Page 52 of Enemies Under One Roof

The air pulsated between them, her eyes turning almost green, and the scent of her freshly washed hair, still wet and slicked off her face, wafted over him. He wanted to stamp her every feature, nuance, scent into his memory.

A fleeting expression crossed her face so fast he couldn’t name it, but it was enough to have hope roaring through him once more.

‘What’s going on here, Annie? What aren’t you telling me?’ His voice broke, telling her everything he wanted to hide, how confused, powerless, and bereft he was at her walking away.

Her eyes welled with tears and his grip tightened, his declaration of love battering against his defences and yearning to break free.

‘Please, Annie,’ he implored.

Her lips trembled, she opened her mouth, and he barely dared to breath, before her whole demeanour stiffened.

‘Nothing. I’m leaving. Don’t touch me,’ she snarled, swatting his hand away.

He staggered and clutched the wall for support. ‘That’s all you’ve got to say to me?’ he whispered hoarsely, shaking his head like he was trapped in a nightmare he couldn’t wake from.

Her mouth crumpled before throwing him a horror-filled look and she took off at speed.

Realisation dawned; he’d never touch her again, hear her laugh. Be with her, because she didn’t want him. He pressed a fist against his chest, trying to stem the pain, like his heart had been ripped out and only a bleeding, empty hole remained.

She doesn’t want you. Horrified at the pressure building behind his eyes, he blinked and blinked again.

Don’t let her see you like this, protect yourself, head upstairs. Haven’t you learnt anything from the past? Yet he couldn’t get his feet to obey his command. Rather he pushed himself off the wall and followed her, because just like all those years ago with his mother, he had to see her leave himself.

He caught up with her as she crossed the foyer, her heels beating a frantic tempo before she yanked open the front door to a rush of freezing air.

She swung around, backdropped by the late afternoon sunshine, the cold wind whipping the sleeveless black dress against her slender form.

‘It was never meant to last,’ she choked out, and she bit her lip.

He reached out a hand, instinctively wanting to comfort her, but it hovered in the space between them until he remembered she didn’t want him to touch her, didn’t want anything from him, didn’t want him…full stop. He let it drop.

‘Goodbye, Annie,’ he said, his tone as glacial as the weather as he struggled to hold on to his crumbling control.

‘Bye, Ethan,’ she said on a strangled sob, before turning and fleeing into the lengthening shadows, making for her car.

He remained where he was until it hit him all over again. He was standing at the front door, just like all those years ago, as the past and present combined in a vicious, toxic cocktail and then combusted.

Abandoned.

Never enough.

Unwanted.

He lurched sideways, bumping against the door and wondered how he’d ever pull himself together after the deepest cut of all.

Annie didn’t love him.

Chapter Fourteen

THREE NIGHTS LATER, Annie slumped against the door of her suite. Finally, she was alone.

In the floor-length mirror opposite, Ivy Flame stared back. A tight, strapless, red minidress with a long train attached at the waist barely allowed her to breathe. Super high heels accentuated fake-tanned legs, and her toenails and fingernails were coated in the same fire-engine red as her lips. Her hair styled into an I’ve just got out of bed mane flowing down her back.

She should be relieved her disguise was firmly in place, but instead her head throbbed.

Fake tan.

Fake eyelashes.