Page 68 of A Dark Duet

“He is having a meeting with his massage therapist.”

Massage therapist? When did Jaden hire a massage therapist?

Looking at Charlie with a confused expression, I pinch my brows and head toward his office. What is so important that he needs a meeting with his massage therapist that involves having the door closed.

Leaving Giselle with her eyebrows raised next to Charlie, I march toward the door to Jaden’s office. I open the door without knocking. Because, why the fuck not? I am his girlfriend, and I don’t deserve to be shut out. I obviously haven’t been included in his plans. I’m the last to know that he is going pro and now I’m the last one to know he has a massage therapist.

When I walk into the office, barging in, I stop in my tracks. “What the fuck?” My eyes widen and my heart sinks. There is a petite blonde with her hands all over Jaden’s broad shoulders while his shirt is off. She glances in my direction, leaving both hands on his shoulders, caressing his skin. My eyes stare at them both, hiding the emotion that is burning inside me. My stomach clenches when the petite blonde gives me a smirk while I cross my hands over my chest.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I ask, seething in rage. Massage therapist, my ass.

He quirks a brow. “Have you heard of knocking? I’m having a session and meeting with my therapist, Janine.”

“I didn’t know that your girlfriend had to knock,” I say sarcastically. “I also wasn’t aware that you even hired a massage therapist, and I also didn’t know that you were going to begin fighting.”

The blonde continues to rub her hands all over his muscles and I’m about to go Chun Li on her ass.

“Does this hurt?” she says softly. My eyes zero in on his hand as he places it over hers gently.

“Give me a second, sweetheart,” he tells her. My stomach plummets at how soft his voice is with her compared to how he responded to me when I opened the door.

“If you are sore or in pain, a physical therapist is what you need. Not a massage.”

He lifts his head and a side of Jaden I only see when he talks with his fighters makes an appearance. “Brie, that is why I don’t like women in my gym unless they are training.” I flinch like I have been struck. “It’s a distraction and right now, one I can’t afford. I appreciate your concern, but Janine is handling my needs just fine. Just because you’re going to school to be a physical therapist doesn’t mean you know what is best for me. You have barely just finished your undergrad degree and have not begun the main program.”

He doesn’t even realize that I am way past that. I am in the first year of the doctorate part of the program.

I tilt my head and lean my back against the doorjamb. “What kind of needs?” I ask.

He scoffs. “Needs you can’t help me with. Does that answer your question?” he sighs. “Look, I’m sorry. I can’t have you interfering with my training or any session that involves fighting. It’s not going to work.”

The tears behind my eyes burn the back of my eyelids like acid. Is he for real? Is he fucking her? Is he trying to break it off with me because he feels like I’m a distraction? Glancing at Janine, she gives me a predatory smile that he can’t see because she is standing behind him.

“Are you two fucking?” I blurt. Janine gasps but looks like she is guilty.

His head snaps in my direction. He sighs. “No. We are not fucking.”

“We used to date. That was before I got my license,” she chimes in.

I purse my lips and all the air feels like it has escaped my lungs. It is like I can’t breathe. They used to be together, and he called her. Hired an ex-girlfriend or whatever she was to him.

“Is that right? I wasn’t even talking to you,” I say, giving her a hard glare. My gaze falls back on Jaden’s annoyed expression. “So, I’m supposed to sit here and accept this? I have no say?” I point my finger back and forth between them. “Do you think this is funny, Jaden?”

In a flash, he rises out of his chair and gets in my face. My heart constricts because I’m madly in love with him and he is treating me like I’m being unreasonable. Deep down, I know he is shutting me out because it’s what I do when I want someone to leave. It suddenly dawns on me, he wants me to leave. Not the gym. He wants me out of his life. He doesn’t love me. My hands begin to shake because I sense it in the pit of my stomach. He wants me to get mad and act rash, so he won’t feel guilty when he ends it.

Some of the fighters approach from training near the cage but keep their distance. They see him cornering me and I’m about to cower, but my pride won’t allow it. Memories from my past flash in my mind when I would be cornered in my room from being dragged from my small bed, but I keep them at bay. This is Jaden. I’m not supposed to be scared of him. He promised to always protect me.

“No, this is not funny. This is me telling you that you can’t come inside the gym. This is me telling you that I don’t need you accusing me and embarrassing yourself.”

“You want me to leave,” I whisper. The tears that have pooled on my lower eyelids threaten to spill as my vision blurs.

His nostrils flare and two stubborn tears burn down my cheeks. When my vision clears, his gray eyes are hard as steel.

My eyes see the tic of his jaw. His teeth are clenched when he says, “Yeah, I want you to get the fuck out.”

Looking around, everyone is looking at me like I’m an intruder. My hands tremble but I squeeze them together and swallow the lump that has formed in my throat.

“Come on, man. Don’t do her like that,” one of the fighters named Jake says.

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