I Choose Him, Your Worst Enemy novel Chapter 174

Snow felt Wynette closing in on her, step by relentless step.

She tried to back up, and didn't make it.

Wynette was already in front of her, and when Snow looked up to meet her eyes, Wynette's hand came around in a swift, clean arc and caught her across the face.

Snow's head snapped sideways, and the imprint of four fingers blazed vivid red against her cheek.

It said everything about the force Wynette had put behind it.

Wynette's own palm tingled from the impact.

She looked at Snow, who was still standing there in a stunned stupor, and said calmly, "Just a little prank."

Before Snow could draw breath to respond, Wynette's hand came back the other way, catching the opposite cheek with the same precise force. "You seem like someone who can take a joke, Ms. Zimmer," she said, light as anything.

Snow hadn't even gotten a word out. Both slaps had landed before her mind had caught up to the first one, and now Wynette had used her own words to seal her mouth shut.

What exactly was she supposed to say to that? They were her own words.

The moment Wynette had raised her hand, Alice had stepped forward and positioned herself squarely at Wynette's side.

She'd been ready to intervene if Snow tried to retaliate.

What she hadn't anticipated was Snow just standing there, blinking, looking for all the world like someone who'd walked into a wall they hadn't seen coming.

Wynette looked at her with cool, unhurried contempt. "Funny joke, wasn't it, Snow?"

Snow's face tightened with outrage, but when she saw Wynette's wrist turn, she flinched backward without thinking, bracing for another hit.

Wynette had simply been lowering her hand.

The retreat registered on everyone present in the same instant.

Snow realized it a half second later, and the involuntary stumble backward made her look exactly as small as she felt.

Alice pressed her lips together to keep from laughing out loud.

Wynette gave Snow one final, ice-cold look. "Setting aside the fact that we're nowhere near close enough for a stunt like this, whether it was deliberate or something else, that's for the police to sort out."

Her voice was entirely level. "Ms. Tate, please have someone keep an eye on Ms. Zimmer. I've already filed a report. The moment this ship docks, officers will be waiting to handle this. I trust you'll cooperate fully with the investigation, Ms. Zimmer."

Those two slaps had done almost nothing to quiet the fury still simmering beneath Wynette's calm.

She'd been the one to hand Adriel that water. That fact alone had been sitting in her chest like a hot coal since the moment she'd understood what was in it.

And the more she thought about it, the colder she felt. Because that water had been meant for her.

If she'd opened it and taken so much as one sip, she didn't want to imagine how the rest of this night would have looked.

Snow heard the word "police," saw Wynette's intent to have her monitored, and her composure finally broke entirely.

"You have no right to detain me!" she snapped, desperation bleeding into her voice. "Keeping me here against my will is illegal. You can't do this!"

She understood clearly what being held meant. The moment the ship docked, she'd be taken in for questioning, and everything she'd done would be dug up and laid out in the light.

Wynette looked at her like she'd said something faintly absurd. "You know what's illegal? Drugging someone. Don't try to run, Snow. There's nowhere on this ship to go."

She turned, and walked away without another word, Alice falling into step beside her.

Back on the the upper deck, Adriel had been changed into dry clothes and was lying still in Jamie's bed, eyes closed, his breathing slow and even. Jamie and Gavin stood on either side of him, talking in low voices.

Wynette looked at Adriel's face and felt the worry tighten in her chest all over again. "How is he?" she asked.

There was another half hour before they docked.

Wynette checked the time. It was half past one in the morning.

She looked around at the people in the room. "I'll stay with him. The rest of you should get some rest. Thank you, seriously, for everything tonight."

He was in this condition because of her. Staying felt like the very least she could do.

Jamie glanced at Wynette with the expression of a man who was about to offer to stay himself.

Gavin cut in before he could get a syllable out. "We'll be right next door if anything comes up. Call us the second you need anything."

He was not about to let Jamie ruin this.

This was the perfect chance for Wynette and Adriel to grow fonder of each other.

Alice caught the meaning immediately and turned to Jamie with perfectly timed sleepiness.

"Jamie, I'm exhausted. Walk me back."

And just like that, Jamie was following Alice out the door with the cheerful obedience of a man who had been skillfully redirected.

Gavin lingered for about 30 seconds, said goodnight to Wynette, and slipped out.

Wynette settled onto the edge of the bed and carefully turned back the blanket to check the bandaging on Adriel's arm.

The wrap had been replaced with a fresh one, clean and properly dressed. She let the blanket fall back and lifted her gaze to his face.

Even in sleep, the flush hadn't fully left his cheeks, that unnatural warmth still sitting in his skin. Concern moved through her, quiet and steady.

She reached out without quite deciding to, and laid her palm softly against his forehead.