Any Time, Any Place (Billionaire Builders #2)(80)
He just stared at her. She shifted under the sheets, almost wishing he’d be angry. Yelling would be so much better than this icy silence and calculating gaze as he assessed her. “Let me make sure I’ve got your story straight now,” he said, his tone mocking. “You decide to do an undercover operation and spend time with me to gain knowledge about my mother. You try to gather information from my brothers and my family, using me and my interest in you as bait. Were you willing to sleep with me for it?”
She raised her chin, ignoring the cold, hard piece of ice lodged in her gut. He had every right to be angry and cruel. She owed him the truth with no excuses. “No, sleeping with you was never in the plan. You got the job for the bar because you asked for it and were the best. I decided the time we spent together could be useful.”
“Useful. I like that word.” His gaze flicked over her in disgust. “What were you going to do when you confirmed my mother was a lying, conniving bitch?”
She flinched. “At first, I wanted to restore my father’s reputation. After the accident, your family ruined his name, spreading cruel rumors about him seducing and killing your mother. I was destroyed. I had no money or family name, like you did, and couldn’t fight back. That’s why I ran away all those years, to find myself and heal. I’d always wanted to get revenge by discovering the truth, proving my father was taken advantage of.”
“But now you don’t believe that.”
“No, I don’t. I think they were in love. I think there were other things between them we don’t know about, but that neither of them wanted to hurt anyone.”
“How generous of you to forgive them both. When did you decide your spy games were officially over? Last week? Tonight? A few moments ago?”
“The night of the break-in,” she said quietly. “I realized there was much more between us, and I didn’t want to sacrifice it for some strange sense of justified satisfaction. I wanted to get to know who you were, separate from your mother. And I did. Dalton, there were never any lies between us in bed, or with my emotions. I planned to tell you.”
His jaw clenched, and he spoke from between gritted teeth. “You planned to tell me, huh? I lay beside you and told you everything about my mother and the accident. Stuff I never shared with anyone else, because I fucking trusted you. Why didn’t you tell me that night, Raven?”
“I tried! I swear to God, I began talking, and then when I finished, I looked at you and you’d fallen asleep! So I promised myself I’d tell you the next morning, but you had to run out before we had a chance to talk.”
“Convenient. At least you’ve gotten the answers you need, Raven. Is that your real name? Or is it Bella?”
“My father called me Bella, but I go by Raven.”
“Good to know.” His words were like jagged paper cuts against her bare skin. She tried not to jerk back from his cold mockery. “It’s kind of funny that I played completely into your hands, isn’t it? I pursued you. I originally asked for the job to restore your bar. I stayed late at closing and showed up at the gym. It really was my fault, you know. I had no idea this whole time you had another agenda.” He began walking back and forth, tapping his finger to his mouth. “It makes sense now. The biting anger and sarcasm beneath your words. The way you looked at me sometimes with hatred. Studied my brothers and asked questions about my family. Convinced me to share secrets after sex. It was all for information gathering.”
“No, it wasn’t,” she interrupted. “I wanted to know more about you and your family—for me. Because I was beginning to truly care about you, separate from our past. Don’t you see we can move forward from this? We can even heal some of the rift between our families, and all these years of bitterness.”
“Because you don’t blame my mother anymore?”
“Yes. I don’t know if we’ll ever know what truly happened, but I don’t believe she was using my father.”
“I’m glad you don’t blame her anymore, Raven.” He spun around and faced her. His next words came like slow, deliberate bullets, and tore through her. “But I do blame your father. My father thought he was a coldhearted, manipulative bastard who wanted my mother’s money and saw an easy way to get it. And I do, too.” His blue eyes blazed like fire, but it wasn’t the warm kind that wrapped you in heat. No, this was the type that destroyed and broke, leaving nothing in its wake but devastation. “I think he was a liar, and I think you’re just like him. You only care about yourself, and you’re willing to hurt anyone else along the way to get what you want.”
“You can’t believe that.” She forced back the tears, strengthening her voice. “You’re angry and feel betrayed, and I understand. But I’ve never lied about my feelings for you. I know you feel the same way about me. You told me tonight.”
“I was wrong. It was just fucking, after all. I look at you now and feel . . . nothing.”
She shook her head. “Don’t say that. Don’t walk away from us.”
“There was never an us, Raven, or Bella, or whoever you are. There was just pretty lies, and great sex, and a mystery that’s now solved. Now I want you to get out of my house.”
“Dalton—”
“Now.”
He turned and walked out to the balcony, leaving her behind. Slowly, she rose from the bed and dressed, her movements numb. Heart shattering, she pushed through the raw pain and paused with her hand on the doorknob.