Page 29 of The Perfect Lie
Always yours,
Your princess Gwen XOXOX
Every word of the letter played over and over again in my head. When Davian began reading the letter, I knew Gwen’s words were true, and my greatest fear just came true. Davian still loved her, and tonight would be the last time we would be together. Holding out for a sliver of hope that I read his expression wrong, I asked again, “Davian, is it true? Please say something.”
Rising to his feet, he threw the letter on the bed and raked his fingers through his hair. I knew him well enough to know that whenever he dug his fingers through his hair, he felt pressured.
“God,” he yelled. “Could this day get any worse?”
What was he trying to say? Was he trying to blame me for Gwen’s letter? Pushing from the bed, I did the one thing I had to do. Until he figured his shit out, there was no way we could ever be together.
“I think this belongs to Gwen. I can’t marry a man who still loves another woman.” Holding the ring between my thumb and index finger, I held it out and waited for him to take it. Already, the tears began to well, and there was no way to stop them.
Staring down at me, he took the ring from me and held it between his fingers. “You are the only woman I love, Reyna. Gwen means nothing to me. She’s my past. You are my future.”
Davian reached out to place his hand on my cheek, but I knew if I allowed him to touch me, I would break down and give in. I couldn’t let that happen. Backing away from him like he would set me on fire, I held my head high and said, “I believe you have somewhere to be. You should never leave a lady waiting.” Turning on my heels, I walked to the bathroom and locked the door.
Immediately Davian was there pounding on the door. “Reyna, open the door. I don’t want to leave like this. What happened between Gwen and me was a mistake. I don’t know why she wrote the letter. I told her exactly where we stood.”
It was his confession. How could I be the woman who got between him and the woman for whom he had true feelings? As long as we were together, he would never know for sure how he truly felt for Gwen. “Davian, please leave.”
After going back and forth between wanting me to open the door or just leaving, Davian finally caved. “I’ll leave, but you aren’t staying here alone. Patton will be here soon to take you back to the warehouse. This isn’t over, Reyna.”
Hearing the suite door close, I slid down the door and allowed the floodgates to open. Everything between Davian and me became a complete blur. I wasn’t even sure if what we had was real. Maybe I was just an outlet for him. Maybe being with me was a coping mechanism to help him to deal with the loss of Gwen.
When a knock came at the door, my breath hitched. I was afraid that Davian had returned for another go around. But then I remembered him telling me that Patton would be by to take me back to the warehouse.
“Reyna, are you okay?” Patton’s voice echoed through the door.
No, I wasn’t okay. I was a mess, and my heart felt like it had been ripped from my chest and put back in a million pieces. Pushing to my feet, I unlocked the door and slowly pulled it open. Patton’s expression was how I felt. Losing the battle with my emotions, tears once again began to spill. Patton’s strong arms enveloped me, and it was unexpected but welcoming. “Reyna, I know you feel like it’s the end of the world, but I know Davian. He loves you, and he won’t stop fighting for you.”
I wished I could believe him. Patton hadn’t read the letter. He had no idea what happened between Davian and Gwen two nights ago. It was the same night he disregarded my feelings and brushed them off. I didn’t know Gwen at all, but I hated her. Mostly, I hated the fact that Davian left to see her. I wondered Patton knew where he was going. “Did Davian tell you that he was going to meet Gwen?”
“What do you mean he went to meet Gwen?” Patton pushed me from our embrace and placed his hands on my arms.
“Yeah. She wanted him to meet her at Tybee Pier at the Pavilion?” I was surprised that Davian hadn’t told him, especially since he never kept anything from Patton.
Pulling his phone from his pocket, he held it to his ear. “Axe, we have a situation. Davian is on his way to Tybee Pier. I think he’s being set up.”
Never once had it occurred to me that Davian might be set up. Consumed with the contents of the letter, I could only think about what it meant for us. Listening to the one-sided conversation between Patton and Axe, worry entered my mind and instead of crying over losing Davian to Gwen, I was crying over losing him forever. I didn’t have a good feeling about Patton not knowing about Davian meeting Gwen. My mind started creating the worst-case scenarios. We had to get to him. Tugging Patton’s sleeve, his eyes met mine, and he stopped talking. “Patton, we need to go?”
“I’m taking you to the warehouse. Davian would kill me if anything happened to you.”
When Patton ended the call with Axe, he had a plan in place. Axe and Marcus would head to the pier, and Patton would meet up with them after dropping me off at the warehouse. Calvin would remain at the warehouse to ensure Helga, Kenzi, Mika, and I would be safe. As much as I hated not going with Patton, he was right. I had to let the guys do what they did best. I didn’t want to be another burden they had to worry about.
As we headed out of the suite, something caused me to look in the direction of Gwen’s suite. Call it bitter reality or defeat, but for whatever reason, I did. Yellow crime type stretched across each corner of the door, from top to bottom, blocking the entrance. I had watched enough crime shows to know that the only reason yellow tape would be across the door was that something happened.
Stopping my steps, I looked to Patton and then to the taped door. “Patton, why is there crime tape over Gwen’s door?”
“You’ve had enough to deal with today,” he replied, avoiding my question. I can’t ever remember a time when Patton didn’t tell it how it was, but this time he was holding something back.
“Patton, does it have anything to do with Gwen?” I pushed, hoping to get some kind of answer. I wasn’t going to let this go. Something happened in Gwen’s room. I was sure of it.
Patton studied the door, and I could have sworn his eyes just lost all expression. Rubbing his thumb over one eye and his index finger over the other, he tried to hide the fact that he was about to cry. Concerned, I placed my hand on his arm. “Patton, please tell me what happened.”
Clenching his jaw, he sucked a breath of air. “Sean… he’s… Some motherfucker shot him.”
~20~
