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“No problem. Hope you guys work it out,” she said, and then walked away.

For a second I just stood there, frozen. Gavin. Fucking. Chase.

I pulled out my phone and called the asshole. He didn’t answer and my rage grew. I never should have trusted him. In my gut, I’d known that allying with him might be something I regretted. That getting him involved in my life and my attempt to take down KZM from the inside had been a calculated risk—one that now made me feel like I’d made a deal with the devil.

Beyond enraged, I walked back to the quad outside of Stuart and confronted Bruce. “Did you see Tori in the arms of Gavin Chase on Monday?” I demanded.

He paused and I clenched my jaw, already knowing what his answer would be.

“You told me to keep her safe,” Bruce finally responded. “And you told me Gavin Chase was someone we could trust—someone who would keep her safe, too. You didn’t tell me to report on what she did with the man.”

It was true. I’d said all of those things to Bruce, thinking I could trust Gavin. No, that wasn’t true. I’d never fully trusted him. But Ihadtrusted Tori. I’d believed her when she’d said there was nothing going on. That Gavin was interested, but the feelings weren’t mutual.

“If you want me to report on her activities in the future, say the word. But the job as I understood it was to ensure Tori’s safety,” Bruce reminded me.

“And you’ve done a great job of that, haven’t you?” I lashed out.

Bruce cleared his throat. “As much as you may not want to hear this,” he said, “in my professional opinion, Tori’s probably exactly where she wants to be. Nothing about this says abduction to me. Professionally speaking. I apologize if I’m overstepping here.”

He spread his hands and took a step back. Though Bruce hadn’t touched me, I felt like I’d gotten the wind knocked out of me. His words were a confirmation of exactly what I had feared.

I’d thought I could trust her. I’d thought I could believe her.

The first time I’d confronted her about Gavin, she’d made excuses. Had reasons for why they were caught kissing in a public space. Gavin had been the one to make the move, she’d said. She’d rebuffed him immediately after.

But now?

Now I didn’t know who or what to believe. Not when she had been caught in Gavin’s arms again, just before disappearing. They obviously had a relationship.

And it was because of me. I was the one who’d enabled them to get together. By arranging for Tori to pass information along to Gavin. I never should have used him as an intermediator. Never should have depended on the relationship between Gavin and Tori to get back at my father.

I was furious at Bruce for keeping this crucial and damning information from me. Furious at my father for doing everything he could to meddle in my personal life and chase my wife away. And Anja—she’d returned at the worst possible time, after years of keeping my son away from me. I was glad to have Max in my life, but Anja had wrecked my marriage. I was also livid over the way Gavin and Tori had deceived me. Infuriated by their lies, by Tori’s cheating.

But mostly, I was furious at myself.

I had all but pushed Tori straight into Gavin’s arms. It was my fault I hadn’t been able to hold onto the best thing in my life.

I should have realized it was too good to be true from the beginning.

I never should have allowed myself to fall in love with Tori. Never should have allowed myself to be open and vulnerable with someone; should have learned my lesson the first time, with Anja. When you loved someone, they always left you. Giving someone your heart meant that they had the power to break it. And I was fucking broken.

From now on, though, I was done with that.

For good this time.

Fuck love, I thought to myself. And fuck Tori.

Tori

Chapter 12

Ihated being back at my father’s house. It was like being a kid again, staying in my old room, all of my clothes and toiletries from Stefan’s house still packed up in suitcases that I didn’t even want to open. The whole place felt too small for me—Springfieldfelt too small for me—like I had outgrown my old life and now I was being forced back in.

But I had been the one to come here. And I had no other choice.

I didn’t know where else to go. I didn’t know what else to do.

After speaking with Gavin on Monday, I’d hoped that my gut instincts about Anja and Stefan were wrong. That despite the sudden arrival of my husband’s old flame and new child, he’d still want to be with me. That no matter the obstacles in our path, we’d find a way to work it out. Together.