Page 176 of Dirty Damage

Mara smacks her forehead with the palm of her hand. “I don’t mean to make you feel worse, but you should have known better.”

I nod into my hands. “I know!”

“Fuck,” Mara mutters, sidling over to my and wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “I’m sorry, hon.”

“Don’t be. I’m the one who made the mess in the first place. Like always.” Mara is so quiet that I look up. She’s chewing on her bottom lip, her eyes far away. “… Mar?”

She glances at me nervously. “I, uh… I have something I should probably tell you. I spoke to Oleg a couple of weeks ago.”

A flurry of nerves force me upright. “About?”

“Well… you. You and Drew.”

“What on earth for?”

She sighs. “I take it he didn’t tell you anything. Listen, I’m sorry if you feel I went behind your back, but I was genuinely concerned and I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Youareworrying me. Why did you go to Oleg?”

“Because I found a bug on your car, Sutton. And I was pretty sure that Drew was responsible for it.”

My jaw drops. “Explain.”

“I took the car in for a detail and my mechanic found it. He told me that he had it checked out and there was no doubt what it was. Someone was keeping tabs on you and the only person I could think of was the douchebag extraordinaire.”

I lean back against the sofa. “I don’t get it… Why didn’t Oleg tell me this?”

“Maybe because he didn’t want to worry you, either,” Mara suggests. “Or because he didn’t think it was Drew.”

“But if it wasn’t Drew, who could it have been?”

We exchange a look. “One thing’s for sure: There’s some shady shit going on here.”

I groan. “Of course there is. Because nothing with my life is ever simple.”

“I’m sorry, Sutton. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone to Oleg at all.”

“No. I understand why you did. I’m not mad at you, Mar—I’m mad at Drew. He’s the only one psychotic enough to do something like this.”

“Maybe you could talk to Oleg,” Mara suggests. “Make him see that Drew is just a low-life scam artist who’s manipulating the situation.”

I shake my head, Oleg’s livid face still fresh in my mind’s eye. “You didn’t see him. He was so angry. I’ve never seen him like that before.”

“Which only means that he cares about you,” she rebuts. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so mad. Or so hurt.”

I bite my lip, resisting the urge to rub my skin raw. “No. It was a mistake to get involved with Oleg.”

“But… you love him.”

I spring backwards, the words whipping across my face, engulfing me in prickly heat.

“Love him,” I murmur, shocked at how those two little words feel on my tongue.

“Sut, it’s so obvious,” Mara says gently. “Yesterday, when you showed up at my doorstep, I’d never seen you look so miserable. And when you broke down?—”

“That was a low point.”

“It was raw. And it wasreal.” She clasps my arm. “It’s no weakness to admit that you love him, you know.”

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