Python's Embrace (Bitten Point Book 3) (18 page)

S
nuggled
against him later in the motel bed, Aria couldn’t help but think that, despite everything that had happened, she’d never been more happy or felt more at home.

She sighed with contentment, so utterly blissful…until the dog stuck her cold, wet nose against her spine.

With a scream, she sat upright. “Your dog hates me.”

“Love me, love my dog.” Rolling onto his back, hands laced behind his head, Constantine smirked.

She glared at Princess. Princess glared back. And then she saw it, the twinkle of mischief in the dog’s eye. The slight curl of a lip.

“Your dog is sly.”

“Yup.”

“Ferocious.”

“Yup.”

“Kind of cute if you don’t mind the fact she could tear out the tendons in your ankle.”

“See, I knew she’d grow on you.”

“Don’t think this means I’m getting one of those stupid Chihuahua shirts.” She’d seen part of his collection. It was enough to make her want to migrate.

“I’ve got a better idea for a pair of matching ones. Custom designed, I might add. Yours will say,
I hear a voice and it doesn’t like you
.”

“What about yours?”

“Mine will say,
Me either
.”

She laughed as she rolled atop him. “I like it, but I feel like I should add that the voice in my head kind of likes you.”

“What of the woman?”

“She likes you, too,” she murmured, rubbing her nose against his.

“That’s good because I like you, too.”

And the moment might have gotten really sappy if Princess hadn’t taken that moment to gag beside them on the bed.

But Aria didn’t mind because, in her python’s embrace, she finally found what she’d been searching for—a family. A home. And a bratty dog to call her own.

A
t the click
of a key in the lock, Melanie stood from the couch. Ever since she’d gotten the call about the fire at Bittech, she’d wondered,
Was Andrew in there when the bombs went off?

At least they thought it was explosives. How else to explain the massive boom and rumble? The utter destruction of a building made to withstand hurricanes.

Is my husband dead or alive?
And of most interest, had he played a part in the destruction? Once upon a time, she would have claimed no way, not her benign husband. But now that it turned out the rumors of Bittech running an experimental underground installation were true, she realized she didn’t know the man she’d been sleeping beside for years.

The bright red door, which she’d painted to stand out from the others in the cookie-cutter neighborhood, swung open, and through it stepped Andrew.

Her husband.

The traitor.

When her best friend, Renny, had called her with the news about Bittech, not just the destruction of it, but what had been discovered before it blew, she’d not wanted to believe it. Believing it meant reevaluating her entire life since high school. It meant admitting she’d made a colossal mistake in marrying Andrew.

Andrew walked in as if he still held the right. Hell no.

She raised the gun in his direction. “Don’t take another step.”

He barely spared her a glance. He never spared her anything, not his attention or his love. He definitely never let her borrow his nice and shiny BMW. She got stuck with the practical mini van. She enjoyed her petty revenge by sending the boys with their daddy in his pretty car—with slushies.

Tossing his keys on the side table, Andrew dropped his briefcase. He still had yet to acknowledge her or the weapon she aimed.

“I said don’t move. Or, even better, get out.”

That finally drew his attention. The traitor raised eyes and didn’t even bother to hide his disdain. “Or you’ll what, Melanie? Shoot me. We both know you don’t have the guts. So stop wasting my time and pack a bag. Quickly now. Wake the boys, too, if you intend to bring them. We’re leaving here as soon as our transportation arrives.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“I’m sorry, did I say you had a choice?” Andrew’s hand shot out and grabbed hold of the wrist with the gun. He possessed a stronger, wiry strength than she would have credited. He held her with ease.

“Asshole. Let go of me. I’m not going with you.”

She struck at him with her free hand, but the man she thought she knew, the one who couldn’t stand the sight of blood, the one who wouldn’t even squish a spider, held fast. Held her firmly. With his free hand, he slapped her.

Her head rocked to the side, and she tasted blood as the edge of her teeth cut her lip.

“Don’t hit her.” The low growl came from behind Andrew.

Usually, running into Wes made her massively uncomfortable, the whole ex-boyfriend thing being a large part of it. Not this time. She’d never been happier to see him.

Despite her throbbing cheek, she still turned a triumphant smile on Andrew. “Yeah, Andrew. Don’t hit me.”

“You meddle in things that are none of your business, gator,” Andrew barked over his shoulder as Wes filled the open doorway.

“Men don’t hit women.”

“And employees don’t back talk to their bosses. So mind your place, gator, or you won’t have that cushy job anymore. I called you here to help me, not give me lip.”

“Help you?” She uttered the words through frozen lips.

She waited for Wes to refute Andrew’s words. To slap her bastard husband upside the head. Instead, Wes tightened his lips.

He’s not here to save me.
The realization hurt more than it should have.

“How could you?” she whispered.

He said the same thing to her now as he had when they’d broke up, and she’d cried, “why?”

“Because.”

But Melanie wasn’t a teenage girl anymore, and as she slammed her foot down on Andrew’s, forcing him to loosen her gun-wielding hand, she retorted, “Because isn’t an answer.”

Neither was shooting first, her husband or her ex-boyfriend.

Bang
.
Bang
. But it sure felt damned good.

Be sure to check out the next story, featuring Wes:
Gator’s Challenge
.