Page 66 of Ruthless Touch

“What does that mean?”

Sasha stares up at the ceiling for a few moments before turning her body to face me. Tucking her hands under her cheek, she smiles and says, “The first week I worked for him, I fell for Gideon. He enchanted me. I wanted him more than I wanted to breathe. I don’t know how since I’d never fallen for someone so quickly, but he had me under his spell.”

I don’t say the words, but that sounds like love to me.

“And that’s when you two started sleeping together?” I ask as jealousy fills every nook and cranny of my being.

“By week’s end, I was down on my knees with him in my mouth. I utterly adored him and would have done anything to have him. But he didn’t feel that way for me.”

The sadness in Sasha’s words comes through loud and clear. As much as I want to hate her, I can’t help but feel badly for her. I know exactly what it’s like to care for someone and know they don’t return the feelings.

“I think you’re wrong. He clearly loves you. I think he adores you too, if you ask me.”

She shakes her head but the sadness in her voice now moves to her eyes. “No, he loves you. I knew it the first night he brought you here. You were different. He cares about you like I’ve never seen him care about anyone before.”

“Other than you and Gia. I can’t tell you how good it feels to play third to you and a ghost.”

Sasha snuggles up against me and softly kisses my cheek. “You’re wrong. Gia is in the past, and I was someone he never truly loved. It’s you, Aria.”

“Me what? Tell me because I need to know. As far as I can tell, he barely notices I’m around, until he decides you need something to make you happy and then I become important.”

“He handled tonight badly. I admit that freely. I told him he fucked up as soon as I found out he didn’t give you a head’s up about what he wanted to do beforehand. In his defense, I think he thought you’d love it. It’s stupid that he thought that way, but he’s a man. They do stupid things.”

My emotions well up inside me until I can’t control them anymore and tears stream down my cheeks. “Why would he think choosing you over me would be something I’d love?”

Sasha smiles and wipes away my tears. “Oh, honey. He didn’t choose me over you. It’s true I wanted you from the moment we met, but tonight wasn’t about me. It was about you, or at least he thought it was. As I said, men do stupid things. He didn’t mean to hurt you. Neither of us did.”

I shake my head, not willing to let her be nice when I’m wanting to hate her. “See, that right there? Neither of us? You’re the couple. You and Gideon, not me and Gideon. That’s how it’s been since I arrived here, and it’s never going to change. He cares more about you than he does about me.”

“No, you’re wrong. He made a mistake, Aria. Don’t let that ruin what you two have.”

I stare at her in disbelief. “What we have? What is that? We have nothing. He brought me here because he wanted to protect me, and all I’ve been is some plaything he toys with every so often. What you two have is a true connection. What we have is sex. Nothing more. Just sex.”

She cradles my face and smiles like she can’t believe I could be so foolish. But there’s nothing stupid about what I just said. It’s the truth.

“Gideon loves you, Aria. He sometimes doesn’t know how to show it, but he loves you.”

“How many times have you two done a threesome before with other women?” I ask, my jealousy skyrocketing with every second I think about them together.

“I should let Gideon tell you that, but you should know you were the one I wanted more than any of the others. You’re as perfect as he believes you are.”

Turning my head, I squeeze my eyes tightly shut. “He doesn’t believe that, and if he did, he doesn’t believe it anymore. Not after today.”

She hugs me to her, making me feel less alone. “Oh, beautiful girl, you’re so wrong. He loves you even more now that he has to fight for you.”

I look over at her and shake my head. “Fight for me? What do you mean?”

“Where do you think he’s gone to? He’s going to make whoever did this to you pay. Nobody touches Gideon’s woman and gets away with it.”

The way she says that, like anyone in the world would refer to me by those words, sounds utterly bizarre. Gideon’s woman? Oh, maybe his fuck buddy or someone he likes to play with, but his woman? No, that’s her, not me.

“He shouldn’t bother. That won’t change things between us.”

I close my eyes as the effect of the pills begins to overtake me. Whatever Gideon is out there doing, he isn’t doing it for me. I mean nothing to him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Gideon

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