Page 64 of Organized Chaos
Brandon slowly lifted his head, eyes dripping with disbelief. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
What?!“I-I thought we were playing a role because you went along with those dialogues.”
Surely, he must realize this was all a cruel misunderstanding. It wasn’t planned.
“You planned all of this,” he accused. “No one in their right mind would remember some stupid story from almost five years ago. I can’t even remember who I metyesterday, but you clearly did.” He pointed at the book. “And you used it to trick me.”
My eyes widened at his harsh and slightly unfair accusation. My worst crimes against him were showing up to places he frequented. Okay... and stalking him a little. But despite my feelings, I never made contact.
Technically, Brandon pursuedme. He pushed me at every turn. I fought the injunction because I understood the ramifications of those actions. Even while together, I never let myself believe it could be more.
Brandon moved closer, watching me suspiciously as he geared up to something cruel. He raised the book, holding it next to his face. “I basically gave you access to my thoughts. And what, you wanted to play it out in real life? Manipulate me with that information?” he accused, voice thick with revulsion.
My bottom lip quivered because it was slightly true. I knew Brandon’s likes and dislikes, his humor and conversation preferences, the type of clothing he loved on a woman, even down to what he had wanted to hear while scattering his dad’s ashes.
Subconsciously, I had suppressed my personality, painting the image of a woman he’d prefer. But it was registering to me that perhaps none of what we had shared together was real because that person wasn’t me.
My only saving grace? It was unintentional. I had no ulterior motives to manipulate him.
“I swear, I wasn’ttryingto trick you,” I whispered gravely. “You were sad about your dad... and then you asked me to come with you to Italy. I thought you knew who I was. It was a misunderstanding.”
“Even so, you must have realized at some point that I didn’t recognize you.”
“Yes, but—”
“Then why didn’t you come clean?”
I wrapped my arms protectively around my middle. How could I explain it to him? I should have come clean, but I felt cornered after Brandon disclosed about Carmen.
“That’s what I thought. This is exactly why I never trust anyone,” he said bitterly. “How could you drag me into this? It’s sick.” His husky voice did nothing to erase the viciousness in his tone.
“Please, stop,” I protested, upset. “Even if you think I did this to create some crazy fantasy—which I didn’t—deep down, you know that I’d never do anything to intentionally hurt Milo. Nothing and no one comes before him.”
Brandon’s eyes widened. Some realization he hadn’t considered until this very moment seemed to dawn on him. And it appeared to be the icing on the cake.
“That’s too bad because Milo’s the one who turned you into a brat over the years,” he shouted. “Entitled. Little. Brat. Doing whatever you feel like. You never think of the consequences, do you,Maya?”
I stilled.
Brandon was grieving after his dad’s death and in search of solidifying a human connection. So, he tried to trap me in every possible way. He pushed me into sex, refused to use protection, came inside me on purpose, and misled me about the car.
He didn’t think I’d figure all of that out?
Given the magnitude of the situation and his anguish at the time, I could let all of those things go. Grief could make people act out of control.
Blindsided by these current events, he needed a moment to process and react. He even overlooked the part he played, taking zero accountability. Fine. I could accept this, too.
But calling me bythatname...
Rancid wrath that knew no bounds flew through my veins. My ears burned, nose flaring. My rage had come into the mix, spiking with his every accusation.
“My name is Mia!” I ground out.
Brandon glowered, uncaring that he had referred to me bythatname.
“And I might have dropped the ball on coming clean to you, but you were just as responsible for this mistake between us,” I added angrily.
His lips curled at my rebuttal. “Well,Mia.I’ll hand it to you. Considering how much of a mistake it was, you screamed like it was real.”
