Page 78 of Dearly Betrayed

“Well, I’m going to be brutally honest with you, okay? That’s going to be a problem.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. “He hates me.”

“Probably. You have to understand, to them loyalty is everything. The fact that your first inclination was to betray him says a lot, at least to them.”

“What can I do to change his mind?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t. But there was a time when I didn’t want to ever see Adler again, and he won me over with persistence.”

“Not sure how I can be persistent in here. I’m their prisoner, remember?”

“I’ll work on Jayson, okay? I’ll try to get him to talk to you at least.”

“That would mean so much.”

“But you have to understand, this is an uphill battle. You betrayed them, which basically means you’re dead to them. I won’t let Adler hurt you, but I don’t have any idea what they’ll end up doing with you.”

I nod, feeling completely miserable. “Why are you being so nice to me, anyway?”

“I told you before, we’ve all been there. It’s not easy, falling in love with a Costa brother, and you said it yourself. You’re falling.”

I suck in a deep breath and slowly blow it out. “I already fell hard and I feel like such a fool.”

“You made a mistake when you were hurting and angry. You did something stupid, but that doesn’t mean Jayson hates you now. From what I can tell, this whole thing is killing him.”

“Thank you, Casey. Really, I mean it. Thank you so much.”

She leans over and gives me a hug. “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll see if I can get Jayson to listen to your story. Tell him everything you told me, and don’t leave anything out. Tell him you love him if you really do, but be completely honest. Don’t break his heart. Jayson’s a good man.”

“I won’t. I just want things to go back to the way they were.”

She gets up with a sigh and limps to the door. I watch her leave, and thugs outside in the hallway envelop her like they’re Secret Service agents prepared to take a bullet. The door shuts again, and I’m alone.

This is killing me. But I can take some small solace knowing that Casey’s out there on my side, and maybe, if I’m very lucky, Jayson will come back. Maybe he’ll listen, and I’ll get the chance I don’t deserve to tell him how I really feel.

And if he doesn’t, I’ll leave here knowing I had a chance at finding my person, and I squandered him on some impulsive, angry decision, and I’ll regret it forever.

Chapter35

Jayson

Ifeel hollow. It’s like someone reached into my guts with a spoon and scooped everything out. I’m a husk, a mockery of a man. I slam back another whiskey, the alcohol burning in my throat. Nobody comes near me—I nearly ripped the head off one of my soldiers an hour ago, and ever since then, the whole fucking casino got the message.

I am not to be disturbed.

I have very important business. If I’m going to get drunk, properly drunk, then I’ll need plenty of space to work.

Every time I bring a glass to my lips, I see Casey’s face. Her beautiful eyes, her enormous smile, that auburn hair blowing around her pretty face. I can feel her hand in mine, can taste her lips on my tongue. I miss her like a piece of my own flesh, and I don’t know if I’ll ever feel whole again.

This is killing me.

I want to storm up to that room, kick in the door, and drag her into my arms. I want to forgive her—but she did the one thing I can never, ever get past.

“You look pretty awful.”

I turn as Casey hefts herself onto the stool beside me.

“You too,” I grunt at her. She’s the only person in this damn place that can get away with sitting next to me right now, mostly because she’s a good person, but also because Adler would cut my head off if I was rude.

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