Page 78 of Fake Wife
“Corbin.”
I lift a hand and silence her. “Don’t. Don’t even think about telling me what to do right now.”
“But—”
“Honestly, Caitlin. Haven’t you done enough today?”
She shrinks into herself. I’m an asshole. Caitlin’s life has always been shitty, and not even counting the night Trey and I found the guy who was trying to rape her, she’s always had bad taste in men. We’ve never been that man to her, her brothers even more than friends, and I’d cut off my right arm before hurting Caitlin. But I just have, because she’s always been told she’s worthless, that she can’t do anything right, and I’ve just flung one of her most despised statements in her face.
Damn it.
You’re a good man, Corbin.
Don’t do that, don’t hide your heart.
It’s spectacular.
You’re so talented.
I slam my hands to my head, but I can’t silence the sound of her voice. So soft and sweet…and trusting.
Shit.
I sigh. My hands fall to my hips and I toss my head back, growling at the ceiling with the full force of my frustration. “She’s always trusted me to take care of her,” I say, more to myself than to Caitlin.
Her soft hand lands on my wrist. With wide, softened eyes, Caitlin smiles at me. “She thinks you betrayed her, Corbin. That’s what I was trying to tell you. She thinks those papers meant you’d leave her and give her nothing—”
“Leaving her with nothing like Drake has done to her.” Not like it takes a genius to figure that out.
Damn it.
I hurry to the table by the door where I threw my phone as soon as I walked in, and call Trey.
Thank God for friends who know computers and have a relaxed moral standard when it comes to private information and hacking.
“Find Teagan,” I tell him as soon as he answers.
He laughs. “You lost her?”
“No,” I snap. I don’t have time to explain myself. “Just find her. She has to be in town somewhere—”
“Whoa, slow down, spunky. Wanna clue me in on what the hell happened in the thirty minutes since we separated?”
“She left. Miscommunication and I’ll explain later, but can you find her? She has to be in her car.” Something I realize now since I didn’t see her Prius in the underground garage when I got here. “Caitlin says she left an hour ago.”
When I was drinking and toasting my upcoming marriage, my fake-turned-real fiancée was shoving clothes into a bag and thinking I had hurt her.
“Okay, okay.” Trey’s voice has the condescension of talking to a crazy person. Whatever. “Have anything else to go on?”
“Caitlin,” I snap. “Have any idea where she went?”
“No. She just said she should have done this weeks ago.”
Vomit burns deep in my throat.
“Hotels,” I bark out. “She’ll be in a hotel. Find the cheapest but safest ones. She’ll want to save money but she won’t be stupid.”
“Well she did fall in love with you,” Trey says.
