Chapter 83
The faint scent of tobacco on Cedric’s clothes filled her senses. Liliana stared up at him, her eyes wide with alarm, her elbows pressed against his shoulders as she bit her lip in silence.
“Are we still getting a divorce?” Cedric’s breath ghosted across her skin.
Her heart hammered against her ribs. This was what it was like to love someone- you couldn’t stand their tenderness any more than you could their cruelty. And you certainly couldn’t stand the way your heart betrayed you when they were this close. Liliana took a deep, steadying breath, her mind still clear. “Yes p>
“Hah,” a humorless smirk touched Cedric’s lips, his eyes glinting like chips of ice. “Stubborn, aren’t you? Just remember, divorced or not, you’re still my wife. You need to remember your place p>
*Remember your place p>
Those words were a splash of cold water. He was talking about Douglas, wasn’t he? About how Douglas had helped her. He could stand by and watch his own wife be publicly humiliated, but he couldn’t stand to see someone else come to her rescue.
When he was celebrating Sylvia’s birthday, sleeping with her, giving her his black card-did he ever stop to think about his *own* place as a husband?
Seeing the unyielding defiance in her dark eyes, Cedric’s anger flared. He leaned down and crushed his mouth to hers, a fierce, punishing kiss. The taste of blood quickly filled her mouth. Her breath was stolen, and a small, muffled sound escaped her throat. If he was going to be like that night—
The thought hadn’t even fully formed before he abruptly released her lips. She
gasped for air, but before she could recover, he bit down hard on her neck, leaving a sharp, stinging pain that tingled with a faint itch.
“Cedric, are you insane p>
She shoved him away with all her might. Caught off guard, Cedric stumbled back against the door with a dull thud. His Adam’s apple
bobbed, and a low sound escol.ne
him. A smear of blood, her blood, stained his lips. The soft light from the entryway lamp cast shadows across his face giving him an air of reckless indolence His hawk like eyes met hers for a few seconds before he turned and left without another word.
Liliana’s heart was still pounding as she stumbled into the bathroom. In the mirror, she saw her lip was broken, and a dark red mark-a. hickey was already forming of her neck. The marks from the other night hadn’t even faded, and she’d been able to hide them with a high collared shirt. But how, with a bruised lip and another mark so high on her neck, there was no hiding it. She licked her lip and winced at the sting.
Pushing aside any thoughts about Cedric’s motives, she went to her computer and plugged in the USB drive. It contained the dashcam footage from her car and a digital copy of a police confession. After reviewing everything she finally understood. The man responsible for her accident was Baber Archer, the husband of the woman who had died in the initial incident.
The police had already arrested Baber, and he had confessed. He claimed he only meant to scare her, never expecting her driving skills to be so poor that it would nearly turn fatal. If Liliana pressed charges, he would go to jail.
She immediately forwarded the files to Attorney Kerr to see if they could help with Hale’s case.
“Miss Preston,” Kerr advised, “if you want to get Hale out quickly, you could use this evidence to negotiate with the Archers. If they admit to staging the accident, your brother will be exonerated. You could drop the charges against Baber in return p>
While they were still waiting for the most critical piece of evidence, negotiating now would be much faster. Liliana didn’t hesitate. Hale had been coddled his whole life; how long could he last in prison? Especially when he was innocent-every day must feel like a year.
Aside from a meeting on Friday evening, her schedule was clear. She asked Attorney Kerr to arrange a meeting with the Archers as soon as possible. He quickly confirmed: ten o’clock on Saturday morning.
Back in the car, Cedric instructed Timothy, “Have Liliana and Douglas been seeing each other often p>