“What’s wrong with now?” she blurted out, subtlety beyond her now.

“Well, I need to get the pig’s feet to my mom, then I have a meeting.”

“On a Saturday?”

“Not a work meeting,” he said, his mouth quirking with amusement. “An AA meeting.”

She should’ve guessed that. “Oh.”

“And for another, I want you to think about what you want before we start negotiating.”

“I know what I want,” she said, and would’ve been annoyed at the implication that she didn’t, except that he put his hands on her bare arms, warm and solid, and the resulting rush of heat made her forget all about being annoyed.

“So do I,” he said, arrogant and a little smug, and she thought she might find room to be annoyed after all. “But I still want you to think about it.”

Exasperated and aroused and very definitely annoyed, she scowled up into his handsome, smiling face. “Why?”

“Because what I want is to destroy you.” His eyes glittered at her, all semblance of charm and seduction gone, replaced by nefarious intent and dark, depraved lust. “I want to tear you to pieces, then put you back together again. Mind, body, soul. And you have to decide if you’re going to let me.”

She stood, stunned and speechless, as he pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek, released her arms and stepped around her.

“A bunch of us usually meet for dinner after the meeting,” he said, and she turned to watch him open the fridge, take out the butcher-paper-wrapped package, then stride to the back door. “I’ll probably be back late. Tomorrow I’ll be at my mom’s for most of the day, and I should be back around four. Can you be ready to talk by then?”

She felt like she was half a step behind and struggling to catch up. “Yes.”

“Do you need anything while I’m out?”

She shook her head, thrown by the benign domesticity of the question. He just said he wants to destroy me, and now he’s asking for a grocery list? “No.”

“All right, then.” The smile he sent was friendly, until she looked at his eyes. “See you tomorrow, fofa.”

“Bye,” she said faintly, and watched him walk out the door.

She had no idea how long she’d been standing there, staring at the space he’d just vacated and wondering what the heck just happened, when her phone buzzed. She fished it out of the pocket of her dress and blinked to bring the screen into focus.

It was a text from Amanda.

Heard about Kyle. If you need to talk, you know where to find me.

Olivia started to type back a quick thanks but no thanks, then she hesitated, thumbs poised over the screen. She didn’t need to talk about Kyle, but she could definitely use some advice about Cade.