The Wrath Walker (The Wrath Series Book 1) Matthew Newson (essential books to read TXT) 📖

close to her since the day she ended our relationship. I kept my emotions in check and drowned out the memory of my pleas for her to take me back. I instead counted and memorized every line and curve of her face. I didn’t know if I’d ever be that close to her again, and I wanted to preserve her lovely face in my mind just one more time.

“I’m doing alright,” I choked out as I looked away.

I could see out of the corner of my eye how concerned she looked for me, which felt nice for a change. Then it occurred to me that she wasn’t concerned for me, but that she pitied me, which only amplified the pain.

I had to change the subject.

“I see you’re doing pretty well here. Well on your way to being the precinct’s best detective. I’m very happy for you, Elizabeth. You’ve worked very hard, and you truly deserve it.”

She relaxed a little and sat back in her chair. “Yeah, I took down a bunch of the old Ricci crew, and I was able to help the district attorney put them all away with the evidence I collected. I have also had the luck of being on some other high-profile cases.” She looked proud of her accomplishment.

“Yeah, I heard about that. Congratulations. Those were some very impressive takedowns. I’m very happy for you again. You’ve always been a great detective.”

“Thank you, Brandon. How did you hear about it?” she asked suspiciously on the verge of her anger towards me making an impressive comeback.

I picked my next words very carefully. “Well for one, it was in all the papers. Then I heard people talking about it all over the city about how much safer the place was. You’re big time now, Elizabeth, and I’m proud of you.”

She smiled and relaxed a little more, and it started to feel like old times. I should have stopped talking at that moment, but I let something slip when I let my guard down. Just like that her total and utter hatred for me returned with a fury.

“So, how are you and Scott doing?” I asked, not realizing the mistake I had made until the words had already left my mouth. Her lovely smile rapidly morphed into a scowl.

“Who told you about Scott, Brandon?”

I wasn’t supposed to know about Scott. Lizzie kept her personal life extremely quiet, and she knew there wasn’t a cop in the city that still talked to me on friendly terms. The truth was I had kept tabs on Lizzie, and even followed her a time or two. I wasn’t proud of it, but at the time I had just needed to see her and know she was okay. That was when I discovered she had started dating a man named Scott Fuller. The pain of seeing the two of them together was far too much for me to bear and crushed what remained of my soul. That was the last time I checked up on her to see how she was doing.

I tried my best to cover, and sound natural in my response. “I saw you guys out once, and I looked him up to make sure he wasn’t a bad guy or something like that. I’m sorry if I crossed a line.”

“Don’t play coy with me, Brandon. You knew exactly what you were doing, so don’t try and lie to me. I know you all too well. You’re so jealous it’s pathetic, you know that? Stalking is a crime, and I should file charges on you.”

“Please don’t, and I wasn’t stalking you. I just told you I saw you guys out in public, and only one time at that. Again, I’m sorry.” I kept my tone calm and even.

She jumped up from her chair, and I knew she was about to let me have it.

“Let me tell you something, Brandon Lee Farmer. Scott Fuller is a better man than you will ever be. He’s nice and treats me with respect, something you stopped doing long before I ended it with you. I’m sure you already know that he’s a social worker who helps kids and many other people in the community. When was the last time you helped anyone else other than yourself?”

Every word she said pierced my already damaged soul. “Okay, Elizabeth, please stop. You’ve made your point. I said I was sorry.”

“We’re going to get married, Brandon,” she said as I quickly looked at her and I was filled with pain and regret more than ever upon hearing those words. The anguish was clearly registered across my face. “Oh, I see you didn’t know that one, did you? Well let me tell you something else, Brandon. If your father could see you now—”

“Please don’t bring my father into this. You’ve made your point.”

“No. I want you to hear this. I love Scott unconditionally, because he loves me in the same way. He is my one and only, and you were just a waste of time. Besides, I couldn’t have married you anyway.”

“Why?” I asked through my pain and against my better judgement, it just slipped out, but there was a part of me that had to know. “Why couldn’t you have married me? We loved each other back then, didn’t we?”

She squared her shoulders as she lowered her head and glared at me with a look of pure disgust. “Because, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself,” she said with malice. “All you would have done was hold me back, and seeing how far you’ve sank, I’d say I made the right decision. Your father would be ashamed of you.”

The last thing she said rang true and left me feeling hollowed out and numb. My mind had entered into self-preservation mode to enable me to get through the situation before I felt the emotional brunt of the things she said.

“Are we done here?” I snapped back at her. All hurt and pain had left my face and was replaced