The sea air in Seabrook tastes like salt—and like Adrian Voss’s possessiveness. Wedding at Skyline Villa. Scandal on the Majesty Cruise. The truth? Buried in a lost earring and an anonymous tape. She thought she’d be the last one standing, until she learned the loneliest soul was the man who put love in contracts and apology in every kiss.
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Chapter 1
The third year after the wedding.
Adrian Voss was keeping a college girl on the side.
I did what any woman would do.
I went to teach her a lesson.
He shielded her.
The look he gave me was all impatience.
That night.
He came home.
I still went up to him like nothing had happened.
Tried to be sweet.
Once, it worked.
Twice.
The third time, he lost his patience.
Home was cold. Out there, he treated that girl like a princess.
He blew a fortune on Skyline Villa, prime property, just to keep her there.
Even after five years of being the one he spoiled, I had never gotten that kind of treatment.
That night I parked outside and watched him hold her, kissing by the infinity pool.
By the floor-to-ceiling windows, she slipped her arms around him from behind.
I called.
He glanced at the screen and hung up.
It happened a lot.
I would call. He would hang up, annoyed.
One day I packed our place.
He finally picked up.
“What is it?”
“Busy, huh?”
He lowered his voice. “Eva Hart, stop making trouble for me. You know you’ll never run out of money.”
“I won’t bother you anymore, Adrian Voss. Buy me dinner.”
“What?”
“I’ve got something for you. At dinner.”
Adrian’s car had just pulled away from the old campus gate when I got out of mine.
She headed to a bistro by the campus.
She had barely placed her order when I walked in and grabbed a fistful of her hair.
“Sleeping with my husband? You’ve got a death wish.”
I yanked her sideways.
“Ah!”
Her scream cut through the room.
She turned and saw me.
Terror flooded her eyes.
Her hand went for the limited-edition bag at her side.
But I still had her by the hair, hard.
She couldn’t even lift her head.
Not five minutes later, Adrian doubled back.
She looked like she’d seen a savior.
Tears welled up. “Mr. Voss, help me.”
Adrian came straight over, eyes like ice.
Everyone around us felt the chill roll off him.
He spoke, flat and calm. “Let her go.”
I lifted my chin. “Promise me you won’t see her again.”
“Eva Hart.”
Just my name, sharp.
Pain shot through my hand.
I let go.
He pulled the girl into his arms.
Watching the beauty sob against his chest, my heart pounded.
He looked up at me, cold. “Go home.”
“You—”
“Do I need to say it again?”
His patience was nearly gone.
I dragged in a breath and ran out.
Like a clown. Riding high one minute, fleeing in disgrace the next.
I ran for a long time before my chest finally settled. Then I looked up at the coastline in the distance.
Chapter 2
“Ma’am, I’m turning in.”
I nodded.
Mrs. Wilson went to bed, and I stayed frozen on the couch.
After what I pulled today, I had to have touched Adrian Voss’s last nerve.
He stayed out late on purpose. Or he was still with his new favorite.
But he would come home.
When I got back, I sent him a string of messages, admitting I was wrong and promising not to do it again.
Sure enough, I heard the gate.
The moment the door opened, I ran over barefoot. “You’re back.”
He looked at me and walked past, cool as ice.
He tossed his keys on the table and rubbed his temples.
I went to the kitchen and brought out some sobering tea. “Did you drink? I made something to help. Have a little.”
He took the cup, lifted his eyes, and really looked at me for the first time.
His gaze was still chilly.
I kept my head down. “I’ll run your bath.”
I started up the stairs.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him glance at the tea, then pick up his lit phone and answer.
The perfume in the air stung my nose. I rubbed at it and let out a breath until the scent thinned.
Looked like the girl didn’t come from money. First thing she grabbed was a heavy, punchy perfume.
That night, he finished his shower.
I went up behind him and wrapped my arms around his tall frame. The ice god finally turned and ruffled my hair.
“Don’t be so prickly next time.”
We slept in the same bed.
Different dreams.
Tears slid from the corner of my eye.
We were husband and wife. And he told me not to be prickly.
He said I had his cards and could spend as I liked, wasn’t that enough, what more did I want.
There were plenty of women in the world, yet I was the only one with the title, the one with wealth at my fingertips, wasn’t that enough.
He had been against marriage. In that reckless rush of first love, he wanted to marry me, something he never thought he would want.
Chapter3
I tried the same approach again.
I behaved for a month.
Then I went after the girl again.
This time it took me three whole days to coax him back.
Endless soft words. Endless promises.
I was one step away from getting on my knees.
Only then did he soften.
People said she had both beauty and poise. Not just pretty, but the kind of face that drew you in.
At her school, they said her eyes could talk.
Beautiful, sure.
I was only two years older.
Not old by any stretch.
But Adrian was tired of me.
Men turned their heads when I walked down the street, yet to him I had become boring.
So that was love. Shallow.
Maybe other men loved deeper.
With him, add money, power, and height, and it was hard for him to stay fixed on one person.
After the second blowup, even though I smoothed it over, something remained.
Polite distance.
No affection.
Fine by me.
Everything was moving the way I planned.
We were almost done.
Chapter 4
I boarded the Majesty Cruise to splurge a little and feel the sea wind.
I ran into them.
Glasses clinked. The rich boys clustered together.
He was still the main act.
And the girl, Chloe Quinn, was the leading lady.
By the infinity pool, Chloe slipped and went over the rail into the water.
A figure dove in right away and hauled her into his arms.
Once they reached the deck, he grabbed a bath towel from a friend and wrapped her up, steering her away.
They walked right past me and my glass of red wine.
He paused for a heartbeat.
Maybe that was when he noticed I was on board too.
He only looked mildly surprised, then tightened his hold on her and left as if nothing else existed.
Sea wind lifted the hair at my ear while his friends stared.
My fingers trembled around the stem.
I drained the glass.
I let it fall.
“Adrian Voss, you bastard.”
I ran off the ship.
After that, I went quiet for a long time.
I ate alone.
I kept an empty house.
I stared at nothing.
Mrs. Wilson watched me with a worry she didn’t voice.
She knew how long it had been since Adrian came home.
Then the internet broke the news. Adrian had bought a massive mansion in the most expensive part of downtown and moved a beauty in.
I lowered my eyes.
When I looked up, the rooms around me felt like a place I would soon leave.
I went upstairs.
I pulled out box after box of jewelry.
“Ma’am, why are you taking everything out?”
“This set is for you, Mrs. Wilson.”
I put a pearl set into her hands.
She was stunned.
“Thank you for everything. I’m leaving. I don’t have much else for you.”
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