Chapter 15
Victoria’s voice was raw and broken, and McNeil didn’t even have the courage to look back at her as he left the room.
When he returned, he was carrying a mug of warm milk.)
Victoria ignored him. Once she made up her mind, nothing could sway herl
No gesture of his could move her now
“Victoria, Violet’s life has been saved. Once she’s back on her feet. I’ll talk to her about everything–slowly, I promise.”
He sounded as if he was offering her a solemn vow, but Victoria was unmoved.
She felt the blanket lift as McNeil climbed into bed and wrapped his arms tightly around her from behind:
His body radiated warmth, like a fireplace pressed close against her back in the middle of winter.
Wave after wave of heat rolled over her, but Victoria still didn’t respond.
His lips brushed closer, moving to her eat his breath warm against her skin, grazing her cheek. They were so close, and in that moment. all those feverish memories came rushing back to Victoria like ghosts she couldn’t escape.
“When she’s recovered, I’ll cut ties with her. I’ll always be your husband–your only man. I swear it.“!
He kissed her gently, but Victoria didn’t react.
Not until his hand touched her face, his fingers cool and trembling.
And then she started to cry
McNeil realized just how much he’d neglected his young wife these past weeks, and the guilt only made him more desperate to make things right
He kissed her cheeks, her shoulder, gently slipping her nightgown from her skin, searching for hesitation, for refusal–but finding none. he pressed on.!
In the reflection of the tall window, their entwined bodies appeared as a hazy silhouette.
Victoria
ris caught his wandering hand, turned to face him, and met his eyes in silence.!!
“McNeil, did you sleep with her? How many times?”“}
McNeil’s dark eyes were inscrutable, deep and shadowed, his gaze almost impossible to interpret
Victona waited for his answer. She wanted to know after every night he spent with her, did he rush off to Violet ju
treat her with the same urgency and hunger?!
How could men not find all this sordid, she wondered.!!
Before McNeil could reply, his phone rang.!!
it was a call from the other side. He pulled away and got out of bed at once.
Victoria was left alone in the cold space, hearing McNeil’s low voice.
“Violet?”
Of course Always the same
Victoria didn’t even want to imagine what would happen next
“Daddy, you have to come back Ms. Marchand is coughing up blood” it was Gwyneth’s voice.
McNeil began pulling on his clothes immediately. Victoria felt cold, all the way to her bones i
“Violet’s in trouble. I have to go.”
He didn’t even look back at her before rushing out the door
The mug of milk sat abandoned on the nightstand, as if McNeil’s fleeting tendemess had never really existed
In her heartbreak, Victoria remembered her daughter
Violet was in trouble, of course McNeil would only care about Violet
But Gwyneth was just a five–year–old child–who would take care of her now
Victoria got up and dressed without hesitation.
as eagerly? Did he
“Ma’am, are you going out this late?” Haley, the housekeeper, asked as Victoria stepped out. She’d seen McNeil leave in a hurry and assumed Victoria was running after turn for another argument
“Yes,” Victoria replied, not stopping to explain d
She had no time for conversation
no time
McNeils black SUV sped off into the wintry night, and Victoria followed in her red Ferrari !
He drove fast, never
or noticing that the little red sports car in his rearview mirror was keeping up at first, but as the roads grew slicker the Ferrari finally sputtered and died
