Page 49 of Dearly Betrayed

Chapter22

Fallon

Ispend a lazy day in the spa, thanks to my new last name. The employees fawn over me, offer whatever service I want, all paid for by the Costa family’s endless credit line. I accept their attention because really, I feel like hell and could use a little something to feel human again, and I’m pretty sure it works. By the time night comes around and I’m back in the condo, I’m back to myself. Mostly, at least.

I’m eating dinner in front of the TV when Jayson comes home. He opens a bottle of wine and pours himself a glass, looking at me from the island. I’m not sure what to say, but he comes over and joins me, sitting on the opposite end of the couch.

“Room service?” he asks.

“I’ll buy real groceries one of these days.”

“No need. Have the front desk do it for you.”

“That’s an option?”

“Anything’s an option for you now.” He says it lazily as if that’s obviously true.

“The extent of my newfound power hasn’t become clear to me just yet. I’m not sure what I can and can’t do as a Costa.”

“There aren’t limits, and if you do manage to find something you shouldn’t, Adler will send a goon to break your kneecaps.” He says that last part with a smile. “Seriously, it’s fine. The casino is fair game. Do what you want.”

“Thanks. I was in the spa all day.”

“Good for you.” He sighs and sips his drink. “I don’t want you to get drunk tonight.”

My eyebrows raise. “Oh, no, are you the controlling type? You’re going to monitor my alcohol intake?”

“That’s not what I mean. You used it as a defense mechanism. You got wasted to make sure I wouldn’t take advantage of you. I don’t want you to do that again. I want you to remember sleeping in bed with me.”

I hesitate, not sure why he’s doing this, or why it’s so important to him. But I think of what he told me this morning. I haven’t been able tostopthinking about it.

“I’m not a victim.” I blurt it out, unable to help myself. My ears are bright red.

He cocks his head. “That’s been bothering you for a while, hasn’t it?”

“You called me a victim. I’m not a fucking victim. My father’s the victim. My dead cousins are the victims.”

“Are you sure about that?” He swirls his drink, looking lazy, almost like he doesn’t care. “You grew up in that clan of yours. You admitted that you’ve never been touched by a man before. I can imagine your life has been sheltered.”

“That doesn’t make me a victim.”

“You’re part of the clan’s fallout. They started a war they couldn’t win, suffered the losses, and only those still alive have to deal with the pain it caused. You can define yourself however you want, but you were hurt in all this, and you didn’t deserve that.”

I glare at him, pissed off that he’s making all these sweeping generalizations about me, but also aware that he’s right in a lot of ways. I didn’t want my father to go to war—there were a lot of people in the clan that tried to talk him out of it—but he insisted that he had to fight back. I always assumed that meant the Costa family started things, but now I can see it was him from the beginning, that my father was the one to open hostilities. I wish I had known it at the time, maybe I could’ve done something. But not anymore.

“You sure as hell have a lot to say about me.” I shut down, folding in on myself. “For a man that claims to hate me.”

“I don’t hate you, little fox.” His voice is soft as he stands up. “I hated myself. I was angry with my family. But I don’t hate you.”

He walks away. I watch him go, seething with rage. How dare he say that? He doesn’t hate me? The bastard should despise me the same way I despise him. What’s with this softening bullshit?

I want the rage. The disgust, the bad attitude. That’s easier to deal with than… whatever this is.

I don’t see him much for the rest of the night. He’s up on the second floor in his office while I’m in front of the TV. But soon I’m tired and I can’t put it off any longer, and it’s like he can sense when I was ready to come up. He’s already in bed, a light on, reading something on his phone.

No reason to put this off. I grab my sleep things, a simple t-shirt and shorts, and head into the bathroom. I do my nightly skincare routine, brush my teeth, take my time with it all, and he’s still up when I come out.

I crawl into bed beside him.

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