“What are you doing here?” I blurt out because what else can I ask right now?
“I came to find you.”
“But why are you in here?”
“Because you are.” His smile falters. “Look, Tara, we need to talk.”
“We need to talk? Are you kidding me?” Some of my surprise wears off and slowly it’s replaced by anger.
How dare this bastard show up now out of the blue and all he says is let’s talk like he didn’t end my life three weeks back and break my heart into a million billion pieces? Like I didn’t watch a bunch of people get murdered right in front of my eyes? Like he didn’t get shot more than once and still have the strength to banish me?
Fucking hell, and suddenly all my shock and longing are gone, replaced by pure rage.
“Tara—”
“No, Kellen, no, you listen to me, you asshole. You send me away and I have to run to the only place I can go, down to my freaking father’s place in Florida, and you ignore me for two weeks, send Albert to void our contract, and suddenly you show up out of nowhere?” I’m gesturing all over the place, talking with my hands, working myself up. “You threw me away, and yeah, for good reason, but you know why I did what I did and you didn’t even bother—”
He snatches my left wrist and I suck in a shocked breath. Janet gives a little yelp from where she’s sitting and watching with her hands up to her mouth. Finn gives her a dirty glare but she barely notices.
Kellen looks at the ring on my finger. He holds it up in front of his face and takes a long, slow breath, before focusing on my eyes again.
“You’re wearing it.”
“Yeah, I’m wearing it, so what?”
He holds up his hand. On his ring finger is the simple gold band he put on that night. “I’m wearing mine still. I haven’t taken it off.”
My stomach twists and my anger evaporates. “I haven’t taken mine off either.”
“Please, Tara. I need to talk to you. I didn’t come all this way to hurt you again. I came to say I’m sorry.”
I blink rapidly, tears filling my eyes, because I’ve been dreaming of this moment since the day I left and came to this hellhole. Now he’s standing in front of me in a frozen yogurt shop and I feel like such an idiot and my stupid dad’s awful girlfriend is watching like this is a live-action soap opera.
“What do you want to say?” I whisper.
“Alone.” He releases my wrist and looks back at Janet.
She jumps to her feet. “Oh, hey, my name’s Janet, I’m Tara’s father’s—Uh, I know Tara.” Janet sashays over, batting her eyes at Kellen. He frowns and squints at her. “You must be the most attractive man in all of Florida right now, did you know that? God, you’re incredible. Did you say you’re married to Tara? I think that’s got to be a mistake, right? A sort of weird joke?”
“Why the fuck would it be a mistake?” His tone is sharp and dangerous. I know what it means, but Janet’s oblivious.
She gestures at me, waving a hand. “I mean, look at her? All she does is dig in the dirt? So anyway, my name’s Janet, and—”
Kellen leans down and stares into her eyes. “Fuck off, you little corpse-licking maggot. Go suck on your old boyfriend’s balls and pray he keeps providing you with your pathetic little middle-class existence. You are a horrible speck between my teeth and I’ll rip you to shreds if you so much as waste another one of my moments on this planet. Go.”
Janet staggers backward as if struck. She’s trembling, her face pink, tears in her eyes. She turns and Finn opens the door for her as she flees, leaving her phone behind.
I sigh. “That was a bit much.”
“Don’t act like you didn’t love that. I bet she’s been terrible.”
“You’re right, but still.”
“Finn, you’re out too.”
Finn groans. “I wanted to hear you grovel.”
“Fuck off. Make sure nobody comes in.”