out of my cup, staring straight into Chris’s eyes.
I’m lying. I’m lying through my teeth so hard that I’m surprised they’re not chattering.
I trust Chris. I trust him with my life. But with this information— with Elena ?
I can’t.
It’s bad enough that Ana suspects—or knows. If Foxx knew, he’d try to put an end to it. He’d do anything not to upset the balance of his “newly minted family.”
And that incudes not letting a fuck-up like me near his soon-to-be sister-in-law.
I should be offended. I should… but I’ve done so many things to prove him right.
Can I really blame him?
I promised him I wouldn’t do anything with Elena. I promised not to touch her. But now, that’s impossible.
I cannot not do anything with her. I cannot not touch her.
She’s in my system now. She’s in my mind; she’s in my veins . And she’s most certainly in everything that moves below my belt.
And it doesn’t make any sense. She infuriates the hell out of me! The only time we can even have a civil conversation is when we’re fucking.
Even a week ago at the party—after Ana discovered us in the office—we verbally jousted for another twenty rounds.
Floyd “Money” Mayweather couldn’t have lasted a second in that room with us.
My thoughts flash back to last week, to that tiny office—and I feel Elena’s verbal slap as if it were right at the Starbucks table.
“ Great ,” she started in on me after Ana left, brushing her blonde bangs backwards.
“We might as well broadcast ourselves to the entire world.” She tugged on the sleeves of her sweater and pulled the Post-It note off her ass.
I tried hard not to stare at it.
I spoke to her turned back. “What were we supposed to do? Not let Ana in?”
“ Probably!” She huffed, rearranging the papers on the desk.
“You gave me the go-ahead!”
“I know…” she sighed. “But I don’t need people knowing about… this. ”
She spewed the last word with an undercurrent of disgust, and suddenly, I was inexplicably enraged.
“What are you— ashamed of me ?”
“I thought you didn’t want anyone knowing about us!” she shouted, slamming a stapler down. “You made that very clear the night of the engagement party.”
“I said a lot of things I didn’t mean the night of the engagement party.”
“ Right … like how you said it was a bad idea to have been with me all night.”
I grew still, reaching a frustrated hand toward my face. Did I really say that? There’s no fucking way I would do that…
Or maybe I did. Everything that happened after discovering my vandalized car became a blur.
“Shit. Elle…” I grabbed her busy arm from behind. “Elena, you have to know that I didn’t mean that. My car had just gotten destroyed.” I hesitated. “I… I wasn’t thinking.”
She stiffened, but didn’t face me.
“It’s just a car ,” she stated softly. “You call the police, they find out who did it and then they handle it.”
“No.” The word came out as an unintended growl. “My car was practically pitted and filleted that night. And then they…” I trailed off, not wanting to say the rest.
“I want retribution,” I said instead.
Elena snorted, finally whirling towards me, her blonde hair whipping across her face.
“You rich, snooty types. One car is not enough. You’ve got more money than the law should allow and anything less is not good enough.”
My hand was still on her arm; I pulled her closer to me.
“Don’t talk to me about wealth, Elena. You don’t know shit about what I had to do to make it.”
She snatched her arm back, glaring up at me. Her blue eyes were ice-cold.
“Oh, I’m sure riding Foxx’s coattails all the way to the top was tough.”
Her words dripped with scathing hot sarcasm. I saw red.
“I think you’ve got that backwards , Elena.”
Her indignant expression dropped and was replaced with confusion. Her blonde brows furrowed.
“What do you mean?”
What do I mean?—I
I’m lying. I’m lying through my teeth so hard that I’m surprised they’re not chattering.
I trust Chris. I trust him with my life. But with this information— with Elena ?
I can’t.
It’s bad enough that Ana suspects—or knows. If Foxx knew, he’d try to put an end to it. He’d do anything not to upset the balance of his “newly minted family.”
And that incudes not letting a fuck-up like me near his soon-to-be sister-in-law.
I should be offended. I should… but I’ve done so many things to prove him right.
Can I really blame him?
I promised him I wouldn’t do anything with Elena. I promised not to touch her. But now, that’s impossible.
I cannot not do anything with her. I cannot not touch her.
She’s in my system now. She’s in my mind; she’s in my veins . And she’s most certainly in everything that moves below my belt.
And it doesn’t make any sense. She infuriates the hell out of me! The only time we can even have a civil conversation is when we’re fucking.
Even a week ago at the party—after Ana discovered us in the office—we verbally jousted for another twenty rounds.
Floyd “Money” Mayweather couldn’t have lasted a second in that room with us.
My thoughts flash back to last week, to that tiny office—and I feel Elena’s verbal slap as if it were right at the Starbucks table.
“ Great ,” she started in on me after Ana left, brushing her blonde bangs backwards.
“We might as well broadcast ourselves to the entire world.” She tugged on the sleeves of her sweater and pulled the Post-It note off her ass.
I tried hard not to stare at it.
I spoke to her turned back. “What were we supposed to do? Not let Ana in?”
“ Probably!” She huffed, rearranging the papers on the desk.
“You gave me the go-ahead!”
“I know…” she sighed. “But I don’t need people knowing about… this. ”
She spewed the last word with an undercurrent of disgust, and suddenly, I was inexplicably enraged.
“What are you— ashamed of me ?”
“I thought you didn’t want anyone knowing about us!” she shouted, slamming a stapler down. “You made that very clear the night of the engagement party.”
“I said a lot of things I didn’t mean the night of the engagement party.”
“ Right … like how you said it was a bad idea to have been with me all night.”
I grew still, reaching a frustrated hand toward my face. Did I really say that? There’s no fucking way I would do that…
Or maybe I did. Everything that happened after discovering my vandalized car became a blur.
“Shit. Elle…” I grabbed her busy arm from behind. “Elena, you have to know that I didn’t mean that. My car had just gotten destroyed.” I hesitated. “I… I wasn’t thinking.”
She stiffened, but didn’t face me.
“It’s just a car ,” she stated softly. “You call the police, they find out who did it and then they handle it.”
“No.” The word came out as an unintended growl. “My car was practically pitted and filleted that night. And then they…” I trailed off, not wanting to say the rest.
“I want retribution,” I said instead.
Elena snorted, finally whirling towards me, her blonde hair whipping across her face.
“You rich, snooty types. One car is not enough. You’ve got more money than the law should allow and anything less is not good enough.”
My hand was still on her arm; I pulled her closer to me.
“Don’t talk to me about wealth, Elena. You don’t know shit about what I had to do to make it.”
She snatched her arm back, glaring up at me. Her blue eyes were ice-cold.
“Oh, I’m sure riding Foxx’s coattails all the way to the top was tough.”
Her words dripped with scathing hot sarcasm. I saw red.
“I think you’ve got that backwards , Elena.”
Her indignant expression dropped and was replaced with confusion. Her blonde brows furrowed.
“What do you mean?”
What do I mean?—I
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