Page 4 of Secret Betrayals
His eyes are full of questions, and for the first time, I catch a flicker of regret. But I don’t let myself analyze it. I can’t. It’s too late for that. He doesn’t get anything from me—no emotion, no explanation, no fucking redemption. Not now. Not ever.
Still, I see the questions circling behind his eyes.
What the fuck did I do?
Why is she so calm?
Why isn’t she yelling, crying, or fighting for me?
Have I lost her for good?
The answer? He doesn’t deserve the fight.
I loved him with everything I had. Gave him all of me—faithful, loyal, supportive. I kept one secret, yes. But I never lied. Never strayed. He can’t say the same. So why should I waste another second on a man who proved I meant nothing?
I shake my head, needing to clear it. “My family came back early,” I say quietly, rubbing the tension from my forehead. “I came to surprise you. I had something important to talk about.”
I scoff. “But I guess I’m the one who got surprised, huh?”
My voice doesn’t shake, but my throat tightens around the words. When I look at him, I make sure he sees it—that I’m lost to him. His posture stiffens. His eyes close briefly, and I can see him wrestling with it.
I raise a brow, unimpressed.
“It’s all good, Talon. We had our fun.”
I shrug while my eyes lock onto his. Those green eyes I used to love. Eyes that will probably haunt me for a long, long time.
“We had our fun?” he echoes, stepping back like my words were a slap to the face. He rakes his fingers through his hair, pacing, struggling. For a second, I almost see the weight of it hitting him.
Almost.
His face softens. Like that’s going to work. It won’t because it’s too little, too late.
“I was stupid,” I continue, shoving the last of my stuff into my bag. “I ignored my gut. Trusted you when I shouldn’t have. But that’s on me.”
He tries to speak, but I cut him off with a cold, steady voice. “So, yeah. We had our fun.”
I sling the bag over my shoulder and head toward the door, but his hand snaps around my arm before I make it out. I freeze. Slowly, I look down at his hand, then up at him. My stare is flat. Done.
“Let go.”
He hesitates. Regret flickers again—but it doesn’t matter.
“Look, Talon. I get it. This is club life, right?” I say, voice low. “I’m not what you want. Maybe I never was. I’m not gonna cry or throw a fit. I’m good.”
I say it like a last goodbye. Like I’m burying something that should’ve died a long time ago. A strange calm settles in me, like a weight sliding off my chest. I don’t know if it’ll last. I don’tknow if I’ll break down later. But right now? Right now, I’ve got to get the hell out of here.
He pulls me out of the bathroom, still holding on, refusing to let go. My bags weigh down my arms, but I don’t drop them. At the foot of the bed, he stops and faces me.
I meet his eyes. Cold. Blank. I want him to see that I’m not broken—not angry or crying. Ihopethat’s what I’m showing him. Because the truth is, I’m holding myself together by the thinnest thread.
He drops his hand. Maybe he was expecting something else. A slap, a scream, a breakdown. But I won’t ignore this. Won’t pretend. I made that mistake once—and look where it got me––standing in front of the man I loved while he fucked another woman.
He did it right in my face.
I can’t forgive that. Can’t let him back in just for him to rip me open again with another excuse, another betrayal. Because that’s exactly what I’ll get—more lies, more bullshit wrapped in weak apologies. I know how this brotherhood works. I’ve seen firsthand what club life does, and I’m not built to keep swallowing that. I know my worth.
If only he did.
