Page 49 of Never Kiss and Tell

I lean forward, crossing my fingers over one another on the table. Bianca delivers our drinks, but I don’t look up. Bailey thanks her and Bianca marches off without a word. Fucking women.

“Why would you get that feeling?”

Bailey crosses her arms over her chest. “It makes you talk more. Not so mute.”

“I don’t need to talk more.”

“I don’t know,” Bailey quips. “When I first met you, I thought you were a monk taking a vow of silence.”

I shake my head, leaning back in the booth.

“This place reminds me of the fake crab shacks back home,” Bailey murmurs, staring around at the décor.

“Well, this one is real,” I say. I eye her, studying her. “Why did you come down here?”

Bailey pauses and much to my surprise, shrugs. “Andi needed my help planning the wedding.”

“Bullshit.”

“What?” she asks, shocked.

“What’s the real reason?”

She stares at me for a moment, long and hard. Finally, she concedes after taking a drink.

“My ex handcuffed me to the bed and left me because I wouldn’t get into heavy BDSM with him. He was also cheating with half of Los Angeles, so he gave me chlamydia, which I’ve recovered from. All clean.” She takes a deep breath and takes another drink. I notice her hand shake when she places the glass back down. “Does that answer your question?”

So, now the truth comes out.

And it’s worse than I thought.

I want to hunt the little prick down.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she grumbles, setting her glass down a little too hard.

“Like what?”

“Like you feel bad for me. I got enough of that in Malibu.”

I shake my head. “I don’t feel bad for you.” For some reason, I feel like punching someone. Probably partially because I was already on edge before I’d learned why Bailey ended her engagement. I almost regret asking because now, I’m thinking of committing a hundred felonies.

Bailey studies me. “Well, good.”

“How long were you chained to the bed?” I clench my hands under the table, because I’m growing more and more agitated by the second.

“About four hours. Luckily, my sister needed something from my closet and let herself in.”

Four hours. I can’t fucking begin to fathom how long he thought he would leave her there. I run my tongue across my teeth, a deep, unsettling ache unfurling in my ribs.

Luckily, Bailey’s too busy trying to hide the tremor in her hands that she doesn’t notice the stiffness in my voice. I take adrink, needing to swallow down the burning anger just to form a sentence. “And where is he now?”

She shrugs. “Probably with Marcus, somewhere. Mom and he didn’t think it was fair to fire Drew. In fact, they forced me into therapy because they think something is wrong with me.” She rolls her eyes, sipping her drink.

“Why would something be wrong with you?”

“Because I’m not willing to give him another chance. Mom believes money matters over everything else. I guess I’m just not that way.” She chuckles before I have time to say anything, sealing me with that dangerous blue stare. “You know, Mason broke Drew’s nose when he found out. I had to beg Mom to get him out of jail.”

Been there. Only, my time inside was because of Priscilla cheating. If it were my sister, I would be in prison.

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