alcohol won’t let me be as afraid of him as I know I should be.
“You want to use my mom’s house against me?” I slurred. Then
I snorted. “I don’t deserve that kind of treatment. You were a terrible husband. You hated me. You never wanted me. Why do you care if I find someone else for…company.”
I giggle again and turn to run my fingers down the dancer’s arm. He grins at me.
Cassian grabs my hand and pulls it away from the other man.
“Were?” His voice is dangerous. “There is no were. I am your
husband.”
*****
Cassian
1/5
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Chapter 57
I use my grip on Gemma’s hand to pull her against me. I haul her up and throw her over my shoulder.
“Cassian!” she screeches in surprise.
I ignore her and stalk out of the club toward my waiting car.
“Hey!” The dancer who tried to come to her rescue follows.
I stop and slowly turn, glaring down at him. I let Zephyr rise to the surface and snarl, “If you touch her again, I will kill you.”
Then I go straight to my car. I came with a driver, so I put her in the back seat and slide in after her.
I reach across Gemma to fasten her seat belt. She slaps at my hands, but weakly.
“Bastard,” she grumbles.
Then she curls up right on the seat and falls asleep.
I fold my arms across my chest and glare down at her. Asleep, her face is soft and innocent. It tugs at my heart in a way I’m not used
- to.
I reach over and push her hair out of her face and hook it behind her ear. It’s warm soft, and so is her skin. Despite the alcohol, I can
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Chapter 57
also scent her.
16 min leff
She smells incredible. She always has.
But now, as I look at her, it’s almost like I’ve never really seen her
before.
I can feel Zephyr in the back of my mind, proud to call this woman his mate. Relieved to have her there. It feels right in a way nothing
has since she left.
We get back to our house and I carry her inside. It’s completely dark. She wakes up a little, wraps her arms around my neck, and nuzzles my ear.
The sensation sends a shiver of pleasure down my spine and raises goosebumps on the back of my neck.
Then she says, “Are you one of the dancers? Goddess, you’re as hot as my husband, and you smell just as good as him, too. I wish he wasn’t so useless.”
I bare my teeth, then realize she’s drunker than I thought. “What’s so useless about him?” I ask.
Instead of responding, she sighs sadly.
I reach my room and lay her on the bed, then sit beside her.
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16 min left
Moonlight falls across her face, and it surprises me how sad she
looks.
Not just sad–heartbroken and devastated.
I smooth the hair from her face again. The red strands are like silk, and I find that I love running my fingers through it.
She nuzzles her face against my hand, and the movement makes something shift in my chest. I swallow and slowly pull my hand
away.
“What’s the trouble with your husband?” I ask.
There are tears in her voice. “We fight. He…”
My brow furrows. “He treats you badly?”
She pulls the blankets over her head. “He doesn’t even like me. He had to marry me because of a deal his grandpa made with me. If not for that, he’d be with someone he loves…”
She trails off, but I feel like this is the first conversation we’ve had where I know there’s no way she’s lying to me. “You think that?”
“Yes. Nothing I do is ever good enough for him. We’ve been married three years. He’s only touched me one time. He doesn’t feel a thing for me, and I…”
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“You what?” I ask when she trails off.
16 min left
“He knows how insecure she makes me, but he doesn’t care. He keeps bringing her back into my life. She takes everything from me. She took my dad, and now she’s going to take my husband.”
“Gemma-“I started.
She ignored me and kept talking. “Why doesn’t he love me? I tried to be a good wife. Every time he tells me she’s earned things, and I haven’t, it breaks my heart.”
Tears begin to stream down her face in the moonlight.
“I’m not good enough. I’m never going to be good enough. How could I be, when Reyna is always there, being better than me?”
Then she inhales, and something flashes in her eyes. Something… luminous. It’s there and gone so fast I’m not sure what I saw.
She suddenly gasps and shoots up. “Cassian?!”`
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