Deception (Infidelity #3)(103)

“So you’re not wanting a threesome?”

This time she smiled. “Mr. Demetri, you’re definitely enough man for me. Besides, I thought you said you didn’t share.”

“I don’t. I just wanted to be sure you were satisfied.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Do you really need to wonder?”

I shrugged. “I’ve been gone. It’s been a few days since I’ve heard the sexy, satisfied noises you make.” I widened my gaze. “But I’m free right now. We could take care of that?”

Her smile dimmed. “I-I’m confused. Right now, I don’t know what to feel. Chelsea was my best friend, and I can’t help but wonder if any of it was real. Was everything really just a big scam, a way to move herself up the social ladder?”

“What’s your heart telling you?” I asked, praying she’d have faith in Chelsea.

“It says Chelsea was never interested in social status and this is out of character. My eyes tell me something totally different. I’m not sure if I can believe my heart.”

“What does it say about me?”

She tucked her head back against my chest. “It says that I love you.” Her head sprang back up. “But you knew, didn’t you?”

“That Chelsea was in Savannah and working for your family’s business? You told me. About her being you? I had no idea.” Those were all true statements.

“My heart,” she went on, “is telling me that something isn’t right. I don’t like it. I don’t want her with Bryce, not because I’m jealous but because…” Her lip disappeared between her teeth. “…I don’t believe him about Melissa Summers, that college freshman. I don’t know if he had anything to do with her disappearance, but I do think he was the one who hurt her. I hate myself for saying that. I know how important his mother is to mine, but I can’t shake the feeling. Sometimes he can be nice and remind me of my childhood friend. Other times, there’s a look or action and he reminds me of Alton. That’s not a compliment.”

“I didn’t think it was.” I leaned back. “Do you have more work to do or do you want to go grab some dinner?”

“Is it that late?” Charli asked. “I wasted my whole day on this. Tomorrow I need to work on my paper.”

“Then tonight, my lady, you are mine. Dinner and then I get to hear those satisfied moans.”

“It could be like that old movie Jane loved and we used to watch: When Harry Met Sally. I could just make noises while we eat.”

“Princess, I’ve never seen it, but the noises you’re going to make won’t be faked. I’ll have the real ones.”

“You seem pretty sure of yourself, Mr. Demetri?”

Instead of answering, I kissed her lips lightly, letting mine skirt across hers. As she began to pull away, I moved my hand to her neck, winding her beautiful hair around my fingers and moving her head to the side. With her neck exposed, I kissed the sensitive skin behind her ear, painstakingly slow, each touch of my lips lingering longer as I moved down her neck. By the time I reached her collarbone, her flesh was sprinkled with goose bumps. When I nipped her skin, a soft moan escaped her open lips.

With a grin, I said, “Yes, I’m very sure of myself.”

Later that night, after I’d elicited not one, but a chorus of sounds, some I’d never heard, Charli cuddled close. Her soft curves fit perfectly against my chest as I wrapped an arm around her shoulder. For only a few moments, she traced the ridges of my torso before her fingers splayed and breathing evened.

As she drifted off to sleep, I thought again about what she’d said, how I hadn’t shared with her like she had with me. Since the first time she told me about her childhood, she’d shared more. Each story solidified my hatred for Alton Fitzgerald while at the same time caused my love and admiration for Charli to grow. She was so strong to have survived—not only survived, but to have become the marvelous woman she was today.

I also recalled what she’d said that her mother had wanted her to do: marry and have babies—with Edward Spencer.

I wasn’t proud of how Chelsea ended up in Savannah, and it was never intended. But if her being there, making the money she wanted, and being Edward’s alibi, kept Charli away from that prick, it was worth it. I may be damned to hell for subjecting Chelsea to whatever was happening there, but I had no hard limits when it came to the extremes I’d go to save my Charli.

She deserved more than my protection. After all she’d given me, Charli deserved to know the truth.

My eyes squeezed closed. I hadn’t allowed myself to think of that night in detail—in living color. No. That was such an erroneous term for that night. The color wasn’t living. It was dying.

Moisture stayed trapped behind my lids as I remembered the blood, the stickiness as it covered my hands. Having Jo’s blood on me wasn’t at all like it had been when I fought in the MMA octagon. Then, I’d enjoyed the sensation, the destruction and carnage. That night was different. As panic overtook me and I shook her lifeless body, a part of my soul died.

How could I share that with Charli? If she knew what I was capable of doing, she’d never trust me again.

“Nox?” Her sleepy voice broke through my memories. “What’s the matter?”