Page 183 of The Clinch
For a moment, all I see is his face.
Shock first.
Then anger, immediate and sharp, his gaze cutting to Nate and Eden before coming back to me.
Something worse settles right after—a ruthless calculation that means somebody is about to lose every remaining option.
Too late.
Travis follows his line of sight and grins.
“Well, look at that,” he drawls. “The guest of honor.”
“Do not call me that.” My voice cracks through the gym like a whip.
Jessica’s head lifts. Lukas curses under his breath. Nate and Eden are standing behind me.
Nobody stops me as I stride forward.
I can feel Leo moving now, stepping away from his corner, but I look away from him. I’m not ready to look at him again. If I do, the wrong feeling might show.
So I put all of it where it belongs.
On Travis.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing?” I demand, stopping a few feet from the ring. “You show up here acting as if you have rights over me? As if I’m a problem men settle with gloves and witnesses?”
His mouth curves. “There she is. My girl always did know how to make an entrance.”
“I’m not your girl.”
He shrugs. “You can say whatever you want in front of people.”
“Oh, I know.” I take another step. “That’s why I’d love to hear you say it clearly. In front of people. Go on. Explain why you think a divorce means nothing if you keep pushing hard enough.”
His gaze stays fixed on me. “You don’t get to erase a marriage because you got upset and ran.”
I smile at him, sharp and joyless. “Got upset and ran. That’s really the story you’re going with?”
Spreading his hands, he gestures as if he was reasonable. “We had a fight. You left. You made a scene. Now it’s over.”
“Travis,” I say very clearly, “we are divorced.”
He laughs. “There’s paperwork, and then there’s reality. You’re my wife.”
He jerks his chin toward Leo. “And him? He’s a rebound. You made your point. Now you’re coming home with me.”
Revulsion rolls through me, cold and complete.
I stare at him. “You hear yourself, right?” I almost stop there. Then I remember I’m done holding this in.
“You hit me.” The words land and stay there.
Every sound in the gym drops out. But he doesn’t even flinch. “You pushed me.”
“I was pregnant,” I say. Quiet now. Deadly. “And when you shoved me into that table, I lost the baby.”
Travis’s mouth tightens. “You don’t know that.”
