Trusting You (Second Chances #2)(36)

My hands trembled as I tied my top back on and grabbed my towel, wrapping it around my body. This had gone too far. There was no turning back now … I had to tell Brett as soon as he got back.

Through clenched teeth, I hissed, “If you know what’s good for you you’ll leave now. I don’t know why you feel the need to have to blackmail me, and believe me I’m going to find out. I don’t know what you’ve got going on, but I’m not going to let you bring me down with you.”

Nonchalantly, he shrugged his shoulders and put on his shirt. “Good luck with figuring it out. Let me tell you you’re wasting your time.” I backed away as he approached me. “I need Brett on this project as soon as possible. Make sure he does that, will you? My investor is getting impatient with me.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I turned my head and clenched my jaw. I wasn’t going to do a damn thing for him except bust his ass in whatever shady business he had going on.

Daniel chuckled. “Still as stubborn as ever aren’t you? I’ll admit I hated it when I was married to you, but right now I think it’s f*cking hot.” Anger boiled in my veins as he ran his finger down my bare back. He leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Sleep tight, angel. I’m sure you’ll be getting a visit from me again soon.”

Like hell you will, I thought to myself.

I huffed and moved away from his touch. “Leave,” I snapped violently.

“Okay, firecracker, I’ll leave. Oh wait, that’s what Brett calls you, isn’t it? Have fun with him when he comes back, but I know you won’t forget how slick I made you between your legs. I bet he can’t do it half as good as me.”

It took all I had not to spit in his face, but doing that would only fuel the fire. Instead, I stayed quiet until his laugh filtered out when he disappeared around the side gate and completely went silent. As soon as I heard his car leave my driveway, I bolted inside the house and packed a bag. I wasn’t going to stay in my house another moment alone. I threw on some clothes and hastily loaded up my car with a day’s worth of things I’d need before heading to Brett’s condo.

My hands shook as I dialed his number. Please let him pick up.

He sounded agitated and tired when he answered the phone, “Hey firecracker. I know you’re not going to like this, but I won’t be back until sometime in the middle of the night. My flight got delayed an extra couple of hours.”

“Yeah, I see that. Can I stay at your place tonight?” I asked hesitantly. I had to get away from my house and all I wanted to do was surround myself with his things and his smells. Daniel had lost his mind and there was no telling what he’d do, and with him saying he’d see me again, that was a chance I didn’t want to take.

“Are you okay? Did something happen?” he asked, worried. “You don’t sound right.”

I took a deep breath and tried desperately to calm down. The last thing I needed to do was get Brett all upset when he was halfway across the country. “No, babe, I’m fine. I’m just tired is all. I haven’t slept too well since you’ve been gone.”

Brett chuckled. “Aww … have you missed me that much?”

“You have no idea,” I remarked sadly. “So do you mind if I stay at your place?”

“No, I don’t mind at all, but there is one thing …” he began and stopped.

My heart tightened in my chest because I knew I wasn’t fooling him. “Yeah, and what’s that?” I questioned.

He blew out a frustrated breath. “When I get home you’re going to tell me exactly what’s wrong with you. I could tell something’s been eating away at you for the past couple of weeks, but I’ve kept quiet about it. Are you pregnant and scared to tell me or something? I’ve been trying to stay patient with you in hopes that you’d confide in me, but you haven’t.”

“Shit,” I whispered mainly to myself. “No, I’m not pregnant, but we’ll talk about everything when you get home. Just be safe and know that I love you. Please remember that.”

“Oh hell.” He groaned. “I don’t like the sound of that.” He huffed out a breath. “Okay, my flight is about to start boarding. I’ll be home in a few hours.”

“I love you,” I blurted out before he could hang up.

“I love you, too, baby.”

So now the waiting game began. I could already tell my stomach was going to be in knots until Brett got home, but I had more phone calls I needed to make in the meantime.





Twenty


The second I walked into Brett’s front door I rushed to the shower. I had to wash any and all traces of Daniel off my body and quickly. I felt sick and disgusted with myself with the thought of letting him touch me even though I had no clue it was him doing the touching.

Once out of the shower, I changed into pajama bottoms and a tank top and laid across Brett’s king size bed. Ever since Brett and I got together he’d been spending all his time with me at my house. I didn’t realize how safe I would feel in his place surrounded by all of his things. It brought me comfort, if only for a little while.

I knew with everything going on that once I informed Brett of my situation I would have a long night and morning ahead of me. I called one of my friends who happened to also be the woman who substitutes for me and asked her if she was free. Thankfully, she was going to cover for me so now I’d have an extra day to deal with my problems. However, my problems didn’t just deal with me and Brett … it dealt with his company as well and also Daniel’s sister.