Page 39 of Unbalanced

He turns, resting his arm along the back of the couch as he stares at me. The dim lighting shrouds his face in shadow.

It’s incredibly unfair how sexy he is. How is any woman supposed to keep their hands off a man like him? Tall, striking midnight-black hair, sharp blue eyes that can look through your soul. Kind, smart, funny, and hugely successful. I mean, come on…

“Please tell me if my brother gave you those bruises,” he says, unable to let anything go.

It must be the lawyer in him.

“Yes,” I say simply and look away.

“Why? Why did you stay if he was treating you like that?”

Alden’s voice is far too kind. Tears sting my eyes.

“You wouldn’t understand,” I say, gulping down half of my coffee.

The warmth from it and the whiskey spread throughout my body.

“Tell me, please.”

A fire burns in my belly when I look at him.

“I don’t need your pity, Alden. Rob is dead, and I can’t change any of my stupidity.”

“I don’t pity you,” he says, setting the mug aside. “I just want to know why you chose to stay with a man who was treating you like that?”

“Why can’t you just let it go,” I ask, infuriated. “Are you my therapist? Am I on the stand?”

“Because you deserve better than him,” he says, voice firm, which stops the rant I’m gearing up to give.

“You don’t know what I deserve.”

“Then tell me, Emily. Are you saying you deserve to be humiliated? Was it okay for him to hurt you?”

“Alden, please…”

He slides closer and hooks my loose hair behind my ear.

“Tell me.”

“Things with Rob were great up until the last few weeks. He was funny, spontaneous, and he laughed at all my stupid jokes. He had a good job and came from a great family. Rob talked about doing good in the world as a detective. It feels like out of nowhere, he just…changed. He started drinking more, and that was when things got ugly. He was closed off and angry. But he never hit me until yesterday.”

Alden is hanging on every word when I risk a glance.

“When exactly did things start to change? Was there any indication as to what was going on with him?”

I nod.

“He got added to a case that has a lot of pressure. It was stressing him out, and that’s when he started to drink more. He was a different person. I told myself that once he caught this killer, he’d go back to being the Rob I knew.” I shake my head. “I should know better from living with my mother. That’s not how it works.”

I play with the end of my hair, not wanting to meet his gaze while I wipe away the stray tear rolling down my cheek.

“It’s my fault, a punishment for thinking a life like that was the best I was ever going to have. I don’t know. I thought I’d grown past all of this. But here I am choosing the wrong guy, just like my mother. I’m sure a psychiatrist would have a field day with that.”

Alden’s presence is completely consuming and so intoxicating, it’s as if I’m suffocating on the complex mix of emotions and desire he stirs in me. Distance. We need distance between us. I finish my drink and stand up. When I go to step by him, he catches my wrist, setting off a sequence of events that only I can pull off.

I misjudge my next step, catch my foot on his leg, and start to fall. Alden tugs me toward him. In an effort to avoid landing in a heap, I end up straddling him.

Alden groans when I land right on top of his cock. In my spastic attempt to jump off, I end up rubbing on him instead.