The Reward by Jade A. Waters

Author:Jade A. Waters
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-08-24T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

It was difficult to comprehend anything in the next second. My heart pounded too hard, my body a lake freezing over with ice that cracked in cold, so much cold. I slid off the stool and jerked backward, not understanding how this was happening. How Charlie, my ex, the man I’d run away from ten years ago, could be right here, next to me, grinning like the history between us was no big deal.

Like he was welcome here.

“Aren’t you glad to see me?” he asked.

I was so far beyond shaking, I didn’t know how my legs supported me. I needed Selby. I wanted to run off but I had her stuff. She’d have no idea where I was, and no phone to try and call me. She might still be in the bathroom, but she could just as easily be weaving through the gigantic crowd and thus impossible for me to find.

Fuck. Fuck!

I stared at Charlie. He looked older than he did in my memory, the last decade not treating him well. He had to be over forty now, but that didn’t explain the deep lines framing his mouth, or the darkness around his light blue eyes—those stupid blue eyes I’d fallen in love with, back when I’d been young and naïve and I’d convinced myself I could fix everything. That I could heal what wasn’t meant to be healed between us, every sordid word, hateful spew or violent, angry lash out that’d left me terrified for the better part of three years. The brown of Charlie’s hair was full of grays, and he appeared awfully worn down. But of course he was. He’d partied then, drugs and booze, all of it heightening the ugliest parts of him and making it easier for him to treat me in the horrible manner he had.

To terrorize and torture me until I’d been broken into pieces.

“Are you here by yourself?”

I ignored his question. I tried to ignore him and focus on Ryan’s music. But Charlie leaned close. My heart went crazy, and my throat thickened with fear. I’d known this exact same feeling before, that sensation I never wanted to feel again. There was no fight or flight with Charlie, only deep wells of terror that I’d fallen into time and again. Drowning in it. I remembered drowning in it, and I coughed.

He’d left town. He’d crossed the country. I’d never heard from him again.

Why the fuck is he here?

Charlie said, “Hey, I hoped I’d run into you. I took a job with a distribution company and I’ve been driving a truck all over the states. I’m making a ton of money. You’d be proud of me. They’re talking about relocating me to a stationary plant, and I thought I’d see what home felt like. And...” I swear I could feel his breath, he got so close, and I slid back on the stool. “Listen, I’ve changed. I want you to know that, and I haven’t forgotten how great we were.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.