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“Let me see.” I held out my hand. “Please. Whatever it is, I want to see.” Because it was pretty clear it had to do with me.
“Don’t jump to conclusions.” She winced before turning the phone around so I could see what was on her screen.
It turned my stomach. “You are kidding me,” I whispered, eyes glued to the sight of a blonde I strongly suspected was Leila… kissing Magnus.
Olivia’s phone buzzed, and she shot us both a worried look before checking the message. “Ari is texting me about it now,” she murmured. “Saying he can’t believe she had the balls to try that on Magnus after what she’s done.”
“Did he say anything about Magnus?” I whispered.Do not cry. Do not…
“He got in a cab without telling them where he was going or so much as saying goodbye. It really shook him up.”
“Yeah. I’ll bet it did,” I bit out, unable to disguise the sudden tension.
Olivia touched my arm. “It doesn’t have to mean anything. She’s out of her mind if she thinks—”
“It’s fine.” I held up my hands, wearing a smile that probably looked more like a tearful grimace. “I’m fine. I told you, this is nothing permanent. We both knew it was going to be over by the time Barrett and Lourde came back from their honeymoon. That’s happening in two days. I don’t blame him for teeing up his next conquest.”
“I don’t think that’s what’s happening here,” Olivia offered in a whisper.
“It doesn’t matter either way. Thank you, girls, for an amazing night. I really needed it. You’re really good friends, both of you.” There I was, pretending to be brave the way I always had. The way I had fooled myself into believing I would never have to feel again because I was never going to be in this position again.
He had told me so, hadn’t he? He was so determined to convince me that I meant something. She was nothing and I was everything. I had let him trick me because I was so desperate for it.
I shooed them to the elevator, rambling about how tired I was, reassuring them of how much fun we’d had and that I would call them both in the morning. They looked worried, dragging their feet like they didn’t want to leave me alone.
I wouldn’t be alone because deep down, I knew where Magnus was headed when he got in that cab. He had stuck his tongue down his ex-wife’s throat and thought he could come to me to soothe him and tell him he was worth so much more than a woman who would cheat on him and break his heart. The only problem? I wasn’t so sure he was worth more than that.
And I was going to tell him so. I didn’t care how much time it took.
He showed up right on schedule, not five minutes after the girls left. “Eve.” The way he was almost panting, I would’ve thought he ran all the way up from the lobby.
“Did you have fun?” I asked from my seat on the sofa, where I’d settled in, to wait for his arrival.
“No. I didn’t. The whole time, all I could do was think of you.”
Why did life have to be so unfair? That was exactly the kind of thing my stupid heart wanted to hear. My stupid, naïve heart seemed so determined to be broken. I took one look at the impossibly gorgeous man crossing the room with a determined expression on his perfect face, and I wanted to melt like butter.
I couldn’t betray myself that way. “Are you sure about that? There wasn’t a single moment tonight where you were thinking about somebody else besides me?”
He stopped before he could sit next to me on the sofa. “What? I don’t understand.”
“What part are you having trouble with? The part where you’re a fucking liar, or the part where you left out your tongue halfway down your ex-wife’s throat earlier?” He blinked rapidly, his mouth moving without a sound. “Oh, was I not supposed to know about that?” I gasped. “Was I supposed to be sitting here waiting for you, all available and grateful for your attention? Was that what your little boys’ night out was all about? A way of seeing her without me being around this time?”
“No. No, you’re wrong. I don’t know how the hell you know—”
“Connor took a picture, genius. He sent it to Pepper.”
His face went stony. “I’ll fucking kill him.”
“Spare me.” I was so tired. Exhausted, heartsick, and disappointed in him. Mostly in myself. Because I knew better. Why did I keep letting him do this to me?
“Whatever Connor said, I don’t give a shit.”
“For the record, he was only surprised. But I don’t care about Connor,” I continued. “It’s you I care about. Tell me the truth, here and now. Do you still have feelings for her?”
“Evelyn Black, if I have any feelings for that woman, they’re nothing but contempt and hatred. That’s the truth, whether or not you want to believe it.”
With everything I had, I wanted to believe it. That was the problem in a nutshell. I wanted so much to believe she meant nothing to him, that I was the one he wanted. “Then why did you let her do it?”
