Page 134 of My Debacle with De Lorenzo

“Yep.”

I reach out and tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, my fingertip gliding over the tattoo that follows the path my hand always used to take. It’s a trail of small hearts starting from behind her earlobe to the edge of her jawbone and above the last heart is a tiny K. Together they make the symbol of the King of Hearts.

“And this here? You got this after we broke up.” I lightly trace my thumb over that symbol. “You said this spot would always be mine. Is that gone now?”

She jerks her head away from my touch. “Yeah, that sentimental nonsense disappeared a while ago, and I haven’t thought about you since. I’ve been done with you for a long time.”

I feign shock. “Oh, I’m sorry. I must’ve missed the memo. When you say a long time, do you mean nine years or six weeks? Because I remember one particular Christmas eve when I came up to your hotel room...I got you naked in less than a minute, and I was inside you in less than two. You didn’t seem to be done with me that night, or am I misreading the signs again?”

“Asshole!” Her hand flies at my face, but I catch her wrist before she makes contact.

“You dropping to level five?” I smirk. “C’mon, you’re better than that. Level five is beneath you, Queen.”

Her other hand comes at me fast and furious, and I catch that too. She should realize by now that I’m an expert in this kind of combat. I take one step to close the gap between us and another to sandwich her between me and the wall. Clasping her wrists, I pin them above her head; the movement causing her supple breasts to rub against my chest.

Those angry amber eyes are hot enough to bore holes into me. Her breath hitches and her lips part to take in a little more air. Makeup on point, eyebrows expertly shaped, her glossy mouth plump and tempting. She’s perfection, still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

“You remember that night, Bella?” I rasp, pressing my body against hers, and I feel her quiver slightly. “You remember the guy in your room? The one who made you cum with his tongue. The one you were begging to fuck you harder.” I’m not immune to these memories either because my hips instinctively roll against hers. Just the thought of her naked body beneath me and I want to rip off every stitch of her clothing. “Yeah, you remember that guy. You were moaning for him ‘til the next morning. That guy is still me.” My hands move up from her wrist, sliding over her palm before I interlink my fingers with hers. “If you want to say something to me, say it. You never held back before. Don’t start now. You know something about me you didn’t know before, but that doesn’t change who I am. I’m still the same guy.”

“Fine. Let me not hold back. Here’s the truth. Youarestill that guy. That guy is a selfish prick who never gave a damn about me. That guy disappeared for three weeks with Francesca and left me to drive myself insane. That guy who came to my room was just looking to get off, use me again, then leave to go back to the woman he really loves. So, that guy better back the fuck off me before he gets kneed in the groin.”

I hold back a smile. That’s better. She’s wrong on every one of those points, but at least she’s taken the gloves off. I’m caught between kissing her or setting the record straight when Dr. Burkman opens the door.

She gives a faux gasp of surprise. “My goodness. Would you look at that? I just walked straight out of here, knowing there was a potential gas leak. That spark between the two of you could’ve caused a nasty fire. Put the flammables away and get back to your seats, kids. Let’s carry on.”

This woman is so strange. I release Isabella, then discreetly adjust my jeans (before she makes a comment about that, too) and walk back to my chair. Bella straightens her blouse, then does the same.

Dr. Burkman sits down and rolls her chair toward her desk. “Okay, now where were we?” She lifts her pen and looks down at her notes. “So, Dylan said he would be fine by Monday. What happened when you saw him again?”

“Nothing.” Bella shrugs. “He didn’t come to see me the next Monday. I only saw him again on Wednesday and then again on Thursday. He promised he would pick me up on Friday and he said...I should plan a little adventure for us. I waited for him all day on Friday, and he never came.” Despondence is weighing down her voice, and she pauses. “Not a phone call or a message to tell me there was a change of plan. Now, I may have a short temper, but I consider myself to be a reasonable person. By that point, I had taken quite a lot with very minimal questions, but the line had to be drawn somewhere. And my hard line was when I called him...and Francesca answered the phone.”

“There was a valid reason for that,” I add in quickly. “I wasn’t?”

Dr. Burkman does her job as mediator and raises her hand to silence me. “Dylan, I’ll give you a chance to speak afterward.”

“He was the one who told her to switch his phone off. As you know by now, nothing frustrates me more than waiting. Add that to the robotic sound ofthe subscriber you have dialed is not availableand you can see that I became an emotional mess quite quickly. It was bad enough that he was with Francesca, and I couldn’t get ahold of him, but what made it worse is that this continued for almostthreefucking weeks.”

“I would just like to clarify that I was not with Francesca during that time.”

“He’s lying,” she sneers, throwing me a look that shows how betrayed and disgusted she feels. “Let me tell you what happened. No judgment, Doctor. I was on the edge, and I did some things I’m not proud of.”

---