Текст книги "Slut"
Автор книги: Jettie Woodruff
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Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 20 страниц)
“Aaah, open your mouth slut,” he moaned while taking over my job, stroking harder.
Of course I did. Nothing turned me on more than watching Paxton jack off. I freaking loved it, and I was right there with him. My lips parted just in time to feel the first wave, mine and his. He grunted while releasing his pleasure at precisely the same time I did. I came harder than I ever had in my life, riding wave after wave until we were both spent. My tense body relaxed as the hardness in my mouth did the same.
“You weren’t supposed to come,” Paxton admitted as he slid out of my mouth and put himself away, commando style. I loved it when he did that, too. Paxton never wore underwear around the house. That too, turned me on to no end, especially behind jeans.
“You call me slut one more time and I’m going to bite it off. Why do you do that? Untie me,” I ordered, all forms of erotic thoughts and senses gone with the orgasm.
Paxton stood and walked away from me. “No, and because you are. The proof is in the pudding. You’re all alike. You’re all sluts who cheat. It’s not your fault you were born with a pussy.”
With the release of stupid dopamine came the rational side of my brain. I cursed myself for letting that happen. Gah. So stupid.
“Untie me, Paxton,” I demanded for the second time.
“No, I’m going to dial your friend back, and you’re going to talk to her. Ask her what she means.”
“No, I’m not.”
Two steps and Paxton was back to me, his fingers digging hard into the back of my jaw. “You are. You’re going to do everything I tell you from this moment on. You got that, Gabriella, or whoever the fuck you are. Do you understand me?”
I jerked my head hard to the right enough to catch him off guard and bring my knees up. I shoved him hard with my legs, sending him backward a few steps. I sat up, pulling against the restraints until one hand was free, and then the other. Paxton lunged toward me again, but I was ready that time. My foot went up, catching him right in the chest, and the look on his face assured me that it hurt.
“What the fuck do you want from me? What the fuck, Gabriella? Fuck you. Fuck you for doing this to us. Fuck you for this whole fucking mess.”
“No, fuck you for this mess, Paxton. Fuck you very much,” I repeated, only my words were soft and innocent, unlike his angry ones. He shoved my foot away from his body and stepped back, fingers running through his hair with a deep breath.
I came to my feet, placing my breasts back behind my dress. “Nothing in there told me I cheated on you. Not one thing.”
The look I got was one of pure unbelieving. “Seriously, Gabriella? Look again,” he ordered with a tight grip to the back of my arm. “See. Look at that. His hands are all over you. Every fucking picture, he’s got his hands on you.”
“Did you confront him, Paxton? Of course you did, but that’s a big secret, right? Something you don’t want me to find out about for whatever reason. What do you know, Paxton? Why don’t we start there? I’ll tell you, and you tell me. You want to play? Huh?” I questioned as my emotions changed yet again, this time to rage. How dare he? Who the hell did he think he was?
“He lied. Just like you, Gabriella. He lied.”
“But you’re not going to tell me what he said, right?”
“You don’t need to know that.”
“Right, I don’t need to know that, but you should know everything I’ve been hiding,” I responded with irritation. This was so fucked up. I didn’t even know what the hell I had kept hidden from him, yet he wanted to know. He wanted answers that I didn’t have, nonetheless he wasn’t willing to share any of his. So messed up.
“Call your friend.”
“No, I’m going back to the cottage, and you can go to hell. I know what time you leave for work. I’ll make sure I’m here.”
Paxton grunted some sort of evil laugh. “You’re not going anywhere.”
I grabbed my phone from the table, and glared daggers at him. My finger swiped the phone and we stared each other down while he waited for me to call Mi. Only I didn’t call Mi. I dialed three numbers; nine-one-one, and then held my finger on the send button. “I’m not your slut, Paxton. I don’t fucking need you. I need those two little girls in there and that’s it.”
“You’re joking. You’ll never take them anywhere. Over my dead body. Give me the phone.”
