But there I was, smiling down at him like a lovestruck fool while I said it with something powerful and wonderful threatening to burst, the weight inside of me so much lighter since I’d admitted to him the root of so many of my fears.
A low chuckle rumbled from his chest. “You didn’t hate me, Lillith. You were afraid of me because I made you feel things you didn’t want to let yourself feel. You wanted me, and you hated that I had that effect on you.”
His hand cinched down tighter. He yanked my face down close to his. “You hated that you couldn’t say no.”
It was a tease.
It was the truth.
That attraction flashed.
A wildfire.
Broderick guided me over him, his cock already hard as he aligned himself with me. “I told you that I always get what I want. And what I want is you, and that’s not ever going to change.”
What I couldn’t comprehend was how this man who’d been my enemy for five months had made me want him in less than three days.
Because there was nothing I could do when I slid down onto his length but give him all of me.
My body. My heart. My trust.
*
Disoriented, I blinked into the shadows of the darkened room. Slowly, I came to awareness. Broderick’s big, warm body was next to mine where he was lost in the contentment of sleep, his breaths deep and slow.
I sank back into the comfort of him, nestling closer as I let my eyes drift closed. Seconds later, they popped back open when I realized what had originally pulled me from sleep.
His phone lit up on the nightstand on his side of the bed and vibrated against the glass.
Telling myself to ignore it, I forced myself to close my eyes and go back to sleep, only for the offending noise to recur.
Leave it, I silently told myself. But I couldn’t escape the tingle of worry that buzzed at the back of my brain.
Apprehension twisted through my nerves. Prodding and pinching and warning.
I sucked in a breath, trying to convince myself I was only this way because this relationship was new and it’d started on bad terms. I’d just come to recognize the side of the man that was good and honest.
We’d been a whirlwind.
Caught up. Shot to the highest high before I’d even realized I’d been swept off my feet.
That was why I felt unsettled.
It had to be.
I heard the vibration of his phone again.
Would it be so wrong to peek? Maybe it was an emergency. It was the middle of the night, after all.
I sat up, holding a decadent sheet to my bare chest, feeling like such an asshole for doing this but unable to stop as I peered through the darkness to the nightstand. I hesitated and then finally gave in.
I reached over him and glided a shaking finger over the screen to find the series of texts that screamed back from Broderick’s phone.
All of them from Rex Gunner, the owner of the most successful construction company in Gingham Lakes. A man I knew well. A man I trusted and admired.
A heavy lump grew in my throat as I skimmed through his words.
If you think I’m going to bulldoze those buildings two weeks from tomorrow, you are insane.
Do you think I don’t know it’s impossible to get permits that quickly? Someone got paid off to make that happen.
I told you I work on the up and up.
Gut told me something was off the second you walked into my office.
Deal is off.
Dread slicked my skin in a hot sheen of sweat and nausea rolled in my stomach.
I pressed my hand to my chest to try to stop the ache blossoming there as tears sprang to my eyes.
I should have known. I should have known.
You fool. You stupid fool. He played you. He played you just like they all do.
Knees weak, I slipped off the bed, trying to stand. Moisture blurred by sight as I fumbled with my clothing, trying to be as quiet as possible as I slipped out of the bedroom and into the main area of the suite.
I dressed in the dark, piecing my exterior back together while everything inside shattered.
I grabbed my purse from where I’d left it on the entryway table, fumbled with the knob, and slipped out into the hall. My breaths were shallow, my mind racing with how I could possibly fix this. Panic took hold of my spirit, and my feet moved faster and faster as I made my way down the hall and to the elevator.
I didn’t even have my car.
But I didn’t care.
I would do whatever it took to fix my mistake.
*
I jerked to a stop in front of the modest house on the outskirts of town. A light blazed from the porch, Rex Gunner visible through the sheer curtains as he ambled around his kitchen, obviously a prisoner to his own woes.
Or maybe tonight our worries were one in the same.
I’d taken a cab the two miles back to my house, grabbed my car, and drove straight here.
I figured if anyone had the down-low on the details, it was Rex Gunner. He had connections in this town.
I’d also known him my whole life and trusted him implicitly. It was no secret he hadn’t been the same since his wife had left two years ago, but the one thing that hadn’t changed was his company’s character. He saw to it that it stayed that way. And judging by the texts I saw, that hadn’t changed.
I clicked open the door to my car and stumbled out, still reeling from my foolishness, barely able to stand beneath the crack in my heart. I’d allowed myself to be played. Hunted down like prey and ripped to shreds.
And God, those wounds burned and hurt and ached.
Because when I opened up, I opened all the way.
Reservations incinerated.
And that vile monster had gone straight for the kill.
I rushed up the walkway and quietly knocked at Rex’s door so I wouldn’t wake his daughter. It took only a second for me to hear heavy footsteps thudding on the other side, the twist of the lock, and the squeak of his door.
Rex jerked back when he saw me, blinking through his shock. “Lily. What are you doing here?” He widened the door. “Come inside where it’s warm.”
“Thank you,” I managed, not realizing I was freezing, my bones chilled, my skin brittle as I rubbed my hands together.
“What’s going on?”
Rex Gunner was every bit as powerful as Broderick Wolfe. But where Broderick went straight for what he wanted, disregarding anyone who got in his way, Rex kept himself barricaded by the hard scowl on his blatantly beautiful face, life hardening him to sharp edges and bitterness.
“I…were you working with Wolfe Industries on the Fairview Street project?”
Awareness dawned on his expression. “‘Was’ is the key word.”
“I saw the texts you sent to Broderick,” I admitted, lifting my chin, knowing full well what I was revealing. How else would I have seen them in the middle of the night? But I’d suffer any humiliation to gain the proof I needed to set my mistake right.
He looked to his feet, before forcing himself to look back at me. “You get yourself in some trouble, Lillith?”
“Only my heart.”
With his hands on his hips, he gave me a tight nod, fully understanding.