Page 47

I roll my eyes, and he jerks toward me like he’s feigning a hit. Everything inside me flinches, but my outside remains calm, and he settles back for a second.

“What do you want, Neal? Why are you even here?”

“I came to my apartment⁠—”

“My apartment. You never once paid rent. You’re not even on the lease.”

His lips spread into an ugly grin. “We’re married, babe. What’s yours is mine.”

“Yeah. We’ll see if that holds up in court,” I tell him flatly.

He feints at me again, and this time, I turn away and head for the kitchen. He’s close at my heels, and when I open the fridge, it knocks into him with how close he’s standing. He used to do this a lot. It was the first way he started trying to intimidate me. He’s older than me, but weaker and smaller.

Yet somehow, he managed to make me afraid in those early days. Afraid to piss him off and lose him. Afraid to set him off and make things difficult. Afraid to trigger him and force Elio to see something I never wanted my child to see.

“The papers don’t mention custody. It’s not even scheduled for family court,” he says after I snag a water bottle from the shelf and slam the door.

At that, I turn, my brows high on my head. “I’m sorry? Why do you think we’d be going to family court?”

“Elio—”

“My son and his mother already have a custody arrangement. You’re not part of it.”

“He’s my stepson,” Neal says.

I almost laugh, and I know he can tell with how dark and furious his eyes get. “Sure. Technically.” As I say the word, I hear the way Elio said it in my head, and this time, I do laugh. “Good luck proving you did literally anything for him.”

“I have a lawyer.”

I blink at him. “Okay? I’ve had a lawyer this entire time, Neal. I’ve been trying to get this done for years. I don’t even know why you’re doing this. I don’t know why you keep fighting me. You don’t want to be married to me. You don’t even like me!”

He smirks. “You’re not wrong there. I don’t like you. No one fucking likes you, Rune. It’s why you got chased out of your old station. It’s why you’re the IT guy everyone hates behind your back.”

A lump forms in the back of my throat because he was always so good at poking all those insecure spots, and that hasn’t changed over the years. But it doesn’t matter. Let them talk shit. Let them hate me.

Easton could be telling every single person at the station right now what a shitty lay I am, and it wouldn’t matter.

I’m not letting Neal win.

I take a slow breath and remember the only way to fight him is to grey rock.

“What’s your point?” I ask without an ounce of emotion.

He takes a step closer, and I realize I’m backed all the way against the counter. “My point is, I don’t know why you’re not fighting harder for me. You really want to end up alone with some cri⁠—”

“Don’t,” I snap before he can use the slur against Elio.

His grin widens, letting me know he’s thinking about it. He likes it when I sit on the edge of anxiety, waiting for him to do something unforgivable. “Disabled kid,” he finally goes on, “getting old. Getting ugly. Unfuckable.”

Wasn’t so unfuckable last night, but I don’t say that. I let my ass rest against the counter. “I don’t care what I end up as. Seriously, what do you want?”

“I live here,” he repeats. “I plan to stay here until a judge tells me otherwise.”

“Fine. Whatever. I’m going to go.” I breeze past him and snatch the bag with the safe in it, but before I can make it to the door, sharp, strong fingers curl against the back of my neck.

On instinct, I freeze.

“I think you should stay.” He slides one arm around my waist and squeezes hard enough that I almost lose my breath.