POV: ALARIC
She scrolled with a fluid thumb, brows raised in mock curiosity as if she were checking her calendar for brunch with a friend.
Then she stopped scrolling. Her smile widened, all crimson gloss and teeth.
She turned. Walked to me. Calm. Collected. Confident in a way that reeked of something.
And then she dropped the phone on the table in front of me and an audio began to play.
What the fuck?
It was my voice.
"June? There is something else I want you to do for me."
I didn't breathe. Didn't move. Just stared at the phone like it had grown teeth.
"What is it?"
Her voice in the recording was soft and syrupy. Like it always was when she thought she was getting closer to the center of my world.
"My business stays separate from my personal life. I don't want anyone thinking I used this marriage as a fucking elevator to get where I'm going. This win is mine. Do you understand?"
My jaw tightened. I remembered that night.
"That's… what you want?"