“No way, and we can keep this going for as long as you want. You can’t keep them from me, and if I have to get outside help to make sure you don’t, I will,” I threatened with my phone pointed right at him, finger on the send button like a trigger, daring him to make a move.
“Oh yeah, you’re good at getting outside help, especially ones with fringe benefits. Sounds like you had more than one, you like Mi’s man, too, huh?”
Nope, wasn’t stooping to that level either. He could be the idiot, and I’d keep my punches above the belt.
“Don’t turn the electric off, I’ll be here by six in the morning.”
“Gabriella, don’t do this. We have to talk about this shit.”
“You don’t want talk about anything, Paxton. You want to call the shots, and decide what we discuss. I’m not interested in that.”
Paxton spoke to me through gritted teeth and narrowed eyes, voice changing from a soft plead, to anger in the blink of an eye. “I’m so sick of this fucking game. If you would have threatened to call the cops on me before, I would have locked you in a cage for a week. What the fuck? I don’t want to play your fucking game anymore, Gabriella.”
My cell phone dropped to my side and I quietly responded while walking to the door behind the closed curtain. “It’s not my game. I quit a long time ago. You’re the sore loser.”
“Stay here,” Paxton begged in a more civil tone when I stepped out to the damp grass.
I didn’t stay, and I didn’t turn around. I walked away, feeling like I had just completed a great accomplishment. I had. I was sure I had never walked away from him in the past, especially to another house. I walked exactly five steps before I realized I still had that tampon problem. “Shit,” I said aloud, turning back to Paxton, standing in the door, just like he had when I arrived.
“Vagina problem?”
“Please don’t make me stay here, Paxton,” I begged quietly, hoping to soften his heart a little. Not that I thought he had one or anything.
“I’ll trade you. You stay here where I know you’re inside and safe, and I’ll give you a tampon when you need it. And you’re not allowed to say ‘fuck you’,” he added with the famous Paxton smirk, knowing he upped me one. Fucker. I was so close.
“I’ll call the cops,” I threatened with a lot less conviction than before.
“Do it.”
“I hate you.”
“No you don’t. Goodnight, Mrs. Pierce,” he said in calm, yet arrogant voice, lips moving to mine.
I turned my head, keeping his lips from touching mine, and stomped past him to my room with the adjacent bathroom. Dangling a stupid box of tampons in front of my eyes, of all things to keep me there, tampons wasn’t one I would have expected.
Nonetheless, my bed did feel amazing. I crawled in, retrieving my tablet from the nightstand with mixed emotions. I searched through the tablet again, looking for something I might have hid in a secret folder to no avail. Nothing but my love for reading, a few recipes, and a reminder that Rowan was about to start first grade, and Phi kindergarten. The date for school shopping had come and gone two days ago. I switched off the device when the battery light blinked with two beeps.
I stared out to the moon over the ocean, seeing a beach ball floating in the pool, its silhouette mimicking the full moon. Thoughts of my existence, the lies, and all that I didn’t know yet, flooded my mind. I didn’t know where to turn, who to turn to, or what I was turning for. Part of me just wanted to forget it. Forget the past and fall back into this role that Paxton wanted me in. The part that my sister and her son were out there somewhere and needed me wouldn’t let me. And truth be told, I couldn’t move forward with Paxton until I knew our past. The real past, not this covered up pretend thing we portrayed to our friends.
I jumped for my phone when it beeped. I knew Paxton was probably watching me, and I knew it wasn’t beneath him to storm in and take it from me.
Mi—You okay?
Gabby—Yes. Fine. Sorry, I didn’t mean to put you in that situation.
Mi—No worries. Can you meet me for breakfast? We need to talk.
Gabby—Yes. I will have my girls, but we can go to the park. Sutton.
Mi—The one with the red bridge?
Gabby—Yes, that one. Nine?
Mi—Perfect. See you there.
