out in a moment.”
Curtis eyes me carefully. “It’s going to be okay, babe. No matter what the results, I’m here for you.”
On a whimper, I ask, “Do you think that everyone knows by now, or do you think I may still have some time to get to Tristan before anyone else does?”
He throws an arm around me, bringing me to his chest and kissing the top of my head. I don’t know, honey. One thing at a time.”
I nod my head against him and take a deep, shaky breath. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”
I arrive at the gym in hopes of getting to Tristan first. He is about to find out the one thing I have tried to keep silent about for years. I knew that it would come out eventually. Little did I know that it would come out and destroy the one man I have ever loved.
My God! How could this be happening? The Tryon Daily Bulletin made it a front-page story. They reported that Joshua Hart had been charged in the hit-and-run that killed Alexis Holt all those years ago. No one knew the connection because of the last name until they mentioned that one small detail: “Holt is the ex-husband of Elizabeth Madison, mother of survivor Holly Madison.”
I am living in a nightmare that is about to rip Tristan to shreds. The tears in my eyes are blurring my sight. I can barely see the building as I sprint from the car to the gym. I reach for the door, aggressively yanking it open and running at full speed past the men grappling on mats and pounding on punching bags. I make it to the office and stop dead in my tracks.
The expression on his face says that I didn’t get to him first. I feel my face go pale and my breath hitch in my throat when his cold, lifeless eyes find mine.
All of the air has left the room. He stands, kicking his chair behind him with such force that it slams against the wall and topples over. He turns and reaches down, lifting the chair up and tossing it across the room. It crashes into the window that separates the office from the rest of the gym.
His eyes are murderous, his nostrils are flaring ,and his chest is visibly rising and falling. “When were you going to tell me? Or did you just think I would never find out?” he roars at me as his long legs eat the space between us. He stops mere inches from me with his fists clenched at his sides.
A sob escapes me as my chin trembles followed by the rest of my body.
“Yeah! Saw the paper, cupcake,” he sarcastically announces.
I nod because that is all I can do at this point. I have no excuses. Plus, he looks beyond enraged and I don’t think that this is the right time to speak up about anything.
He leans forward, which makes me take a step back, and he yells, “I saw the fucking paper! How could you keep something like this from me? From my family? You play me so that you could get into my family’s good graces and report back to your murdering sack-of-shit father?”
“No,” I push through the golf-ball-sized lump that is caught in my throat.
“I can’t believe that you of all people would be so devious.”
“Tristan, please,” I whisper. I am still trembling, only now it is so bad that I can barely stand. My knees are going to buckle under me. I am so terrified that all I can do is watch him.
Tristan jerks back and rounds his desk. When he gets to it, he slams his fists on the top of it. “You worked your way into my life. You made me feel shit that I’ve never felt for anyone . I was falling for you, only for you to be a selfish, conniving daughter of a piece of scum.”
My feet move as I take three strides before the look on his face again brings me to a screeching halt.
“Don’t you dare come near me, Holly.”
On a shaky breath, I crack. “Please.”
“Please what?” he growls. “What could you possibly want from me now? You fucking played me for a fool. You were in my bed. You wanted so badly to drive that knife
Curtis eyes me carefully. “It’s going to be okay, babe. No matter what the results, I’m here for you.”
On a whimper, I ask, “Do you think that everyone knows by now, or do you think I may still have some time to get to Tristan before anyone else does?”
He throws an arm around me, bringing me to his chest and kissing the top of my head. I don’t know, honey. One thing at a time.”
I nod my head against him and take a deep, shaky breath. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”
I arrive at the gym in hopes of getting to Tristan first. He is about to find out the one thing I have tried to keep silent about for years. I knew that it would come out eventually. Little did I know that it would come out and destroy the one man I have ever loved.
My God! How could this be happening? The Tryon Daily Bulletin made it a front-page story. They reported that Joshua Hart had been charged in the hit-and-run that killed Alexis Holt all those years ago. No one knew the connection because of the last name until they mentioned that one small detail: “Holt is the ex-husband of Elizabeth Madison, mother of survivor Holly Madison.”
I am living in a nightmare that is about to rip Tristan to shreds. The tears in my eyes are blurring my sight. I can barely see the building as I sprint from the car to the gym. I reach for the door, aggressively yanking it open and running at full speed past the men grappling on mats and pounding on punching bags. I make it to the office and stop dead in my tracks.
The expression on his face says that I didn’t get to him first. I feel my face go pale and my breath hitch in my throat when his cold, lifeless eyes find mine.
All of the air has left the room. He stands, kicking his chair behind him with such force that it slams against the wall and topples over. He turns and reaches down, lifting the chair up and tossing it across the room. It crashes into the window that separates the office from the rest of the gym.
His eyes are murderous, his nostrils are flaring ,and his chest is visibly rising and falling. “When were you going to tell me? Or did you just think I would never find out?” he roars at me as his long legs eat the space between us. He stops mere inches from me with his fists clenched at his sides.
A sob escapes me as my chin trembles followed by the rest of my body.
“Yeah! Saw the paper, cupcake,” he sarcastically announces.
I nod because that is all I can do at this point. I have no excuses. Plus, he looks beyond enraged and I don’t think that this is the right time to speak up about anything.
He leans forward, which makes me take a step back, and he yells, “I saw the fucking paper! How could you keep something like this from me? From my family? You play me so that you could get into my family’s good graces and report back to your murdering sack-of-shit father?”
“No,” I push through the golf-ball-sized lump that is caught in my throat.
“I can’t believe that you of all people would be so devious.”
“Tristan, please,” I whisper. I am still trembling, only now it is so bad that I can barely stand. My knees are going to buckle under me. I am so terrified that all I can do is watch him.
Tristan jerks back and rounds his desk. When he gets to it, he slams his fists on the top of it. “You worked your way into my life. You made me feel shit that I’ve never felt for anyone . I was falling for you, only for you to be a selfish, conniving daughter of a piece of scum.”
My feet move as I take three strides before the look on his face again brings me to a screeching halt.
“Don’t you dare come near me, Holly.”
On a shaky breath, I crack. “Please.”
“Please what?” he growls. “What could you possibly want from me now? You fucking played me for a fool. You were in my bed. You wanted so badly to drive that knife
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