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She looked down at the forgotten feeling of a ring on her finger. It really was stunning. But it was wrong. She toyed with it, running it around in circles, and then slid it off. She held it out to him, but Hendrix didn’t move to take it.
“You have me as more than your lawyer,” he responded with a small smile that showed he understood her hesitation. “And I’m glad too. Glad that you caught the elevator to the wrong level of the building, and glad your handbag snapped right when I came out of my office.”
She shook her head. “But we shouldn’t need to resort to some kind of rouse to beat William.”
“Don’t you think he’s going to lie, Chloe? To get what he wants, don’t you think he’ll invent every fiction under the sun? Who knows what he’ll lay at your feet. Infidelity, financial recklessness, abandonment …”
She groaned and moved away from him. Her
legs felt weak, and she collapsed into the sofa. “I know.” She exhaled slowly. “I just don’t get why!”
“Because you’re his wife. And he doesn’t want to let you go.”
“But we’ve been estranged for three years. I thought I was safe.” She fixed him with a cool, blue gaze, but it was obvious she was anywhere but in his loft apartment. “That first year, I spent every moment looking over my shoulder. I was sure he’d come for me. But then, I had Ellie, and I let him know about her. And he didn’t respond.” She shrugged her shoulders. “As time went on, I started to feel safe. And free. Free enough to divorce him, even.”
Hendrix hooked the ring over his thumb and ran a hand over his stubbled chin. He’d always had a robust five o’clock shadow, and now it covered his square jawline. “And that’s when he acted.”
“Yes. He must have got a note from your firm, and I guess withdrew my savings, and had me investigated.” A shiver ran down her spine at the thought of her and Ellie having been spied on while they were carrying on their normal activities.
“William is a proud, arrogant asshole.” His voice rang with a deep, unmistakable fury. It stilled the comment she’d about to make.
“You do that a lot,” she said quietly.
“Do what?”
“You speak like you know him. Like this is personal for you, too.”
Wariness stole over him. “It is.” He prowled towards her, powerfully and intent. “For many reasons, Chloe, this is personal for me.”
He was so distractingly handsome. So masculine and confident. She watched as he closed the space between them, and settled beside her. Her mouth worked overtime to bring some moisture back. He placed a hand on her leg, and she looked down at it. The sight of the enormous engagement ring on his thumb caught her attention. “Like I said, I’ve known men like him all my life. I grew up surrounded by them.” He forced himself to render a version of his life that was close to the truth. “My sister fell prey to a man who was arrogant, rich, and thought he therefore had every right to treat her like shit.”
Chloe was a bug, caught in his web. She leaned closer, and lifted her legs beneath her on the lounge. He rarely spoke of his sister. She hoped with all her heart that he wouldn’t stop. Hendrix couldn’t have, even if he’d wanted to. “Men like William think they can take what they want. They have no respect for decency or morals.”
He was silently brooding. Chloe wrapped her fingers around his and prompted, “And your sister fell in love with a guy like that?”
“Yeah.” His smile was tight. “She fell in love with a guy just like that. He got her pregnant, and played with her. She was nothing but a game to him. And then, he got her killed.”
“Got her … killed?” Her eyes were glued to his face. She scarcely dared breathe in case it threw him off track.
His grunt was a sound of agreement. “He was driving. The night she died.”
“Oh, God. Her boyfriend was the drink driver?” She squeezed his hand; her expression was loaded with sympathy. “I’m so sorry. Hendrix, that’s truly awful.”
“Yes,” he muttered, freeing himself from her gentle touch and dragging his hand through his hair. The cornerstones of his conscience and life were being eroded.
“What happened to him?”
His black eyes flashed with an emotion that Chloe mistook for pain. “He walked away virtually unscathed.”
“He must have been devastated,” she murmured. The way her sympathy naturally extended to the man Hendrix felt had murdered his sister galled him. He stood up abruptly and strode over to the windows. The view of Manhattan barely registered.
“I doubt it. Like I said, my sister was nothing more than a toy to him.”
“But their baby …? If he didn’t mourn your sister, surely he did their baby?”
Hendrix felt like he was on a rollercoaster. It was dipping swiftly forward, and he couldn’t quite steady himself. “No. He went back to his life.”
“I don’t understand. How is that possible? If he was drunk, surely there would have been criminal charges to face. Repercussions for his actions?”