My eyes landed right on the camera over the door, staring right at me. I stared it down like it was Paxton, standing right in front of me, waiting for him to open the door. He didn’t. Paxton never came and my eyes closed. Thoughts about my mom on a Brazilian beach eased my mind from all my worries. I pretended to hear my mother’s soft words as she described the beach to Izzy and I. I dozed off into a deep sleep. A peaceful, relaxing slumber.
“Gabriella? Gabriella, wake up.”
My eyes couldn’t keep up with my mind, willing them to open. I heard Paxton calling my name, I just couldn’t respond from my comatose state.
“Gabriella,” he said again, this time shaking my shoulder.
“What?” I questioned through small slits in my eyes as the lamp turned on beside my bed. Bright light kept me from seeing him in color. All I could see was one black blob, but I knew it was him. His scent hit me as my eyes slammed shut from the unwelcoming light.
“Wake up. We have to talk.”
I looked at the neon blue numbers across the room through a small opening in one eye. “Now? It’s two o’clock in the morning.”
“I know, but I have to say something.”
“Okay, what?”
“I don’t know,” he said as he sat on my bed, forcing me to move my leg out of his way. His head went into his hands and his fingers tightened around the hair on his head.
“You woke me up at two in the morning to talk, but you don’t know what you want to say?” I asked confused, feeling the frown on my face. I turned to my side, and propped myself to on one elbow.
“I watched it.”
“You watched it?” I asked while questioning his stableness. I had no idea what the hell he watched. None.
“Yes, your friend sent you the email. Nick hypnotized you.”
“Oh, that. Yes, he did.”
“That made it real, Gabriella. You really do have a twin. She was with you. Where is she?”
A sadness instantly fell over me when I thought about watching myself tell the story, tears streaming down my face while I begged her not to die.
“She has a little boy.”
“I heard. I don’t know how to feel right now. You were in so much pain, and not from your injuries. It was for her, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. She spent hours outside, trying to knock on the door. Why didn’t she just knock on the door?” I asked the loaded question as a tear slid down my cheek.
“Where is she, Gabriella?” Paxton asked again, his determination stronger than my own.
“I don’t know. According to my subconscious, the last thing I remembered was the crackling of a tree, and covering my face when I saw it. I don’t know what happened after that, I swear, I don’t, Paxton.”
“I believe you, but she was with you. Where the fuck is she?”
I shrugged one shoulder and played with the satin on the corner of the sheet. “I’ve thought of everything possible. She got washed away with the river. Alligators ate her. Someone found her and is keeping her. She floated out to the sea and the sharks fed off her flesh. I don’t know what happened to her.”
“Did you look for records? A Jane Doe around that time?”
“Mi did. She hasn’t found anything yet. A lot of injuries were reported over those couple of days from the storm.”
“It was so fucking bad, Gabriella. It hit so fast and hard. I’ve lived in Florida my entire life and I have never seen a storm like that. I knew you were out there somewhere. The girls knew it, too. They were scared to death. I was scared to death. You have no idea the anger and relief I felt when I got that call. I didn’t know what the fuck happened to you.”
“You thought I was with Lane, didn’t you?”
“You would have thought that, too.”
“I wasn’t.”
“I know. Why didn’t you tell me about her?”
“I don’t know, Paxton. I barely remember her. I don’t remember her, I just know she was a part of me, and I loved her dearly. Remember when I told you about the dream where I was taken to a studio and photographed?”
“Yeah, I hate that story.”
“Izzy was with me. We were both victims. I see things like a movie, about my mom, Izzy, and I, but I wouldn’t call it remembering. She’s real, she’s my twin, and I don’t know where she is.”
Paxton’s body fell backward, over my legs with a groan. His hands washed over his face like he could just wipe it all away, and then he turned to me, serious expression and focused eyes.
“Are we doing this? Do you want this with me, Gabriella?”
I honestly didn’t even have to think about it. I did want it. As crazy as it sounded in my head, I wanted him. I loved him. “Yes,” I admitted in a quiet tone.
“Then we have to lay it all out there. Together. I want to know where the hell you came from.”
