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“Because you blamed me for Nix’s death,” I offered, still taken aback by the sheer outrage she aimed at me non-stop. “At least that’s what I thought all this time.”
“Nix was a soldier.” She wiped an errant tear from the corner of her eyes. “His career was his choice. His death almost killed me, but it was you who put the last nail in my coffin with your cheating.”
“You got it wrong.” The situation was as tragic as it was maddening. “These pictures are not what you think.”
“Father said you’d say that, and here you are, saying it.”
I rumbled. “You seemed to have forgotten who your father was.”
She frowned. “What are you implying?”
“Would you like to hear what I have to say?” I bit out. “Or have I lost even my right to self-defense?”
“Cheaters have no defense,” she shot back. “Look at these pictures. I made sure they were authentic. You spent a whole year fucking Ms. TikTok influencer all over the globe.”
“That’s not—”
“Enough!” She shouted, silencing my protests.
Moving away from me, she wiped another tear and took a moment to compose herself.
I scrubbed my face and tried to ground myself, but nothing worked. I was too damn angry to think straight.
“You don’t understand,” she sniffled. “These pictures. They broke me. I have to work with you to find my father’s murderer and protect my sisters, but I haven’t—will never—recover.”
Her words speared through me, as painful as her lack of faith in me. They violently drove the point home, stabbing me again with her contempt.
“So, we’re here because you don’t have a better choice,” I concluded flatly. “You let me back into your life and allowed meto pleasure you, not because I’m me, but because I’m here.”
“I loved you,” she whispered before she firmed up her voice. “Back then, you were everything to me, my world, my best friend, my lover, all I had, all I wanted. And then…” She nudged her chin toward the pictures. “That.”
“I’m telling you—”
“I can never forget this,” she cried out. “I can never forgive you. I gave you everything and you betrayed me.”
“You don’t have to forgive me,” I muttered.
She crossed her arms and cocked her eyebrows. “Are you gonna argue those pictures are not real?”
“Those pictures are very real.” I suppressed my need to shout and allowed the chill spreading through me to even out my voice. “What you see happened.”
“I don’t want to hear it.” She turned away from me. “I can’t.”
“What you see happened,” I repeated sternly, “but it’snotwhat you think.”
She whirled to face me. “What the hell does that mean?”
“That’s me in those pictures,” I ground out. “But that woman was not for me.”
Her forehead furrowed. “You’re not making any sense.”
“I did take that woman to several hotel rooms across Europe and the Middle East.” I told her the truth. “But she wasn’t there to see me.”
Her jaw dropped. “What?”
“I had nothing to do with her,” I said. “She was for Nix and, knowing me and your dad,youof all people—youshould’ve known better.”
Chapter Eleven
