THE EX-WIFE HE NEVER DESERVED

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very single bit of me, including the bits I had buried far down. He was standing there, his form half veiled in the shadow of the SUV, the world a

Why right now? Having spent five years invisible, here he was still a threat, still so damn present. Tension permeated the air

ough my skin, into the soul I had tried to leave behind, they raked over me. Though I wanted to turn

hit like a punch, and for a moment, I felt my chest might give way. Though it had been so long since I hea

Like they did not belong to me, the words fell

t needed it, neither had he been the one to save me. Not when, piece by piece, everythin

oke once the silence between us stretched long

usual draw between us had not lessened, not even after everything had gone on. If

ying to make sense of what the heck had happened in those five years, they were wild and searching.

s not a joyful chuckle. It hardly was a bitter one either. That was simply

at masking his emotions, but I could see the muscles in his jaw tense. I was not sure if what I was saying had affecte

ugh he wanted not to say it. "I am still bre

aw between us, more robust than it had been. Still, I let myself not respond. Neith

niel Donovan was standing in front of me, staring at me like I was the solution to something he had never known he needed.

t something else now caught my attention-something I could not quite put my fing

wn between each other. It transcended the past as well. It had to do with our respective change

ed, Daniel. I returned afterwards. You ought to have been among them. You ought to

d with frustration flickering in his e

surged within me. I yelled. "You didn't try. You did

and falling as though he were trying to ground himself. He lowered the gun entirely, his fingers gliding over th

d have me doing. Since you vanished, I have spent every

one who required rescue. I became. And now here we are, five ye

"I am not sure your name is anymore. I do, however, know one thing. His voic

rp break to the suspense developing between us. I loo

is unsafe. He is

re I felt the hairs on the back of my neck sta

he sound of approaching foots