“Yeah, I don’t think you do, but just for kicks, I’d like to know that about you, too. I know as much about you as you know about me, and we’re freaking married. How does that even happen?”
Paxton mimicked my tone, stealing my words with a twist. “Yeah, I don’t think you do, but just for kicks, let’s start with you.”
“Of course, and we’ll never get to you, right?”
“What does Mi know?”
“I don’t know. I’m going to meet her at the park for breakfast in the morning.”
“I have to be at a job site at seven. I didn’t make arrangements with Tricia.”
“I’m taking them with me, and then we’re going school shopping. We have two weeks before school starts.”
“You’re not taking them to meet your friend. I don’t want them dragged into any of this mess.”
“How about we stop calling it a mess? Nothing grows out of a mess.”
“Lotus flowers do.”
My frown was meant to be noticed. “What?”
Paxton shook his head like he couldn’t believe he said it. “Nothing, it’s something stupid I’ve heard you tell the girls.”
“From out of the muddiest waters comes a beautiful lotus, untouched from the filth it comes from.”
“Stupid, huh?” he smiled while propping himself up on one elbow over my legs.
Silence fell upon us as our eyes locked, lingering in each other’s presence, and I whispered, “Kiss me.”
Something lifted from my chest that night. I felt lighter, and for the first time since our Disney trip, I felt like we would be okay. Like we could do this as long as we did it together. Whatever the future held, whatever the past held, we could overcome it as long as we both let it. I knew we could.
Our make out session continued to warm up, and I knew it would go to the next step when I felt my tampon slide out, and Paxton slide in. I didn’t care where the wetness came from between us, I didn’t care about the sheets, and I didn’t care about it being gross. It wasn’t. Not at all. Not in the least. Paxton made love to me uncaring of anything between us. It was amazing, something beautiful I shared with a man that I shouldn’t love. With a man I’d die for. Paxton had my heart and he held my soul in the palm of his hand. Paxton invaded my space, all of me, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. I was in love.
The time when I swiped my phone caused me to sit straight up. It was almost eight-thirty. Mi would be at the park in half an hour and I wasn’t even out of bed yet. I jumped up, grabbed a two-minute shower, and dressed. The thought of Tricia with my girls, in my house, went through me like a gun loaded with pissed off bullets. I knew there would be a confrontation. Paxton told her not to let me take them. I was sure of that. I was also sure he told her to let me sleep. Jerk.
Seven
An instant giddiness swept over me when I heard screaming. The kind of screaming that brought an instant smile to my face. Whatever it was, Ophelia had it first. After a quick two minute shower, I dressed in my own shorts and a loose t-shirt, applied a little makeup, and slid my feet inside leather flip-flops before rushing out to the scent of something baking and—
“Paxton?”
“Mommy!”
“Mommy!”
Both my little Clydes slid from their stools and into my arms. My eyes locked with his briefly, wearing a smile and flipping a pancake with either blueberries or chocolate chips. I shook my head in confusion and gave my undivided attention to my little girls as a fruity scent touched my nose. Blueberries.
“Hi babies,” I said, my eyes leaving his for them, both hands stroking long soft hair, one blonde, one black.
“I saw her last night and you didn’t,” Rowan chanted while trying to sneak in an unnoticeable shove with her elbow.
“I did, too.”
“Nuh-uh, because you didn’t know she was here. I did.”
“Stop that,” I interrupted. “I saw you both. Who wants to go to the park? Eat your breakfast, we’ve got to go.”
I looked up to the smirk on Paxton’s face and then a wink from is right eye. He was up to something, and he knew I knew it. My expression wanted him to know it. Not that it mattered, but still.
Rowan was the one who spilled the beans. “Well, we have to wait. Daddy said your friend is coming here first.”
I didn’t even feel surprised. Not in the least. Annoyed, but not shocked. I kissed both their heads as they slid back to their stools, back to their blueberry pancakes, content to have their mommy home. I picked up a blue crayon and a quarter from the floor while I looked at Paxton through narrowed eyes. The blue crayon rolled to the pile, joining the other colors on the island, and I dropped the quarter in his hand.
