Page 102 of The Killer Card

“You were just a body all too willing to be used.”

Tears actually gather in my eyes as I gape at him, at the coldness in his forest green eyes. Eyes normally so full of warmth and desire. For me. The occasions where he looks at me in disdain have been so rare, almost nonexistent beneath the need and concern.

This is not my Graham.

“How dare you—”

“How dare I?!” His eyes blaze. “How dare I?! Fuck you, Naomi! I have offered to help you for years and you are insistent that you don’t have a problem—”

“Because I don’t—”

“You finished an entire bottle of wine last night, on top of I don’t even know how many drinks you had at dinner, and when I offered coffee you followed it up with mimosas!”

“We’re in Vegas—”

“IT’S SEVEN IN THE MORNING!” His shout cracks through the room like a whip, my entire body cringing away. “I can’t do this anymore, Naomi! I can’t keep watching you destroy yourself, refuse my help of all fucking people, and pretend like I’m just fine watching you do it! Look at yourself! Look at your hands!”

I tuck my shaking hands behind my back.

“You’re fucking sweating and naked and it’s sixty-five degrees in here. BET THIS FUCKING HURTS TOO, DOESN’T IT?!” I wince, my head pounding at the volume he’s capable of reaching. “Admit you have a problem! Right here right now, admit it, and we’ll go get coffee and figure out together.”

I set my jaw, biting back the tears I absolutely refuse to let fall. “I do not have a problem. I am on vacation. I’m allowed to have a good time.” The words come out too tight, too rehearsed, said a dozen times in the mirror, to my brother, practiced for him.

Graham scoffs. “I don’t have time to keep fighting this battle with you, Naomi. My sister needs my help, her kids need my help, and she actually might be willing to accept it. But you…” He reaches for the door, shaking his head. “You’re just too broken, and I’m not strong enough to watch you wither away under your own pride. I’ve done it myself too many times to just stand by and watch it happen to you.”

“Graham—”

“Goodbye, Naomi.”

The door slams shut behind him. Firm. Final. My breath catches in my throat and for a moment all I can do is stand there with his words playing over and over in my head.

Your just too broken.

Squeezing my eyes shut I try to will away that craving, that urge to drop to my knees in front of the mini bar and consume anything that’s left. Anything to numb the hollow ache that his final words left gaping in my chest. I tell myself this isn’t the last time. That goodbye between us is never goodbye because there’s always something pulling us back into each other’s reach.

There will be other chances to fix this. There will be other chances to reach for that moment of forever I felt when I woke up next to him.

Goodbye from Graham is not forever.

It’s not forever.

It can’t be forever…

1 Day Before the Wedding

Chapter Thirty-Four

Naomi

The door clicks shut so quietly, I have to turn to confirm he’s even still there. He doesn’t look as happy as he did several minutes ago. Certainly not as happy as he did while he was eating me out. In fact, he’s been particularly quiet since we left the rehearsal dinner. We shared very few words on the drive back to the cabin, but I figured he was just as tired as me, just as ready for this day to end so we could watch our friends get married tomorrow.

Except the look on his face is anything but excitement. He keeps his eyes downcast, his shoulder tense beneath his suit jacket.

Oh God, is this about the marriage conversation? Is he actually not okay with our arrangement? Will not being able to marry me change the way Graham feels?

Slowly, his hand drops from the door to his side, where his fingers flex and my heart hammers against my ribs so hard I’m afraid he might hear it.

“Graham?”