Page 46 of Unmasked Legacy

Jerking his jeans up, he turns just in time for Esme to rush forward and slap him, so hard his head swings to the side. I press myself against the wall, panting, too nervous to move and takemy jeans back. Esme looks like she might just murder someone, and I don’t want to be in her path.

“God, once again, I fucked up,” Esme shouts. “I was coming to tell you I’m sorry, to tell you that you were right about everything, and I find you here with her? With that? What the fuck, Rook?”

Ouch.

“We’ve been over this shit,” Wolfe growls. “Don’t belong to you, Esmerelda.”

“And you’ve made that very clear,” her voice cracks, and for a moment, I feel for her, “But that doesn’t mean that I don’t love you, god dammit. All this time, and this is all I mean to you.”

The silence in the air is deafening.

I reach for my jeans now.

“Don’t fucking move, you slut,” Esme shouts at me.

I stare at her, eyes wide. Gone is the moment of compassion I had for her.

“Excuse me?” I snap.

“Everything was perfect until you came into town. You’re fucking destroying everything, and I won’t have it.”

“Esmerelda, enough,” Wolfe growls. “We ain’t in a fuckin’ relationship.”

“How many other women have you fucked since you’ve been fucking me, Wolfe?” she screams, and it’s the first time I’ve heard her use his real name.

“Not now.”

“How many?” she shrieks.

“Fuckin’ none. Now I said, enough.”

“I can’t believe you,” she whispers, her voice broken.

Dammit.

Now I feel bad again.

Turning, tears rolling down her cheeks, she runs out of the alley.

Wolfe turns to me, his eyes a mix of emotion. Does he care about her? If he did, why would he be with me? Confusion washes through me, and a touch of hurt that I don’t like. I’m falling for him, and in this moment right now, he’s about to show me if that means anything to him.

Our eyes remain locked for long, agonizing seconds, then he turns his back to me.

He turns away, going after her.

And just like that, my entire world collapses.

11

I’ve felt a lot of things in my life, but deep shame isn’t one of them. At least, not this kind. The feeling coursing through me right now is not one I like, and no matter what I do, I can’t escape it. I got drunk and let Wolfe fuck me, only to watch him chase after Esme and leave me standing like the cheap trash I am.

Okay, maybe that’s a harsh way to think of it, but it doesn’t stop the intense feelings I can’t seem to shake.

I’m embarrassed.

I can’t face him.

I can’t look him in the eye and listen to him tell me it was a mistake. Worse, I can’t sit back and relive the day before, feeling that hopeless, pathetic sensation because I threw myself at him so desperately.

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