“That’s for last night. What did you do now?” I questioned while turning away from his lips.
Paxton laughed when he missed, kissing the corner of my uncooperative mouth with his sticky lips. My tongue peeked out, tasting the maple syrup as he spoke quiet words to my neck. “Jesus, what do I have to do for a dollar?”
I might have smiled a little, but I didn’t mean to, and I was serious. Trying to be, anyway. “What did you do, Paxton? I thought you were so busy with work,” I questioned while I watched him slide my pancake to the plate.
“I made you a pancake out of love. See, it’s a heart.”
My eyes shifted to the plate in my hand and I stared at it confused, head tilting and eyes squinting. “It looks like a possum.”
That definitely made me smile. The biggest smile ever. Both my little girls giggled hysterically at their daddy’s attempt to make a heart.
“It does not. It’s a heart.”
“What’s this long tail-like thingy here?”
“It’s not a tail thingy. It’s an arrow. Whatever, go eat your possum.”
I watched him cautiously and slid my finger across my phone, right to the messages. My head shook as I read them all, the last one being our address.
Gabby—Hey, come to my house.
Mi—Why? What about your husband?
Gabby—He wants to talk to you, too.
Mi—This wouldn’t happen to be “him,” would it?
Gabby—Maybe, but I’m not about to let her meet you alone. We’re married.
Mi—Yeah, so I heard. Poor girl.
Gabby—I’m not a bad guy.
Mi—Well that’s coming from a guy who had his wife arrested, soooooooo.
Gabby—LOL I like you. Be here around nine.
Mi—I’m only coming for Gabby, not you.
Gabby—Okay, sooooooo I’ll see you at nine.
“I really do hate you,” I admitted while stabbing my pancake with my fork, twisting it dramatically into his possum shaped breakfast.
“That hurts a little,” he said with two fingers over his chest, two taps and that damn grin. The sexy one that I hated.
“What are you doing here? You told me you were busy.”
“I am. This is your fault. If my guys screw up this layout, I’m taking it out on your ass.”
I refrained from accepting that threat, secretly hoping that they did. “Mmmm, real blueberries. I’m impressed. Did you Google that?”
He pointed his nose toward the girls and their argument. Ophelia’s pancake was bigger, Rowan had more blueberries. “Yes, right there. They went grocery shopping with me. Both insured me that their mommy didn’t buy the frozen blueberries. Only the organic ones. You’re so weird.”
The thoughts on how to reply changed with his last comment. I almost boasted on my smart girls, and said something about him sidestepping my question about being up to something. I sputtered a short laugh instead. “Wait until you meet Mi.”
“Mi’s weird?”
“Mommy, my tooth is loose. See” Rowan announced from across the room, pulling my attention to her instead of my stubborn husband.
I answered Paxton and left him for my girls. God, I missed them. “You’ll see.”
My pancake was delicious, and I couldn’t believe how much I missed in less than a week. I swear they grew daily. Rowan didn’t lie, her front tooth would be missing in the next couple days. Ophelia skinned her knee and I felt horrible. It wasn’t the kiss it, cover it with a Band-Aid, all better kind. That one hurt, and there was no doubt she cried. She cried and I wasn’t there for her. That pissed me off. They both got new stuffed animals from the zoo truck. I half listened to what the hell that was while I glared at Paxton. Some bus came to the library, packed full of animals, all proceeds going towards the zoo. I wasn’t surprised by Rowan’s choice of a cat. She’d been asking for one for ages. Paxton was allergic, or so he said. I did laugh when Phi told me she got a fish. Of all things in a zoo, my girls chose a cat and a fish. Ophelia ran off to get her new fish while Rowan started the argument.
“Well, my cat is better because it can eat your fish.”
Of course Phi stopped. “No it can’t. My fish is bigger than your cat. My fish will eat your cat.”
“Fish don’t eat cats. Cats eat fish.”
“Some fish do. A shark can eat a cat.”
“Cats don’t go in the ocean.”
