Page 41 of Downfall

“Anyway, I’ll give you an easy recipe to start with. It’s an olive oil cake I learned how to make in the fifth grade. It’s mostly pantry staples, so you won’t even have to buy ingredients.” Allie’s voice filters into my thoughts.

“What? Oh yeah, the baking.”

“But who the hell knows what Declan has in his pantry,” she continues.

As she takes out her phone, it’s at the tip of my tongue to tell her that Declan is actually a good cook, at least when it comes to breakfast foods. “There. Sent.”

“Thanks. I should probably get back.” I turn to Emory. “Do you mind taking me? Or I could find a ride⁠—”

“Don’t be silly! My dad insisted on hanging with Rowan, and Luke is at the shop all day, so I’m a free agent.”

I give a soft smile and we say our goodbyes. Luckily, Julian is too focused on slicing the halibut, so he doesn’t even notice when we leave. The last thing I need is to have that conversation.

The ride back to Declan’s house is quiet but comfortable. Emory puts on a soft rock station, and I watch out my window as the houses slowly get bigger the closer we get. I don’t have the anxiety I had during that first ride to Declan’s. I almost ask her to take me to get my car so I can stop relying on other people to drive me around, but the swirling pit of dread that forms in my stomach tells me I might not be ready for that.

When we’re almost at his house, Emory turns to me, an unspoken question on her lips.

“You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

“No,” she says a little too loudly. “I’m just a little worried. Look, I’m going to be brutally honest with you for a minute and it may be TMI.”

We pull into the driveway and she puts the car in park. Once the engine is off, I nod at her to continue.

“I was in a really bad relationship in college. It was…well, he was emotionally abusive.” My heart dips into my stomach. “Anyway, long story short, my ex ended up having an affair with Declan’s mom.”

My brows crinkle because that’s absolutely not where I thought this conversation was going. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I know, it’s insane, but the reason I’m telling you is that Declan’s dad is not a good man. I don’t know any of the specifics, only that his mom felt trapped, and she went back to him after he found out about the affair, so I can only imagine how that went down. Marshall also beat the shit out of Jaxon, my ex, which no one really shed any tears over. The point is that you should be careful. You know, now that you’re part of his family.”

“Oh, I’m not—” I start to say.

Except I am.

We’re married, which means I’m a part of his family and he’s a part of mine.

17

DECLAN

The world spins. Grays, blacks, and tans whirl past me until I hear a thud. It takes me a minute to realize it’s the sound of my head hitting the linoleum floor.

Snarling laughter skitters along my eardrums as pain explodes behind my eyes. I attempt to stand, but something hard pushes me back down. “Not so tough now, you little bitch.”

The voice is grating against my sensitive ears, which are still ringing.

“Enough.” Another voice floats through my aching head. This one is less irritating.

“He started it, man. He always fucking does.”

“And I’m ending it.” I recognize it now as Cade’s voice. He wasn’t at the bar when I first got here, when I spotted Travis Miller nursing a beer, surrounded by his sycophantic band of merry men, and went in for the kill.

There’s some shuffling of feet and the sound of a door slamming in the distance, and then an arm reaches out to lift me up.

As soon as I open my eyes, my vision blurs. I suppose it doesn’t help that I chugged an entire flask of whiskey as soon as I walked in. At first, I was worried that it would dull the pain and what would be the sense in that? Pain is the whole point. But after last night, I needed more than one vice.

Resisting Skylar Galloway when she was nearly naked, offering herself to me with no strings, no feelings, just sex, was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. The problem is that I want the strings and I have the feelings. As much as I want to fuck her until we both collapse from exhaustion, I have to wait.

I was hanging by a fucking thread in the middle of the night. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go check on her, but I heard her outside my room before I even reached the door. I made it only three steps down the hallway before I turned around and slammed my door, opting to fuck her out of my head with my hand instead. It’s what I’ve grown used to, after all. But when she came to the door and I heard her breath catch? All my resolve snapped, and I did the only thing I could think that wouldn’t completely ruin us. I wanted her to see the affect she had on me so she would know that I never stopped wanting her, but when I saw the lust in her eyes, I knew she needed to feel good too.