Page 58 of Unthinkable

IMMIE

I’ve spent the day doing just what I planned, keeping myself busy so I don’t overthink Jensen’s plans for tonight. Each time I do, my gut twists and my anxiety peaks to the point I can no longer control the trembles working through my body like poison.

“Earth to Imogen!” Amanda snaps her fingers in front of my face, bringing me back to the present. “Jesus, were you ever tested for being slow? That would explain a lot.”

She’s dressed to impress in a tight long blue dress that shrinks her hips, and the heels give her enough height she will be competing with Jensen’s. He’s six-two, a giant compared to my five-three.

The heels accentuate her long, lean legs, and the slit up the side only adds to her flirtatious attitude. Her caramel-blonde locks are pinned to one side; she looks elegant but glamorous, and a sliver of trepidation races through me.

If I didn’t know her better, I would say she’s beautiful, but her cruel personality makes her uglier than anyone I’ve ever met.

She shakes her head. “Trust Jensen to have a dud child.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I snap.

“Well, after looking at you, I’m not sure why the hell I should even consider having children with him.” She scowls at me with hate-filled eyes. If I wasn’t so riled by her words, I would recoil, but I’m too mad.

I don’t know what I’m more stunned by: the fact she’s considered having children, or the mention of me not being enough for Jensen. “You’d like children?” I ask on a whisper, but she hears.

Her eyes light up. “I get everything I want from Jensen for putting up with you. So, if I want children, I’ll have them. Not that it’s any of your business.” She blows on her nails. “That would be one way to cast you aside, get rid of you.”

My back straightens.

Cast me aside? Get rid of me? Over her dead body. Literally. I’ll see her in hell sooner.

“I don’t know why you let my presence here bother you so much.”

“Because you’re a reminder of his past,” she seethes through gritted teeth. “A past I don’t want resurrected. A past that needs to stay the hell away.”

I roll my eyes. Little does the idiot know it’s a made-up past. “I think you’re being insecure for all the wrong reasons.”

A loud scoff erupts from her. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her gaze slices through me before she scans me.

I’m wearing the plain white T-shirt and blue jeans Jensen left out for me. It’s nothing special, but she looks at me with so much envy you’d think I was wearing something as beautiful as she is.

Her glare lands on my face before latching onto something. “What the hell is that on your neck?”

My heart skips a beat, and I quickly move my hair to cover what I can only imagine is the bite mark left by Jensen.

She rounds the kitchen counter. “You dumb little bitch!” She reaches for me, and although I put my arm out, she bats it away with ease, and without warning, yanks on the back of my head and shifts the hair from my neck.

“You little whore!” A sharp slap echoes through the air, and the pain is immediate. I cup my cheek.

She hit me.

Again.

“I’m sorry!” I don’t know why I say it, because I’m far from sorry, but the words she longs to hear slip from my tongue with ease, so used to delivering them.

Then she pushes my head away with such strength I wobble on the chair and only stop myself from falling by gripping onto the counter.

“I’m going to make sure your father sees this,” she spits, pointing toward my neck. Her spittle hits my face with ferocity. “Maybe now he’ll see how you act. Maybe he’ll get rid of you, and we can finally have our own family!” She turns on her heels, and with a jerk of her head, throws her hair over her shoulder before leaving the room and giving me some much-needed reprieve.

She just upped the stakes. There’s no way in hell I’m about to let her have a child with the man I love. None.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

JENSEN