Page 106 of Best Laid Plans

She looked the same. Getting indicted, booked, and fingerprinted hadn't done a thing to her. She wore a pair of tight jeans and a crop top. Her sandals were hooker high, gleaming with rhinestones. She looked gorgeous—but now I noticed that her beauty was tinged with desperation.

I stayed standing behind my desk, and she came to me. Before she could lean in for a kiss, I put a hand out to push her away.

"Now, Bailey, to what do I owe this visit?"

She smiled sweetly. "Anson, darlin'. Not even a kiss for dear ol' me?"

"Bless your heart, darlin', I don't think so." I sat, and pointed to one of the client chairs. "Have a seat."

She strutted. Had that ever been attractive? Yes, if I was honest, all of it had been, she had been. The thing was that Bailey was my type. Nova wasn't. And yet, I never loved Bailey. I had cared for her immensely. I believed she loved me, and hence I owed her decency and affection. But I knew better now. She didn't love me. I didn't owe her shit.

"How are you doin'?" she asked, even fluttering her eyelashes.

"Get to the point, Bailey," I growled.

She pouted. Her lips were painted pink. That mouth was made for sin, and I knew how good it felt to have her blow me—and yet, I felt nothing. Not even disdain, just a weary resignation for her just as I did my life as a Larue, the one where I was living up to a last name that, in the large scheme of things, didn't mean much because it didn't make me happy.

Valen had once asked me while we sat in the dark, scouting an enemy location, "Do you know what makes you happy?"

It took me a while to answer. No one had ever asked me that. "I don't know," I finally responded.

He nodded. "Me neither. May be important to find out, don't you think?"

"Or maybe not," I suggested. "What if you learn what makes you happy, and then you find out you can never have it?"

"Maybe the point is to know regardless of the result. I think it's about having an honest conversation with yourself. Once I get home, I'm gonna find out, Anson. I want to be happy."

He never had the chance. I did, and I had done fuck all to understand myself better. It may have taken me four years to get here, but now I knew. Happiness was ephemeral; it came and went. I was searching for contentment and peace, so I could welcome happiness when it arrived, and still be okay when it left.

Every day with Nova in the past three months, since she agreed to give me a chance, had been about feeling peaceful and safe, feeling rich in so many ways that had nothing to do with my stock portfolio or bank account. It was a feeling of being loved by the one who you loved.

Valen, I've figured it out. Happiness is being loved by someone you love. It's about giving yourself to someone fully and wholly, and being accepted just the way you are, without any enhancements or subterfuge. And it's about loving that woman in the same way.

Bailey cleared her throat. "I know you're angry with me. I get it. But, baby, I did what you wanted. I knew you wanted to expose Nova, and I was only helpin'."

I cocked an eyebrow, amused. "Bailey, you were stealing from Larue Homes long before Nova even came into the picture."

"I had debts to pay, Anson, and you refused to help."

I shook my head. "That's not just our money; it was Georgia state money."

She shrugged. "You could've covered it. You didn't have to sic the GBI on me."

If I looked up entitled in the dictionary, I was sure her face would pop up, I thought. I was disgusted with her but also with myself for having ever thought I could spend my life with such a shallow creature.

"You know how I feel about dishonesty, Bailey, after all, isn't that why you and Alma concocted that little scheme about Nova stealin' from me?"

She pursed her lips. "Nova. Nova. Nova. Good Lord, Anson, what does she have? Magic pussy?"

I almost chuckled but resisted the urge. Nova did have a magic pussy. Magic heart. Magic everything. Being with her had magically made me a better person; it made me want to be good and worthy of her.

"Bailey, what do you want?"

"Have the charges against me dropped."

"I can't."

"Of course you can," she challenged.

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