Page 123 of Split You Open

I can hear Wes’s voice but not what he says.

“Yeah, we’re good here. I’ll call—oh. You will? Okay. Just be safe, okay?” The hardness in her expression cracks, softening the planes of her face. “I love you, too.”

Jealousy explodes in my chest, mushrooming up and out, filling me to the brim.

Blair loves Wes?

She wouldn’t even have Wes if it wasn’t for me. I’m the one who gave her a home, a family, a fucking job.

“Wes is still following a suspicious truck. He’s going to continue to follow it. He’ll follow up with Santi and Rhett now to see how they’re doing. It’s good to know there are people under this roof who can actually follow through with things,” Blair says, her voice clipped as her eyes flicker up to my face. “You can go back to work now. No doubt everyone is probably wondering why their bosses took off running.”

With that, she turns on her heels and starts to walk away.

The detached dismissal is my last straw.

Something in me snaps.

I cross the distance between us in three long strides.

Blair hears my approach and whirls around to face me but there’s no time for her to do anything else before my hand wraps around the front of her neck and I jerk her toward me. Our chests slam together but I ignore the pain that flares up from the wound she created.

Bending down to eye level, I sneer, “You gave me two choices, Blair. I’m ready to fucking follow through with one of them.”

Twenty-Seven

Blair

“About. Damn. Time.” I hiss back at Ledger.

Heat billows through my veins—nearly hot enough to burn away all remnants left behind by Ledger’s betrayal.

Nearly.

Ledger’s hand squeezes my throat harder until I truly can’t breathe.

My heart rate spikes.

My pussy clenches around nothing.

The flare of madness I’d seen in Ledger’s eyes the night he confessed to his betrayal burns bright in those forest green eyes now.

“You had your fucking little guard dogs in the way or I would’ve⁠—”

“Excuses,” I manage to rasp out. “You’re a coward.”

His insanity glows brighter at the insult.

The sight of it sends a sliver of uncertainty coursing through me.

Before that night, I'd never seen this side of Ledger.

I caught a glimpse of it after my first full day at Gnarly Pines when we were in the basement together. At the time, Ledger was warning me that while he wanted me, he’d be keeping his distance. Something had flickered in his eyes—I just hadn’t known exactly what I was seeing.

But it was this.

It was madness.

The chuckle that slips past Ledger’s lips is unnaturally soft and light. “You’re the coward, Blair. You threw down an ultimatum then tucked tail and ran to the others for safety.”