Page 68 of Coldhearted King

We spend the next few minutes in silence. Jessica’s apartment building isn’t far away, and it’s not long before we’re pulling up outside the expansive glass foyer. Jonathan opens the door for her but just before she climbs out, she turns to me. “It’s not too late, you know. You can still come up to my place.”

I merely arch a brow, and she huffs out a breath and slides out. Jonathan closes the door behind her, then gets back into the driver’s seat. “Am I taking you home, sir?”

I think about my plan to swing past Delilah’s place and pick her up, but now I’m not so sure. I’ve been seeing her a lot lately—maybe too much. It might be better to have a break. I briefly consider telling her about Jessica kissing me, but it was meaningless on my part, so I don’t see the point. It’s unlikely she’ll ever see the photos that will probably be printed in the tabloids. I doubt she reads the gossip columns.

“Yes, thank you, Jonathan.”

The car glides into traffic, and I lean back in my seat and stare out the window. I’m supposed to see Delilah tomorrow night, but I might need to take a step back. Give us both some breathing space. Seeing each other so often isn’t a good idea. I don’t want to give her the wrong impression about what’s going on between us.

Even though I’m not overly happy with my decision, I force my mind to other things. There’s always plenty of work that needs to be dealt with.

I pull out my phone and start reading emails.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN

DELILAH

Iput the finishing touches on the interior plan I’m working on and try to keep my mind off the fact Cole canceled on me this weekend. After all, as I told Alex, this is only meant to be casual. I need to take things as they come instead of investing too much time and effort on trying to figure out what’s going on in his head.

Still, disappointment followed me around for the rest of the weekend after he called on Saturday morning and said something had come up. I’d been looking forward to seeing him.

I draw one final line on the plan and click print. I’m unpleasantly aware of Paul lingering on the far side of the room. I can sense his eyes on me, and I’m not sure why. He’s mostly kept his distance since our meeting in his office, apart from when he’s had something work-related to discuss with me.

My stomach rumbles and I check the time. It’s well past lunch and I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast. I head to the kitchen to get the salad I made this morning, but just as I close the fridge door, Paul corners me. When I try to side-step him, he puts his hand on my arm and holds me back. I look down at his hand before returning my attention to his face. He smiles, but there’s an edge to it I don’t like.

“I need to talk to you about something,” he says.

“Can we do it at my desk?”

“I don’t want anyone else around when I show you this,” he says, holding up his phone.

I can’t help but look, and when I do, my heart does a painful stutter. It’s a photo of Cole kissing a blonde woman. He’s dressed in a tuxedo and his hands are circling the woman’s slender waist, while she has her arms wound around his neck. I keep my expression neutral, not wanting Paul to get a reaction from me, particularly since I’ve never confirmed that Cole and I are spending time together. And after all, there are lots of photos out there of Cole with various women. “I don’t know why you’re showing this to me.”

“Don’t you?” he says, a nasty smile flitting at the corners of his lips. “That’s funny. I got the impression there was something going on between you two, so of course when I saw this photo from Friday night, I thought I should let you know. My mistake, I guess.”

My stomach drops. From Friday night? It couldn’t be. Cole didn’t say anything about taking a date to the event, and we had an agreement. We’re meant to be exclusive while we’re...doing whatever it is we’re doing. Is this why he canceled on me? Was he with her instead?

Paul swipes his screen casually. “She’s quite the looker.” He flashes his phone in front of my face again, and this time the photo is of the woman about to climb into Cole’s car. He has his hand on her back, but that isn’t the only reason pain slices through me. It’s the woman’s face. Because it’s one I recognize. Jessica. A woman Cole had assured me he didn’t have a relationship with before I slept with him for the second time.

I’m so stupid. Of course he said that. If someone asked him about me, he’d probably say the same thing. Because we’renotin a relationship. We’re screwing. Fucking. Scratching an itch. I’m sure that’s how he sees it, anyway.

I force my lips into an unconcerned smile. “Even if there was something going on between Cole and me, you’d be the last person I’d want help from. So if that’s all...” I push past him and head back to my desk, but nausea swirls in my stomach and I no longer feel like eating the salad I’m holding.

My food sits uneaten next to me as I grab my phone and navigate to the website Paul showed me. Like some kind of masochist, I flick through the photos. There aren’t that many, just four, but what they show is damning. The two of them arriving together, Cole’s hand possessively on her back. And then their departure and the kiss before he helps her into his limo. If I know Cole, he probably fucked her in the back of it or took her back to his penthouse to screw the hell out of her there.

I put my phone face down on my desk, heat prickling the backs of my eyes. I’m not sure if it’s worse that he didn’t try to hide it. At least Paul hid his cheating from me because he didn’t want to lose me. Apparently, Cole doesn’t care if I find out.

Unable to sit there one more second, I shove my container of salad into my bag and log off my computer. Paul loiters nearby, probably waiting to see what chaos he’s caused. Unfortunately, there’s no leaving without talking to him, so I make my way over. “I’m not feeling well. I’m going to work from home for the rest of the day.”

The fake sympathy on his face turns my stomach, but I hold myself together.

“No problem. I hope you’re feeling better tomorrow.” He’s all toothy smile, and I picture slapping it off him even as I hold his gaze with my chin high.

I turn and walk away as calmly as I can but as soon as I get into the elevator, my shoulders slump. I can’t believe I was so stupid. Men like Cole—like my father—are all the same. Once they get what they want, they discard you without a second thought.

The elevator dings and I step out, taking only a few steps before I see who’s standing there with a group of men. Outside of meetings or when he’s sought me out, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen Cole around the building. I close my eyes. Of course it would be him.

He catches my eye and frowns, but I turn away and continue walking to the entrance.

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