Chapter 14
Allison gasped as the brakes screeched and her body jolted forward uncontrollably.
“Ah!”
Quinn reacted instantly, pulling her into his lap and cradling her against his chest. She instinctively clutched his neck for balance, her fingers brushing the back of his collar. The position was undeniably intimate.
A flush crept up her cheeks.
She fidgeted, trying to get off him, but the movement only made things worse–she bumped her head against the window, lost her balance again, and landed right back in his arms.
Her face turned scarlet.
Before she could recover, there was a loud knock on the window.
Heart racing, Allison scrambled off his lap and rolled the window down
Outside stood a man in tattered clothes, sunburned and filthy, his hair matted and unrecognizable. His skin was blistered, his eyes wild.
“Allison! It’s me
get out of the car, I need to talk to you!”
The man pushed back the greasy strands clinging to his forehead and wiped at his face with trembling hands.
“I’m Alexander. Your husband,” he croaked. “I’m alive. I didn’t die.”
Allison stared at him expressionlessly.
He slapped both palms against the glass, eyes reddened with desperation.
“Allison, I missed you so much. Please just take me home.”
His voice cracked. “Let me come home.”
She finally spoke, her tone cool and detached. “I’m sorry. I don’t know you. My ex–husband died a long time ago.”
His face crumpled. “How can you say that? You used to love me so much… you even tried to win over my ex just to stay by my side-”
But when he met her eyes–icy, unreadable–he choked on the rest.
Allison turned to the driver. “Roll up the window. Let’s go.”
Brandon tried to hold onto the glass, but the automatic window caught his fingers. He yelped in pain, voice breaking “Allison! Please- it hurts!”
She didn’t flinc
Eventually, the pressure forced him to let go.
He stood there, stunned, as the car drove off. Then he ran after it, shouting her name at the top of his lungs.
“Allison! I made it back alive! You can’t just leave me behind!”
After getting beaten bloody by Sarah, a motel cleaner had saved him. He’d sold his watch and designer suit to pay for the hospital bill, then used the rest to sneak back into the comitry,
The first thing he did upon returning was look for Allison. He thought she’d be wearing black for him, grieving.
He imagined she’d throw herself into his arms, sobbing
He’d apologize, sincerely. Beg her forgiveness. Promise to live right this time–no more lies, no more women.
Chapter 14
share a
Coke
with
Pokiston
30.00
But instead, he found out she was living with Quinn Vanderbilt.
He didn’t believe it. Not his Allison. She loved him like her life depended on it–how could she move on so fast, while his body was barely cold?
“You can’t treat me like this!” he screamed into the night, tears streaking down his dirt–covered face. “I’m the man you loved most!”
Alexander chased her all the way to the gates of the Vanderbilt estate.
Security stopped him, but he kept pushing, again and again, getting thrown to the ground and scrambling back up.
“I need to see my wife! Quinn, who the hell do you think you are–marrying my woman?”
“Allison! Baby, come out!”
Once again, he was tossed to the pavement
And this time… Allison did come out.
She stood just a few feet away, looking down at him with the coldest stare he’d ever seen.
Chapter 14
