Page 66 of Vengeful Seduction
The question took me aback, and I actually stepped backward a few paces. Something about his certainty undermined me, and I listened, still furious but not quite as unreasonable about it—a little bit back from homicidal.
Why do I care so much?
The plan was for me to have a legitimate reason to leave Kaye after all. Why couldn’t Brent keep her?
Oh, yeah, because I fucking love her, that’s why!
“I just do.” I managed to find my voice, and Brent actually had the nerve to smirk at me.
“That’s bullshit. You’re acting like a jealous husband. Like this marriage is real to you or something. Are you really in love with her?”
He was so bold, and it froze my tongue again, making me choke back any words. To hear my conflicting feelings said aloud by another human being freaked me the fuck out. I had only ever said those words to Kaye, and I wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone else. Especially not Brent, who was supposed to be in this whole thing with me. Instead, he was busy falling for Kaye, too. Things had officially gotten too messy for me to deal with. “I …I …I …” that was all I could muster.
A smirk curved his lips—lips that wanted to kiss my wife. “If you do love her, then you need to think about what you’re doing.” Brent was actually lecturing me, and it should have infuriated me more than ever. Maybe it did, on some level, but I was also just listening to every word he said. “You could call this plan off right here and now and just be with the woman you love.”
He had purposely provoked my jealousy. The sneaky bastard. And one hell of a best friend.
I backed off as the urge to hit him retreated. I fell into my chair and my eyes were fixed on him, but I was hardly seeing him.
Why wasn’t I calling the whole plan off? From what Brent was saying, he would back right off if I made the decision not to go through with it, and I could have Kaye all to myself.
I was in love, but what it came down to was simple. Love wasn’t forever. I had my own mother’s example to prove it. She had been in love with my father once, at least presumably, and I knew he’d been in love with her.
Love doesn’t last.
What did last, at least if managed right, was money—money and the legacy I would build in my grandfather’s name. My father’s too. Women wouldn’t stay around, but the money would.
“Fine.” My voice was dull and flat, and I refused to look at the other man. “Fine. I don’t give a shit. Take her. Do what you want with her. It’s none of my business, as long as you hold up your end of the deal and seduce her in the first place.”
If Kaye ever did cheat on me, as the plan was meant to make her do, I couldn’t be around her anyway. She had held out this long, but what were the chances she would continue to do so? She was sweet and loving and loyal, but she was also human.
“Are you sure?” Brent asked, and I could hear eagerness in his voice. He was a good friend, though, I supposed. He cared enough to let me know what his plans were, so that was something. “I’ll back right off. You just need to give me the word and she’s all yours.”
Tempting. Far more tempting than I ever would have thought when I put this whole thing into motion in the first place. In the end, though, old habits won. Brent would seduce her—I couldn’t imagine a scenario where she didn’t eventually give in to him—and then I would want nothing to do with her anyway.
“I’m sure,” I said, then sighed softly. “Get out of here, man. I have work to do.”
Mercifully, he left, leaving me with my own shattered, depressed thoughts.
I’d made the right choice. I knew it. But if that was the case, why did it feel so very wrong? Why did it nag at the edges of my mind, no matter how I tried to ignore it?
Should I have told him the truth—that I loved Kaye and probably always had?
Chapter 20
Kaye
I’d gone all out, decorating the lounge with some funky purple and green Mardi Gras decorations I’d found at a thrift shop in town. I didn’t want it to feel pretentious. My friends weren’t wealthy, and I didn’t want anyone to feel any different than anyone else. It was working—everyone was getting along well.
The party was hopping—the music was fun and upbeat. People were dancing, talking, drinking, and mingling all around me, but there was something very important missing from it for me.
Something. Or, to be more accurate, someone.
David wasn’t there.
He’d said he would be here eventually, and I settled in to wait. At least the party was fun, and I got to watch Brent meeting my friends, talking to them, laughing, flirting, and just generally seeming to have a good time.
Eventually, he and Angela paired off, and I smirked to myself. I’d sort of called it. My guess had been that, if he was going to be interested in any of my friends, it would be her. They had the same sort of sense of humor.
