Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella)

After all, there was no denying what had happened. I mean, the bedsheets were a disaster-so much blood-and her legs still ached like she'd run a marathon in high heels.

Jesus...

What the hell kind of mess was this now?

Xander's voice came over the phone, suddenly cold. "You worried I went and finished him off?"

Yvonne's eyes widened. "What? No! God, no. Why would I care about him? He's nothing to me. Honestly, you're my husband-why waste your energy on some loser like that? It's just not worth it, right?"

Worried? That wasn't it at all.

If anything, she'd always been the kind of person to handle her own revenge.

"Seriously, Xander, that's not what this is," she added, just to be clear.

"Where are you?" he asked, his tone still sharp.

"I'm in York," she replied.

"York? That far?" he sounded surprised.

She huffed. "You know Skye's been screwing me over for years. I finally caught up

to her-I wasn't about to let her get away with my stuff again."

Just saying Skye's name set Yvonne's blood boiling. That woman was like a

pirate, always snatching away her treasures since they were kids. Who knew how much Skye had stolen behind her back?

Sometimes Yvonne wondered if she'd done something truly terrible in a past life to deserve this kind of nemesis.

"Are you hiding from me?" Xander asked flatly.

"No, it's not like that. I mean, come on, you know what kind of marriage this is. This isn't betrayal or anything, right?"

Her voice faltered a bit, confidence draining away.

Xander gave a low, amused grunt. "No, it's not."noveldrama

There was something in his tone she couldn't quite place, but her mind was too tangled to pay attention.

And then he dropped a bombshell.

She blinked. "Wait-what?"

"The person from the other night. That was me."

Yvonne nearly dropped her phone. "Excuse me what?"

Her brain, already scrambled, just about short-circuited.

Xander went on, "You made enough noise last night to wake the neighbors. I figured you'd burned off most of your anger by now."

He was probably referring to what Shawn said, about letting Dan take the heat first, let her vent.

After all the chaos last night, maybe she had calmed down a bit.

Yvonne swallowed, suddenly unsure. "Can you repeat that?"

Maybe she'd misheard-airports were noisy, after all.

Xander was patient, but clear, "I said, the other night-it was me. Got it? Stop looking for someone to blame."

Silence.

It felt like even the air around her had gone quiet. Yvonne's mind was spinning in circles.

Xander. He said it was him.

It couldn't be. Could it?

"You-you wouldn't dare,"

managed, though not sounding convinced at all.

His voice dropped, serious. "You really think I wouldn't?"

She didn't answer. She couldn't.

Not that she was scared of him, but... Yvonne took a few steadying breaths. "Look, you didn't have to do that."

"What?" he sounded genuinely confused.

"Dan's a piece of crap. Wouldn't be a crime to beat him to a pulp. You don't have to cover for him."

Wait-could Xander really be worried she'd go after Dan? That didn't sound like him at all. He was hardly the protective type.

Xander only said, “..

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Yvonne rushed on, "You know what, I'm done talking about this. I'll get my stuff back from Skye, then t come back and help you get even. Consider it my way of making it up toyou."

Before he could reply, she hung up.

Her mind was a complete mess. Any more confusion and her brain might just explode.

Finally, after standing there like a statue for what felt like ages, Yvonne snapped out of it. She scrolled through her contacts and called the one person who always had an opinion-Julia.

As soon as the call connected, Yvonne blurted, "Julia?"

"Yeah? What's up?"

After the chaos earlier, she wanted to be absolutely sure who she was talking to before spilling her guts.

Once she heard Julia's familiar

voice, Yvonne took a deep breath and said, "Xander just called me. He the guy from the other night was him."