Page 50 of Temptation
I followed suit, fisting and unfisting my hands at my sides, willing my heart to calm down. The last thing I wanted was to blast her, because one thing she knew how to do well was keep her mouth shut.
I went through the door, then through the hallway leading toward the kitchen. Every single second spent here was eating me alive. Theclick-click-clickof her heels as she entered the kitchen in front of me set me even more on edge, and as the light illuminated the small hallway and the sound of running water filled the air, I rounded the corner and entered.
Joanna sat on one of the chairs, carefully observing me as I walked toward the other side of the table and stopped.
“Aren’t you going to sit?”
“I’d rather stand.”
She tapped her fingers on the marble high table, the sound eerily similar to the one of her heels clicking on the floor. She licked her lips as she placed the glass on the table and crossed her hands in front of her and leaned forward.
“Why am I here, Joanna?” I asked before she could say anything. I wasn’t here to play games. I wasn’t here to amuse her. I was here to get some answers.
“You know why, darling.” A bright smile appeared on her face. “Because you wanted to see me.”
“I would rather die,” I gritted out.
“Always so dramatic.” She rolled her eyes and slid off of the chair. Her heels clicked on the marble floor as she rounded the table and came closer to me. “There’s no need for that, darling. I know you have your own plaything now.”
“Don’t call her that.”
“A plaything?” She laughed. “Would you rather I call her a whore? A filthy, little whore who took my so—”
I was done.
Before she could continue talking, I took her hand into mine and twisted her arm, putting my front against her back. She yelped but didn’t utter another word.
“I said,” I pulled harder, “don’t fucking call her that.”
“Why? Because she’s so special? Because she’s so pure? You have no idea, do you?” She huffed and laughed. “You have no clue what’s been happening here.”
“Then why don’t you tell me.”
“I will if you let me go.”
Closing my eyes, my lungs expanded with a deep breath, and fighting with myself, I let her go. She stumbled away from me and as she turned, she rubbed the hand I just held.
“Talk!”
Her hair flew wildly around her face, and she slowly came to the kitchen counter and leaned on it.
“Who attacked Skylar?”
She immediately started laughing. Her eyes sparkled underneath the pale-yellow kitchen light, and she stumbled toward the chair she had been sitting in before. “You really wanna know, baby?”
“I really, really want to know,” I bit out.
She pulled the chair, dragging it over the floor and all the way to the kitchen sink.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“Nothing.” She shrugged and sat down on the chair. “I just wanted to create some distance.” She snickered.
“Joanna,” I warned. “Talk.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
