Sickness roils in my stomach.
This is crossing a line.
Corbin is doing all he can not to burst out in a fit of laughter, while steam figuratively rolls out of my ears.
“Mrs. Preston, I’ve never dated Rygan Clanton. In fact, I’ve never dated a man my father’s age or older. Ever. Not that I’m opposed to age gaps in relationships, but only if they are truly in that said relationship for the right reasons—unlike you. I don’t need to climb the social ladder by marrying a man twice my age just because of his wallet size. And I don’t screw the gardener behind his back, either, like you and every cliché there is,” I bite out, earning a shocked and indignant gasp from her.
She rattles something off while I stalk away, ignoring Corbin’s eruption of laughter that he can no longer contain. Then I see the devil.
Most people envision a pitchfork, pointy ears, black eyes, and a wicked tail. No. The devil wears a designer suit, sexy blonde hair that always looks purposely bedroom-messy, eyes that are almost silver, and a grin that could slay multitudes.
He stares at me from across the pool, that grin only growing as I glare at him. He winks at me and raises his glass in a silent toast, mocking my victorious actions from earlier.
He’s fighting dirty. Well, that’s just fine. He’ll tell everyone the truth or he’ll never get me again.
Charging through the crowd and ignoring the judgmental eyes on my back, I make it to the bar that has been set up outside. I don’t let the bartender ask for my order. Instead, I grab the bottle of chilled vodka and pour it directly into a glass.
He doesn’t stop me, but merely watches with amusement as I turn the glass up and chug the contents without any regard for my churning stomach. It almost comes back up, but I manage to keep it down by sheer willpower alone.
“You look pissed,” Rain says while coming up beside me.
After pouring another glass, I nod. “I’m furious.”
She exhales loudly, her eyes looking around. “What’d he do?”
It’s sad that she already suspects him. But she has no idea what’s going on here.
“Nothing I won’t punish him for.”
Her eyes go wide in fear. “Tria, you can’t play this game with Kode. He doesn’t fold. Ever.”
We’ll see about that.
His back is turned now, his attention on Courtney Hughes as she runs her finger up his chest. Rain calls my name as I walk away, my heels whining as I pound them into the hard surface on my way to the man I hate in this moment.
Rye says something to me, but I deliberately ignore him, knowing damn well that will only fuel the chatter around me. He never sees me coming, so he doesn’t know to brace for impact. With one hard, unexpected shove from my small hands, Kode stumbles, losing his balance, and yelps before crashing into the pool.
I glare at him under the surface as the water splashes up to hit innocent bystanders in their expensive apparel. Stunned silence descends upon the crowd while Kode pushes up to the top, surfacing with murderous eyes that immediately find me.
“Mistake, Tria. Big mistake,” he threatens.
I dust my hands, proving I’m not scared of him, and I salute him with my middle finger on my way back into the house. Dane’s driver is out front, and he quickly runs around to the passenger side door to open it for me when I ask him to take me home. I’ll grab a cab from there.
I climb in, ignoring the laughter that is now booming from the backside of the house. This is going to be a dirty war, and there’s only one way to win. It’s not like I can go head-to-head in a battle of cruel attacks with him. I’m no match.
But there’s one game I can win.
***
KODE
She’s asleep. In my bed. Naked. Does she really think it’s going to be that easy to get out of this?
I flip on the light before I begin stripping out of the dry clothes I borrowed from Dane. Tria stirs just barely, but she doesn’t open her eyes.
“Feel better now that you’ve thoroughly pissed me off?” I ask the girl who I know isn’t really asleep.
“Much,” she says in a clipped tone.