Sins, Lies & Spies (Black Brothers #2)(20)
He cupped the side of his face, his eyes glittering with rage. “What the hell was that, Trinity?”
“That,” I pointed my finger at him, “is for being a liar, a user, and an all-around piece of shit.”
He took a step forward, frustration creasing his forehead and a vein near his temple pulsing.
“Stay the hell away from me,” I said through clenched teeth. “I’m done with you. I’m done with this job. I never want to see you again.”
“You’re not done until I say you’re done. You owe me.”
“I don’t owe you a damn thing,” I snarled, as I curled my hand around the doorknob behind me.
His lips quirked up at the corners. “You’d be nowhere without me.”
My gaze flicked to the side. Miles’s daughter and his ex-wife—current lover or whatever the hell she was—stood in the living room, staring the scene unfolding in front of them. His daughter looked horrified. Sasha had a smug, self-satisfied smile stretching her overly plump lips across her face. She was gloating. Instead of anger, I felt pity.
Pity for her.
Pity that she hadn’t walked away from Miles years ago.
Pity that she actually thought this fight gave her an opening to have Miles all to herself.
I suspected Sasha was an enabler, not a victim, of her ex-husband’s affairs. They played a game of tug of war with their affections. She pushed him away. He found someone new, and she fought to win him back. Then it started all over again. He’d replace me soon enough. In fact, I didn’t know why he kept me around as long as he did. It didn’t make sense. When we were together, we were better friends than lovers. We lacked passion. If our relationship had a pulse line, it would’ve been nearly flat with a few miniature upward ticks.
Flinging open the door, I shook my head. “After everything you put me through, I think I can safely call us even.”
His chest heaved and he pinned me with his narrowed gaze. “If you walk out the door right now, don’t expect me to pay you for the last job.”
A shot of disbelieving laughter exploded from my lips. My hand twitched with the urge to hit him again, but I dug deep inside myself and located my last ounce of self-control. “Keep the f*cking money. I don’t want it.” I stepped outside, shutting the door behind me.
Suppressed tears beaded on my lashes, spilling down my face as my vision swam. The feelings of unworthiness, rejection, and despair I’d been holding back hit me with the force of a roundhouse kick. I clutched the railing to keep from falling to my knees. Good or bad, over the years I’d gotten used to Miles’s constant presence in my life. He’d become my boss, my friend, my confidant, and eventually my lover.
Why did he lie to me over and over?
I shook my head to clear my mind. None of this mattered. We were over before we ever started, and I never really loved him. I didn’t think I’d ever understand his motivations for pulling me into his life when he never intended to end his relationship with his ex-wife.
At least I hadn’t succumbed to his manipulative attempts to get back together. That would’ve made today even more humiliating. Right now, I needed to focus on rebuilding my life, and staying true to myself in the process.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Knox
As I rounded the corner of my street, Trinity pushed away from the wall of my building. She wore a long black coat and black boots. The glow from the overhead lamppost highlighted the soft fall of her hair over her shoulders. Her dark gaze collided with mine, and I paused, reluctant to deal with her right now. She already monopolized too many of my thoughts today, and I hadn’t gotten anything done.
Archer would light a fire under my ass when he found out I didn’t bother installing the security updates for Black Investments, but I couldn’t concentrate on his company right now. I’d spent more than half of the day digging into her background, trying to ferret out her secrets. I wanted to know every little thing about Trinity Jones.
Did she prefer coffee or tea?
How many men had she dated?
Who were her parents?
Did she have any siblings?
What were her hobbies?
How much money did she have in her bank accounts?
How much credit card debt did she have?
I called in favors from acquaintances. I hacked into secure databases. I went through her cell phone records. And after nearly five hours of searching, I hadn’t found much of anything, except that her relationship with Benton predated her association with Miles. Lamentably, even with all the information I sourced, I couldn’t determine the exact nature of their relationship.
On at least two separate occasions, Benton had wired money into her bank accounts. Combined, the money transfers exceeded fifteen thousand dollars. As far as I could ascertain, she had never repaid the money. Granted, fifteen thousand dollars was nothing for Benton. He probably spent that much on a week’s worth of his custom suits, but it was a lot for a woman like Trinity Jones. All evidence pointed to an extra-marital affair, rather than a friendship, but her phone records indicated they didn’t communicate frequently.
I balled my hands into fists as my legs erased the distance between us.
“Trinity,” I said, her name tumbling off my tongue with detached coolness. As if she hadn’t starred in my dreams for the past two nights. As if I never imagined tangling my hands in her long dark hair as I moved inside of her. “Why are you here?”