Coup De Grâce by Lani Lynn Vale

poor employee, and then tattling on me because I’m wearing the wrong shoes. The same ‘rule,’ and I say rule with the upmost reluctance because nobody follows it, that everyone breaks. Which I then get sent home for ,” I snarled.
    He blinked. “She’s not my wife.”
    “Well, you fucked her and you were married to her. Nearly the same thing,” I told him.
    “It’s not nearly the same thing. I’ve been divorced from Joslin for way over two years. We have no relationship whatsoever, and she’s marrying my brother,” Michael said matter of factly.
    I tried hard not to react to the fact that she was marrying Michael’s brother, but failed.
    “She’s what?” I yelled.
    Well if that didn’t take the wind out of my sails, I didn’t know what would.
    Michael shot me an amused look, and it only made that fire burning down in my belly become hotter.
    He was so sexy.
    His black hair was shaved tightly to his head on the sides, and had about a half inch on top, and his face was clean shaven, though it hadn’t been last night. He was back in his trademark black t-shirt, and a pair of jeans covered his legs.
    “Yeah, you heard right,” he nodded.
    I blinked and turned back towards my window.
    She was such a hoe!
    Bryan. At least three doctors that I knew. And Michael’s brother? For real?
    How did the woman have that much energy?
    “I thought you had to work today,” I said accusingly, not turning away from the view.
    “I do. At twelve. It’s only nine thirty in the morning,” he answered. “I was up there to come see you, when I didn’t find you at your apartment, but Joslin was telling me you were sent home.”
    I clenched my hands into fists.
    “She is such a bitch,” I snarled.
    He snorted. “And you’re just now figuring this out?”
    I snorted. “You were touching her.”
    He sighed. “There’s something wrong with her. She doesn’t understand the word ‘no.’ She’s devious and vindictive. I’ve learned over the years that the easiest way to deal with her is just let her have what she wants. Or , at least, let her think she got what she wants. Gentleness seems to throw her off, so that’s why I do that. I’ ve learned to be just as manipulative as she is out of necessity.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Well, I think if you want to continue this relationship, you are going to need to figure out how to not touch her, because I don’t like it. Not even a little bit.”
    He smiled, revealing brilliant white teeth.
    “Noted,” he agreed immediately.
    Then he turned back to the road, and I was left contemplating my brashness of stealing his truck.
    “I sometimes don’t think before I act,” I admitted softly, looking at my hands.
    He snorted. “That’s an understatement.”
    “I’ll try not to steal your truck again,” I said softly.
    “You won’t have the opportunity to steal my truck again,” he laughed.
    I raised my brow at him.
    “You think?” I asked.
    He smiled. “I know.”
    When we pulled up to my apartment, I pulled out my keys and offered them to him.
    He took them, thankful that he hadn’t asked, and started up the stairs.
    I’d realized over the course of our four month dating life, and again last night, that Michael liked to be cautious.
    It didn’t matter if we were gone ten minutes or five hours, when we got back to my place, he was going to take a look through the house to be sure that everything was fine before he left me.
    I followed behind him, bemused, and walked into the door just as he was coming out of the kitchen and disappearing into the bedroom.
    I had a one bedroom apartment that I loved to hate.
    I was on the top right of a four apartment unit, and I hated every second of it.
    The neighbor to my right stole my parking spot. The neighbor to my bottom left liked to take my clothes out of the shared laundry room. And the neighbor directly below me liked to have loud, wall banging sex. Not that I knew how he did it since I was above him, and I was fairly