“Oh my, God. Stop it. Go get your fish,” I said once I realized how long their fight could go on. Hours. Days. Weeks.
“Your cat could fall off a boat,” Phi called. Spitting image of her daddy. I swear that girl would have taken a timeout before she would ever let Rowan have the last word.
Paxton and I exchanged a glance just as the doorbell rang.
“Is that your friend?” Rowan asked.
I answered with a yes, shaking my head at Ophelia when I heard Mi’s voice. Paxton was the one to scold her, not me. I stood back trying to give Mi the ‘sorry about my idiot husband’ look. She read it, and I read the understanding in her eyes.
“Ophelia Dawn Pierce. Don’t you ever do that again. You know better than that. What if that was a bad guy and he wanted to break into our house?” he questioned in a stern tone, hand lifting her chin to look at him.
“But it’s not a bad guy. It’s her.”
“You didn’t know that. Don’t open the door for strangers. Understand me?”
Phi looked up to him with puppy dog eyes and sad tone. “Yes. I won’t do it again.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to you. Okay?” he said while feeding right out of her hand, voice softening with every word. And that right there was why I always had to be the bad guy. He melted like chocolate in her hand.
“Hi, Mi. Come on in. This is Ophelia and Rowan, and my lovely husband Paxton,” I said as I invited her in with an open hand, introducing her to my family.
Mi ignored Paxton and bent over to Rowan and Phi, shaking each little hand, one in each of hers. “I have heard so much about you. Very nice to meet you.”
Rowan didn’t really respond. She sort of shied away without a reaction.
Busybody Ophelia was another story. She wasn’t shy at all. “I like your necklace,” she said as she held the crystal in her hand.
“Thank you. I wasn’t sure what kind of energy I would walk into in your house. Crystals protect you from bad energy.”
I sucked in on my lips at Paxton’s eyes darted quickly to me.
“What. The. Fuck?” he mouthed to me without audible words.
“We have good energy,” Phi assured Mi.
I smiled at her confidence. Like she knew everything there was to know about the energy field in our house. I was sure she had never been introduced to that before.
“Santa brought us crystal necklaces last time,” Rowan finally spoke.
“He did?” I asked, my attention going right to Paxton.
He shrugged both shoulders and pointed to me, letting me know that I bought them. That meant something to me at that moment, but I wasn’t sure why. Maybe the thought of buying them something that was believed to protect them from something bad.
“You have very good energy. I’m surprised,” Mi said as her eyes landed on Paxton. She scanned him, head to toe while he looked at me, confusion written all over his face.
“Okay girls. Remember what we talked about? You’re going to go practice for your dance recital without fighting, and mommy and daddy are going to talk to Mi. Okay?”
“We want to talk to Mi, too.”
Mi moved Ophelia’s hair behind her back and smiled down at her. “Tell you what. You let us talk about business for a little bit, and I’ll teach you a magic trick. Deal?”
“A real magic trick?” Rowan questioned, interest piqued.
“Yes, and you can show all your friends, but you can’t tell them the magic part. Only you can know how it’s done. Okay?”
I loved how Mi was with my girls. Instant connection, unlike my fake neighbors, and they loved her.
“Okay,” they agreed in unison.
We all stared after them, hopping along, excited to learn magic when my mini me turned back. Ophelia suddenly stopped and turned her worried eyes right to me. “You’re not going to leave, right Mommy?”
The sting in my heart burned deep and I hated Paxton again. “No, baby. I promise.”
She smiled and skipped off with her sister.
“Damn,” Mi said quietly, hearing the same anxious tone from Phi.
“I hate you,” I said, eyes darting quickly to Paxton.
The look on his face told me he hated himself. Good. Stupid bastard.
“Let’s go to the patio,” he suggested. Paxton pointed to the French doors and Mi led the way. “You said she was weird, not crazy,” he whispered.
I elbowed him while holding in a laugh. “Let’s sit on that side so we can see the girls.”
“No, they’ll be out here in two seconds,” Paxton countered.
