Chapter 33
Chapter 33:
“You’re sleeping with him,” Cole said, his voice unsteady. “Prescott. Now Easton. How many are there, June? Was I just one among several p>
“You’re out of your mind,” June gasped, pressing both hands against his chest. “Let me go p>
“Tell me!” Cole’s voice cracked. “Did you cheat on me p>
He leaned closer, his face inches from hers, close enough that she could smell the whiskey on his breath.
“You never wanted a family with me,” he said, his gaze dropping to her mouth. “You just wanted the money.” His expression shifted — darkened. “You’re still my wife p>
He leaned in.
It was not a kiss of love. It was a kiss of ownership. A kiss to prove he still had claim to her.
June did not freeze.
Her hand came up.
Crack.
Her palm connected with his cheek with a force that stung her fingers all the way to the bone. Cole’s head snapped to the side.
𝗥e𝖺𝖽 𝘧𝗿o𝗆 у𝘰𝘶𝗋 𝗽𝘩оne о𝘯.сom
He went completely still.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Cole turned his head back slowly. A red handprint was blooming across his cheek. His eyes were wide, stunned. June Erickson had never raised a hand to anyone in her life.
The force of the blow sent a searing, tearing pain through her abdomen. June gasped, her free hand pressing instinctively against the hidden bandages beneath her shirt. A wave of dizziness rolled over her, but she locked her knees and refused to show a single moment of weakness.
“Don’t you ever,” June said, her voice trembling with concentrated fury, “touch me again. I am not your property. I am not your wife. I am the mistake you made, Cole. And I am the one who is going to make you pay for it p>
She placed both hands flat against his chest and shoved. He stumbled back, still visibly stunned.
June straightened her jacket. She walked past him.
“Easton is waiting,” she said.
Cole stood alone in the corridor, his fingers rising slowly to his cheek. It burned.
He should have been furious. He should have been reaching for his phone to call his lawyers.
But as he watched her walk away — spine straight, steps even, completely beyond his reach — he felt something unexpected surge through him. Something dark and electric.
He had never seen her like this. Dangerous. Magnificent.
“You want a war, June?” Cole whispered to the empty hallway, a slow, involuntary smile touching his lips. “All right. Let’s see who breaks first p>
The night air outside The Campbell was biting. A cold wind cut through the canyon of skyscrapers, sharp enough to sting.
June shivered as she stepped onto the sidewalk. The adrenaline was draining away, leaving her trembling in its absence.
Easton stopped. He did not ask. He shrugged off his cashmere overcoat and draped it over her shoulders. It was heavy and warm and smelled of cedar and something close to safety.
“Easton, you’ll freeze,” June protested.
“I’m Canadian.” He winked. “This is beach weather p>
He reached up to adjust the collar around her neck, his fingers brushing briefly against her jawline.
Flash.