Page 43 of How We End
“Last night?”
I didn’t know how to answer that.Did I fuck Julian last night?No.I fucked him in the shower this morning.“Why?”
“Just answer the question.”Maverick stood before me.
“Okay, yes, I did.”I poured myself a cup of coffee.
“Without Jackson here.With the elevator locked.What if something would have happened?”He glared at me.
“Well, something didn’t, so no need to worry.”I blew on my coffee, not wanting to dothisthis morning.
“Who is he?”
I tilted my head, letting my gaze drift over Maverick in his perfectly tailored suit.He looked the part as always, all put together.No worry sat heavy on his shoulders.“No one.”
“Oh really?And how does Mr.No One get away with not paying for an overnight?And before you lie, I saw the money transfer.Four thousand this morning at five a.m.Is there some friends and family discount I’m not aware of?”
So we were doingthis,Maverick forgetting that he didn’t have a say in who I fucked.I hadn’t asked Julian to pay.The sex this morning was more for me than him.I really needed to stop crossing and uncrossing lines.“Why are you in my financials?”
“Margo told me.She’s concerned, and frankly, so am I.”Maverick took his casino owner stance with me.Arms crossed, feet apart.
“Concerned?”There was more to this than Maverick’s concern.His shoulders were stiff, and he had a pinched look to him.
“What else would it be?”
I set my coffee cup on the counter, carefully choosing my next words.“You tell me.I’ve been doing this for sixteen years, and never once have you expressed yourconcern.Not when I have to fly to London or New York.You weren’t concerned two years ago when a client reversed the transaction, claiming fraud.Or the one that brought a gun.”
“Oh really?The ten thousand dollars that I put back into your account?You don’t think that was me being concerned?”Maverick ran his tongue over his teeth, looking around the suite.“I won’t always be here paying for Margo and Jackson.You won’t always have use of this room.And what if I sell the house in Henderson?”
I had no idea where the hell this was coming from.It was as if Maverick had suddenly forgotten what I did for a living.“If you want me to find another place to entertain my clients, say so.Victor has offered the Oasis.As for Margo and Jackson, you offered them to me.Sell the house.I don’t care.”
“You have an answer for everything, don’t you?”His gaze narrowed.“I don’t even get an overnight, and I pay you ten thousand a month.”
I didn’t see the ten thousand.I could only assume that was the mortgage in Henderson or the nightly rate for the penthouse.I had never asked for either.He had built the house for Dana, but she didn’t want to leave Summerlin.I either lived in it or he sold it.
“Did you want an overnight?”I asked, walking over to him and pressing against him.“Will your wife let you out to play with your whore?”I ran a finger down his silk tie, stopping at the buttons of his pants.“Do you want to start now, Mr.Sands?Do you want me to play the role like Dallas does?”I pouted.
“Stop it.”He grabbed my hand.“What has gotten into you?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”I stepped away.“I entertain clients here.I talk to them.Then I fuck them.I thought you understood that.”
“It’s not the talking and fucking that bothers me.It’s the risky behavior.If you’re going to act that way, do it somewhere else.”Maverick brushed my fingerprints off his tie.“I don’t want to be a witness to your downfall.”
I laughed.“My downfall?Careful, Maverick, your jealousy is showing.”I had been worried about Julian’s feelings when I should’ve been worried about Maverick’s.We had been together for a long time, and never once had he asked me to quit.And there had been times I would’ve for him.Back when I still confused love and lust.But Maverick taught me there was a difference.And he was like all the other men in my life.The only thing he wanted was sex.
“You think I’m jealous?Of what?You’re a whore.I can have you anytime I want.I could have you right now if I wanted.Tell you to get on your knees or bend you over that couch,” he shouted back.“Because that is what you are.A whore.I pay for the bed you sleep in and the food you eat.Without me you have nothing.”
“Shut up.”I fought the tears of frustration that burned the back of my nose.
“Tell me,Wyatt.Does he know you like I do?”Maverick stepped closer to me.“Does he know all your little secrets?Did you tell him that you loved him?”He lifted a strand of my hair to his nose.“Women like you are a dime a dozen in my world.And I could have one in that bed in an hour.”He nodded over my shoulder.“For less money.And she’s much…” He let the hair slip from his fingers.“Much younger.”
“Then I guess we are done here.”I brushed by him on my way to the bedroom, grabbing the few personal things I kept here.I bit back the tears that took me by surprise.I was too old to cry and especially over Maverick.
“I’m not done,” he called after me.
“Now you know how I feel.”I opened the door to find Jackson and Margo standing there.
“Wyatt.”Jackson moved to help me.
