Page 73 of Revelation (Love Isn't What It Seems 3)

Same taste.

“It’s a blackmail note,” I whispered. It was the first time I admitted out loud that I was being blackmailed. “It started on my eighteenth birthday.” He nodded as if he understood. “When I was sixteen, I was in an accident. My mom and Brian were in the car. He was my first boyfriend.” I searched for words, my heart racing with fear and anticipation to finally let it all go. “He was really a nice guy. I don’t remember much, or how it happened. I woke up in the hospital. They told me I was lucky to have survived. My mom and Brian didn’t.” Taking a deep breath, I continued. “The facts about what happened are still fuzzy. I don’t remember taking any substance; I don’t remember driving. But when I got my first blackmailer note and rejected it, I got a warning. A copy of a toxicology report. It showed that I was under the influence.”

There was no judgement in his eyes. Just interest and concern. “I don’t understand why I would use drugs. Brian played sports and was adamant about health. And driving. Why would my mother even let me? I don’t know.”

“Do you have a copy of that toxicology report?”

“Yes, it is in my safe.”

“Have you told your grandparents?”

I shook my head. “No. Living with them was hell and they hate my guts. They kept throwing my whole life in my face; I didn’t want them to throw a blackmailer in it too. Plus, regardless of how much of an ass my grandfather is, if the toxicology report is true, he saved me when he bribed the doctor to change it.”

“Is the accident the only reason you are not close to them?”

“No. They can’t stand me, and I don’t care for them either,” I answered honestly. “Even when I was a kid visiting them was torture. They hated my mother, hated that I looked like my dad,” I took a deep breath. “Hell, sometimes I think they hate that I breathe. I don’t think there was a single thing they liked about me before the accident and they just hated me after it. Liberty is right. I would have stopped visiting them years ago, but I needed the money to pay the ransom every year.”

He nodded. “I believe you.”

I chewed on my lip. “I’ve been lying to them for years, trying to get money to pay for the blackmailer. I never told them I found Liberty, or that it was the real reason I went to the States to study.”

He smiled. “Seems you sheltered her from those assholes.”

“Because they are cold and cruel, doesn’t make them assholes.” I couldn’t believe I was actually defending my grandparents.

“You are right, it doesn’t,” he agreed. “But stealing money and committing fraud does.”

I looked at him in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“They have been stealing money from Wounded Uniform.” My eyes widened. “And that is not the worst of it.”

What the hell was he talking about?

Chapter Twenty-Four

Maxim

Iwas just about to answer her when the car stopped. I looked out the window at the same time Layla did, and I could have just shot myself for my stupidity. I never told my driver to go to Layla’s place or my house outside the city. Instead, he brought me to my penthouse.

The door opened and I exited the car, extending my hand for Layla. Her big blue eyes looked at me pensively, darting from the building, to me, connecting all the dots. But there wasn’t surprise in those beautiful eyes, unless she was exceptionally good at hiding it. To be honest, she looked hurt, resigned, then pissed.

“Let’s talk about it inside,” I suggested in a low voice, extending my hand. “I’ll tell you everything. And you can ask me your questions too.”

“I think you should tell me now. Did you know it was me when you brought me here the other night?” Her voice was deceptively calm. I didn’t trust it to stay that way.

I took a moment before answering her. That was a mistake because the tears started welling in her eyes as she backed away from the door, and further into the car.

“Layla – “

“It’s a yes or no question,” she rasped. “Just answer it.”

“Yes.” I couldn’t lie about it. I knew it was her the moment I saw her in Revelation.

“Was I just an easy lay? Expensive, but easy?”

“Layla, no! Let me explain.”

“Explain what? That you just wanted to get in my pants with no strings attached? That you sent me that invitation so that you could guarantee I wouldn’t get the wrong idea and think I had a chance with you?”

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