Page 44 of Best Laid Plans

"Really? So, in what way would it have been okay?" she demanded. "Carre didn't rape me, Anson, but he violated me all the same. I'd just had my first sexual experience, and right after, I had to live through being sexually assaulted because you asked your buddy to make it so."

I stared at her for a long moment. "I don't believe you," I whispered. I couldn't. If what she was saying was true, I'd gotten a young girl beaten up and almost raped for stealing. I'd caused her physical harm—and that wasn't something I'd ever do. And neither would Pete. I was confident of that.

"We're done." She stood up, pushing the chair she was sitting on back so hard that it crashed onto the floor.

"Nova, you can't just—"

"You didn't believe me when I told you I wasn't a thief, and you don't believe me now."

"I know Pete."

"And I thought I knew you." She had her fists on the table as she leaned down, her eyes on mine. "But now that I see you sitting here, defending Pete and hating on me, one thing is clear—it was you who asked him to make sure I paid for what I did. And I did pay, Anson. I paid a whole hell of a lot. It took months for me to get physically well, months while I still had to work to pay my bills. The trauma of that night is something I carry to this day. If a man touches me the wrong way, I freak out. Trust me, it's no fun to become a basket case in front of others. I can't even be in confined spaces anymore without hyperventilating. So, Anson, maybe we should call it even, yeah?"

My heart pounded in my chest. "You're admitting you stole from me?" The victory of her confession felt hollow.

She laughed without humor. "Ye gods! You're dumber than you look, Anson Larue. No, I'm not admitting that; what I'm sayin' is that I suffered because you're a man without integrity, without any moral standing."

"Because you're so fucking moral?" I barked. "I'd have given you anything. All you had to do was ask. And, yet…fuck, Nova. You hurt me. Hell, you wounded me."

"And you think you didn't hurt me by having me arrested on trumped-up charges that Pete had no way of making stick?"

"Trumped up? He found the fucking stolen goods in your apartment," I bellowed.

"Don't you dare raise your voice at me," she struck back. "Even the ADA didn't believe him when he said that. Talk to her. As a Larue, I'm sure you can get anyone in Sentinel county to talk to you."

"I don't need to do that. I trust my friend."

She folded her arms. "Why did you even want to talk to me if you don't want to believe a word that comes out of my mouth?"

I put my hands on her shoulder. "I came to forgive you."

"Really?"

"You were poor and desperate. I understand," I said hoarsely, trying to throw away seven years of anger so I could have closure.

She pushed me away from her. "Listen to me carefully because I'm never telling you this again. I never stole anything from you. Ask anyone who knows me, and they'll tell you I have integrity."

"You may have sold your new and fake self to your friends and colleagues—but I will expose you." I hadn't meant to say that. I had really meant to tell her I was letting the past go. But she'd pushed all my buttons by continuing to maintain her innocence. Why couldn't she just tell me the truth? Then we could move past it. Then maybe we could….

I ran a hand over my face. I was a moron. She was correct; I should never have come to her place. It was pointless.

She shook her head. "Get out, Anson. We're done. I'll talk to Nina, and you can find a new project manager."

"What? Why?" I couldn't let her slip away, not when I'd just gotten her back in my clutches. Or was it the other way around? Did she have her claws in me?

"Because it's taking too much energy to deal with your hatred; with Bailey's maliciousness, and the general toxicity that you and she emanate whenever I'm in your presence. It's not worth the next step in my career." She sounded sincere. Resigned as well.

I should have walked away then, but that look on her face wouldn't let me. She was vulnerable right now, and she reminded me of my Nova.

I had no clue how it happened, but suddenly, my hands were holding her face, and my lips were on hers. My tongue pushed into her mouth. I groaned at the taste of her. It felt like a homecoming.

I remembered what this felt like, this urgency, this hunger. It was as intense as it used to be. I still wanted her until I couldn't think straight.

I expected her to fight me; when she put her hands on my wrists, I thought she'd pull them off her, but instead, her hands slid to my shoulders.

Her sweet tongue wrapped around mine, accepting me, and her nails bit into my flesh. She held on to me like I was the fucking air she needed to breathe, and I felt the same way.

She moaned, and that sound wrapped around my cock. I stroked her cheeks as I continued to kiss her, changing the angle of our mating mouths.

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