Page 76 of Games We Play
Heard the words she dreaded most.
“Your… what?”
Aaron laughed at Leah’s bemused expression. “Shit! She doesn’t know, does she?”
“Know what, Sloan?”
“Go on,Sloan.” God, she hated the way Aaron said her last name like that. He was the only one on Earth who made it sound so sleazy. “Introduce me to the woman ruining everything we’ve ever built together. Tell her what a fucking homewrecker she is.”
Sloan inhaled a deep breath.Not now. Not like this.If she hadn’t told Leah yet, it was because she wasn’t ready. It wasn’t the right time. The world may continue to spin regardless of what Leah knew, but Sloan’s world would collapse if this wasn’t done the right way.
Then again… what did it matter?
“Leah?” Sloan said with a forced trill to her voice. “Allow me to formally introduce you to Aaron Giles, my business partner, and the other half of Giles & Sloan.” She swallowed. Why was her throat so dry? Did it not like the idea of the Band-Aid being ripped off?
Now. Or never.
“He’s also my husband.” She couldn’t have said that with more spit if she tried. “Also known as the biggest thorn in my ass.”
The apartment was silent. Sloan squared her shoulders. Aaron snorted, as if that hadn’t been grandiose enough for him.
Leah looked between them before walking into the bedroom. She locked the door behind her.
“Congratulations, Maggie,” Aaron said. “You’ve ruined both of our lives. I’m sure you got what you wanted.”
He showed himself out.
Part 3: Games We Win
Chapter 25
No woman on Earth was a bigger fool than Leah Vaughn, who sat in a brightly lit café somewhere in Chicago and stared at the photo of Peter O’Toole on the wall.
There were other old celebrities adorning the walls of the Chicago eatery, but none of them were placed right in front of Leah’s seat. She didn’t have the heart – or the energy – to turn her head and look at something else.
Stupid.She sipped her latte, chilled and bitter.Stupid, stupid.She had told that woman that she loved her. If only she knew everything was a rouse in the end.
Married. Sloan was married.To a man?Nooo, not any man! Her business partner! The only man powerful enough to sway her decisions and to interfere with her life.
When was she going to tell me?Ever? Or was Leah destined to be the stupid, clueless girlfriend who was dumb enough to believetheymight get married one day? Because that was going to happen sooner rather than later. Once Leah admitted she was falling in love with Margaret Sloan, it was only a matter of time before she entertained serious fantasies of wedding dresses and honeymoons in the Caribbean.
Now, here she was, sitting in a busy coffee shop in an expensively stylish outfit. No matter how quickly she drank her latte, she would never get back those days off from work.
She would never be on her way to see Sloan again.
After that man showed up in the apartment, Leah had no choice but to save as much face as possible. That meant locking herself in the bedroom and ignoring Sloan when she came to check on her a few minutes later. A message landed on Leah’s phone before the front door opened and closed.“I have some things to take care of. We can talk later. I’m sorry.”
Sorry. That was enough to hide the fact she was married? That she had been committing adultery this whole time?
Leah wasn’t that old-fashioned, but she was not in the mood to date a woman still married to someone else.I’m not a mistress. I’m not a fool.No. She was a fool, through and through. Of course, someone like Sloan had lied about her relationship attachments. Why couldn’t Leah see that coming? Was she so blinded by what she saw on the surface, that she couldn’t critically check what happened beneath that million-dollar façade?
Leah had waited fifteen minutes before grabbing her wallet and leaving the apartment. She hadn’t gone far, mostly because she didn’tknowwhere to go. Chicago was as foreign as Miami or Cleveland, two other cities Leah had never been to before.
I shouldn’t be here.Why couldn’t she head to the airport and fly home now? Because she had insisted on spending more than a couple of days with hergirlfriend.The earliest she could leave on Sloan’s dime was Friday evening, and ideally, she wouldn’t have left until Sunday. They were going to spend at least four days together.
That wasn’t happening now.
She checked her phone. Finally, after a day of waiting, she received a text from her sister.
