Page 16 of Perfect Satisfaction

I have to get out of here before he makes me forget. There are still a few members of my family I can protect from being betrayed by the man I had the misfortune of falling in love with. Will I recover from this?Never. I croak, “You’re right.”

He relaxes his grip. I turn to face him. I want him to absorb a modicum of the pain he’s inflicted not only on Angie, but on me.

I place my hands on his shoulders.

With a small sigh, he pulls me closer, lowering his head. Anger rips through me. I may be seven years younger than this man, but I’m no one’s fool. West Moore guaranteed his children were raised in the school of hard knocks—so hard, I bear permanent scars.

“What? Do you think you can kiss this all better?” Slightly hysterical, I pull back and force my face to blank.

His turns quizzical, as he tries to tug me closer, to wrap me in his lying scent.

As if I’ll forget it. Or him.

I reach up and capture his jaw with one hand. “You knew. You knew the one thing I couldn’t tolerate was being lied to. It was my absolute.”

Then, casually, I knee his scheming balls.

“You sold out my family. There’s nothing you can say that will excuse that.”

While he’s doubled over in pain, I fling open the door to his apartment and dash into the hallway. Immediately, I pull out my phone and call for my car service. I’m going to have to phone Angie—the sister of my heart—and confess my sins later. I just can’t right now.

Right now, I have figure out a way to get back across the pond where I may hate but I understand. Here I love but I can’t make heads or tails of what just happened.

I fly down the steps and push out through the door to the sidewalk. Once on the street, I chance a look upward. Arek’s standing on his balcony staring down at me with an inscrutable expression on his face.

Bastard. My mind thinks as I turn away.If it takes a lifetime, you’ll pay for what you did.

It’s just going to take my heart a while to recover from its devastation.

CHAPTERSEVEN

Sometimes, you can give your everything and still wind up back at the start with nothing but regrets.

That’s when you have two choices—give up or trust the team around you to get back on track.

—Moore You Want

“Tell Ward I’m thankful. I’ll find a way to pay him back.”

“If you try, he’ll likely invest the money for you. This is a gift. Accept it.”

Angie and I are standing beside a private plane Ward arranged to transport me back to London. As much as I would prefer to go back to my flat in Dublin, curl into a ball, and disappear, I have people relying upon me.

She steps forward and wraps her arms around me. Somehow, I manage to lift mine—which feel weighted down—to hug her back. “There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Sula. I love you. You know that, right?”

I pull back and meet her blue eyes. Both of our eyes are wet from the secrets that have been revealed in the last twenty-four hours. “I’m so sorry.”Again. Always.

How ironic is it I fell in love with the man who exposed her biggest secrets to the world?

She pushes my hair that’s been flopping about out of my face. “We can’t control who we love, Sula.He’sthe one who caused this pain. He’s the one who knew who I was to you. It’s not as if you kept anything hidden. Did you?”

I shake my head before admitting, “My brothers.”

“You are so used to keeping each other hidden, that’s not as much a secret as it is part of the DNA the three of you share.”

That’s when my apologies come spilling out one on top of the other. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for all this. From taking you to the party to not pulling you out of your shell. Then Arek? How could I fall in love with the man who—”

“Shh.” Angie lays her finger on my lips, silencing me. “I don’t need apologies. All I need is for my best friend to smile.”