Page 75 of Crossing the Line
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Laurenand I have decided to take our conversation outside. It’s noisy on the street as rush-hour traffic whizzes by in vehicles and on foot. But she and I can hear each other just fine, and that’s all that matters.
Of course, she’s a knockout. Her stretchy pink dress hugs all her curves, which are in the right places. The neckline dips low, showing off cleavage made by implants. I try not to imagine Hercules doing to her breasts what he’s done to mine. But it’s too late. I’m imagining it, and that upsets my stomach. And there’s no love or like for me in the way her eyes regard me.
“Okay, why are you stalking me?” I ask curtly.
“If you weren’t fucking my fiancé, I would have no need to be looking at you right now.” She looks smug.
I could assure her that I have not had sex with Hercules after learning of his engagement to her, but I’m not going to. My mouth is tight. “What do you want?”
“Leave my fiancé alone.”
“I’m not with Hercules. I’m out with a friend, enjoying a drink. But you’re getting in the way of that.”
Lauren looks like she wants to stomp me into the concrete. “On Friday, our marriage will be finalized. I’m moving into his penthouse. I’ll be giving birth to Hercules’s babies, and that will be the end of you.”
She sounds so certain, and that infuriates me even more. “He’s not marrying you,” I snap. “He assured me of that on many occasions.”
“Oh, he’s going to marry me. And because of the way you’ve been running around with him like the harlot that you are, we’re doing it sooner than planned. So I thank you, and you can thank yourself for making sure he does what he’s supposed to do, and that is marry me. And let me just show you so you can get the hell out of our lives.” Her hands seem eager as she takes her cellphone out of her purse.
I’ve been stuck in a weird state of mind for several seconds. My head is light. All the ambient noise blaring around us is taking on a distant quality. It’s as if I’m existing out of my body, as Lauren says she can prove it. My jaw is tight, and my lips are crushed as she shuffles through her cellphone. When she finds what she’s looking for, she holds the screen up so I can see.
She has enlarged a portion of a contract that shows signatures and a claim of marriage between Lauren and Hercules this upcoming Friday at noon. It’s just as Hercules told me—his marriage to Lauren will not be performed in a ceremony. It will be made on paper.
“So leave him the hell alone, you bitch,” Lauren hisses through clenched lips.
Her pretty face shows pure hatred. But I’m not intimidated by her. On the contrary, I’m jealous of her. I long to have what she has.
She’s waiting. She wants to hear me say that I will leave them in peace. I look up, hoping to deny space for the tears that are rushing to my eyes. Whatever was going on with Hercules and me has already ended anyway. Now I know why he didn’t call me last night—Achilles has punished him for sneaking off with me. And I bet Max knows what Lauren has just revealed to me. Now the final comment Max made to me this afternoon makes sense. It seems Hercules’s brother and my brother can come together for a common cause—to make sure Hercules and I keep our distance from each other.
Even though I want to throttle Lauren for calling me a bitch, I say, “Okay.”
One of her eyebrows shoots up like she’s surprised I so easily acquiesced. My heart drops to my feet as I watch her stroll away.She’ll be having his children…The thought makes my legs weak. I turn this way and that, looking for a seat or something to lean on.
I make it to Blue Cherry’s brick wall and press my back against it. Tears stream down my face as a grave sense of loss takes hold of me and refuses to let go.
“Paisley?” Ru asks in a concerned voice.
Just hearing her makes me cry harder. My friend and former assistant throws her arms around me, and I bawl into her shoulder.
