Read Online Unforeseen Danger by Michelle Perry - Free Book Online

turning to look at him, she slipped off her coat and hung it in the hall closet.
    “With Darcy.”   Her voice was tight, tense, and Jake’s anger surged again.
    “Is that right?” he asked, and finally she turned to him.  
    She looked pale.   Tired.   There was such pain in her green eyes that Jake found he couldn’t meet her gaze.
    “ Dammit , Jake.   Yes, that’s right.   I was with Darcy.   Do you want to call her and check?”
    She reached to flip on the light and he said, “Don’t.”
    Nikki gave him an exasperated look and threw up her hands.   “Fine.   Sit here in the dark by yourself.   I’m going to bed.”
    She started toward the stairs and Jake stood.
    “I can’t live like this anymore.”   The words, hopeless and desperate, burst from him and she froze on the bottom step.   “I want a divorce.”  
    Even as he said the words, he wished he could take them back, especially when he saw the horror on her face.   He’d wanted to break her cool composure, to hurt her as he’d been hurt, but when her tears came, there was no satisfaction for him in it.
    “You don’t mean that,” she whispered.   “You can’t mean that.”
    Jake said nothing and she took a faltering step toward him.   “Jake, you don’t understand – you don’t know—”
    All the pain, all the anger he tried to hold back the past two weeks came rushing to the surface.   “That’s right, Nikki!” he shouted.   “I don’t understand and I don’t know…why don’t you tell me?”
    “What can I say, Jake?   What can I say to make it better?   That I’m sorry?   That I love you?   I’ve tried that, but it’s not what you want to hear.”
    “ Dammit , Nikki, I want you to say it.   Saying you’re sorry doesn’t mean anything when you won’t even tell me what you’re sorry for.   Stop lying to me and just say it.”
    “Alright!” she yelled.   “I did it, okay?   I cheated on you.   I never meant for it to happen.   I’m not even sure how it happened.   It was a mistake—”
    Furious, Jake shook his head and advanced toward her, the divorce papers wadded in his hand.   “Who is he, Nikki?   What’s his name?   I deserve to know.”
    “I can’t tell you!” she sobbed and covered her face with her hands.   “You’ll kill him.”
    “Then it’s over.”   He thrust the papers at her.  
    She made no attempt to catch them, and they fell to the floor like a wounded bird.  
    “You take the house.   You take it all.   I don’t give a damn.”
    “Jake—” she grabbed his arm and he jerked away from her.
    “Don’t touch me!” he growled.   “I loved you.   I trusted you.”  
    He started toward the front door, then spun on his heel.   He grabbed Nikki by her shoulders and pushed her against the wall, pinning her with his body.
    It was a mistake.  
    He knew it as soon as he stared into those green eyes, as soon as he smelled her perfume and felt the heat from her body.   He watched the shallow throb of her pulse in her throat.
    God, how was he going to live without her?
    “Hit me, Jake.”   She jutted out her chin.   “Hit me.   Hurt me.   Just please don’t leave me.   I’ll do anything to make this better.”  
    Jake closed his eyes as Nikki pressed her lips to the hollow of his throat, then he seized her chin in his hand.
    “Tell me who he is.”
    “I can’t.”   Mascara streaked down her cheeks.
    “Damn you.”   He swung at the wall and Nikki flinched as his fist broke through the sheetrock beside her head.
    “Can’t you see?   I’m not protecting him.   I’m protecting you.   Don’t throw us away, Jake.”
    “Me?” he asked incredulously.   “You’re the one who threw us away.   Do you think you’re the only one who had opportunities?   Would you care to know how many times I’ve cheated on you?”
    “No,” she whispered.
    “No,” he repeated.   “Well, I’m going to tell you anyway.   Not once, Nikki.   Not one