Page 53 of Brandishing Betrayals
Anger clawed at me. I had to push it down, control it. Now was not the time to fly off the handle. I needed to gather as much evidence as I could. In the meantime, though, I had a beautiful woman in my bed, that had finally let her guard enough to admit that she still loved me.
I was not about to let that go to waste. Finishing up in the shower, I toweled off and walked back into my bedroom naked.
Maya was still sleeping when I returned.
I pulled on a clean pair of boxers and carefully tugged back the blankets from under her, before I hit the lights and fan on the remote and slid into bed. Tucking the sheets around us, I pulled her back into my arms.
With her head tucked safely beneath my chin, I took a shuddering breath and let myself fall asleep.
Maya
Thenextmorning,Iwoke up with a raging hang-over. My head pounded in time with my heart and my stomach rolled. I slunk out of bed as carefully as I could, to not wake Nico and rushed to the bathroom before I spilled my guts all over his carpet. I managed to get the bathroom door shut softly and turn on the shower, before I was hovering over the toilet bowl, puking up the remnants of too much wine from the night before.
I wasn’t much of a wine drinker. I usually stuck to vodka. Vodka I could handle, wine made me sick.
Thankfully once I got it out of my system, my stomach immediately felt better. I found a brand-new toothbrush still in the packaging on the counter for me and his toothpaste in the medicine cabinet.
After I brushed my teeth, I peeled off last night’s dress and stuck my hand into the walk-in shower, testing the water temp. I had to adjust so it wasn’t so scalding, but I slipped inside anyways, letting the hot water wash away what remained of my hang over.
My thoughts drifted to last night and a blush coated my cheeks at the thought of everything that transpired. God, he had been relentless in his search for the truth. He had played my body like a damn fiddle and shredded my emotions apart.
I couldn’t even be mad about it.
Briefly I wondered if that had been his plan all along, but even if it was, I couldn’t blame him. Not when I was keeping secrets from him about literally everything.
He loved me.
I had known that was true the first time I saw all three of them again—Marcos, Nico, and even Jason. They all still loved me, and I still loved them. It’s why it was so hard that I couldn’t tell them the truth.
And I almost broke down last night and told him the truth.
I would have to pull away again,push them away again. It was going to hurt. Fuck, it was going to hurt. But I had to. Luke’s life was in danger, my men’s lives were in danger; Hillcrest could and would kill any one of them if I opened my mouth.
No, it was safer this way. Everyone was safer this way.
By the time I got out of the shower and toweled off, a new resolve had settled over my shoulders. I could do this. I had to.
Nico
I sensed the change in her mood the moment she walked out of the bathroom. Her dress from the night before was back in place, her hair was wet, but brushed down her back, and her mask was fully in place before she walked into my bedroom. I laid there a moment longer debating on if I should even bother trying to get her back into bed or not. “Morning.”
“Hey,” she murmured.
“Hungry?” I asked, slowly sitting up and turning to get out of bed.
“I should go.”
I clenched my teeth and took a deep breath. I knew she’d react this way, I would just have to play it cool. “Let’s get breakfast, Little Dreamer. It’ll help your stomach.”
“Nico.” She sighed. “I really need to go home.”
“I spoke to your mom yesterday.” I got out of bed and pulled a pair of jeans out of my dresser. “Told her I made you plans at the spa for the day. She seemed cool with it.”
Maya narrowed her eyes at me. “Nic—”
“Maya, please.” I walked over to her, stopping just short of getting into her space. “Please, let me do this for you. It’s already booked, already paid for. Enjoy the day at the spa. Slade’s going to meet you there. Have some girl time. Massages, facials, the works, it’s all on me.”
Her lips parted as disbelief flashed in her eyes.