I turned and gave him a cold stare down. “I’m okay with that.” I was okay with it. I didn’t want them out of my sight, but he was also right.
We hadn’t been seated for more than thirty seconds when Phi opened the door. “We’re done. Can we play outside now?”
I looked to Paxton and he answered. “You didn’t practice. You can go play on the swings.”
“And the sandbox?” she questioned.
“The sandbox is right beside the swings.”
“You said we can only play on the swings.”
“Ophelia,” he said with the tone that she knew meant to knock it off. She stopped acting like him and ran down to the massive playset that Paxton built in our back yard. He couldn’t build a normal one. This thing had it all. Enough to keep them busy while we had the conversation that had me on edge in anticipation.
“What, Mi? What do you know?”
“First of all you have to pinky swear that you’re not going to call Nick and tell on me.”
“Of course I wouldn’t. You’re the only friend I have in the world.”
Paxton nudged my leg with his knee and looked at me with—love? What the hell? “I’m your friend, Gabriella.”
I gave him a once over, stopping at his eyes, and assured him otherwise. It was said lightheartedly, but with a point. He knew the point, thanks to Ophelia’s apprehension of me leaving her. “You are not my friend.”
He smiled genuinely at me, but I didn’t’ buy it. I was mad. I turned to Mi’s surprised expression instead.
“What?”
“I just, I—I don’t know if this is a good idea anymore.”
I frowned out of confusion. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I wasn’t expecting this. I thought you hated him. I thought I would be helping you to regain some of your past. I don’t know if that’s such a good idea anymore. Maybe I should just go.”
I gave her a look like I had just eaten a sour lemon. “What? Are you crazy? I do hate him. You have to tell me. What do you mean some of my past?”
Mi’s chest filled with air and her eyes went to Paxton and then back to me. “Can we talk alone first?”
“It wouldn’t do any good. He’s got the place bugged.”
Paxton didn’t defensively lie out of that one like I thought he would. He smirked and pointed to one of the security cameras above our heads, right in the corner, facing Mi.
“Just tell me, Mi. Please.”
Her eyes looked to her nails as she spoke. “Okay, but I don’t want to cause any more trouble for you. Nick and I had a fight yesterday morning, and I wanted to tell him I was sorry. I dropped by his office with his favorite Reuben, and overheard him and Lane. That’s the only reason I snooped. He told Lane that there was no way those videos could fall into anyone’s hands, that the file was on an old laptop that he didn’t even use anymore. Lane told him that he didn’t care, and he wanted it destroyed. Of course, I knew what laptop he spoke of. There’s two of them in our closet. He keeps saying that he will get the files off them so we can get rid of them, but he never does.”
“What files,” I asked, eyebrows frowned inward.
“I didn’t really watch them. I only opened the first one, but only watched a few minutes of it. Then I sent them to my email, so I could send them to you.”
I knew the answer before I even asked. “What was it? Was it me?”
“Yes, in Nicks office.”
“Why was I in Nick’s office?”
“I’m not sure. Like I said, I didn’t think it was my business. I didn’t watch them.”
“Send them to her email,” Paxton ordered.
I waited for his dominate ego to be squashed by Mi.
She gave him the exact look I knew she would. Haughty. “Excuse me? Who are you again? You probably control that, too. Right?”
“Send them, Mi,” I said, not wanting a pissing match between Mi and Paxton. It would be like Ro-ro and Phi, lasting for hours.
“You can’t let Nick find out.”
“Was the fight over me?”
Her eyes leaving mine assured me that it was. “Yeah, but you know I’m here for you. I wasn’t about to throw you out to the lions. I just wasn’t expecting him to be the cat.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Paxton asked, tail feathers in the air as Mi set off his ego.
“It means you love her. I can read people through the energy around them. He’s not a bad guy, Gabby, just stupid as hell,” she said, fierce eyes softening, moving from Paxton to me.
And the claws came out with the sudden attitude. “You don’t know me. You don’t know anything about me.”
