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“Relax,” I tell her as I hand the wine to her.
Her brown eyes are cold as she stares back at me. “What sort of game are you playing, Gray?”
Frowning, I push the glass into her palm. “What do you mean?”
She gulps down the red liquid and sets the glass down rather roughly so that it makes a clang. “This”—she gestures around us—“bringing me here. I thought…” Heat creeps up her neck and she shakes her head. “Never mind.”
“We’re friends, Violet. That’s what you wanted, right?”
She glares at me. “That’s what you wanted. But yes. That’s all we are.”
When voices resound in the other room, Violet once again stiffens. A moment later, two familiar arms hug me from behind. “There you are. Late as always,” Gwen says with a laugh. Violet’s eyes are on mine, and I sense that she’s hurt. It makes my chest squeeze.
“Hi,” Gwen greets, peeking around me to offer her hand. “I’m Gwen Maxwell. You must be the work associate he was telling me about.”
Violet blinks several times before reaching for the wine. I watch her with a lifted brow as she fills it to the brim, ignoring Gwen’s outstretched hand. Instead, she waves and gulps half the glass down.
Gwen drops her hand and looks up at me with a frown. Her feelings are hurt and her brilliant blue eyes shimmer with unshed tears. Before I can do damage control, Bull comes up beside Violet and tugs at her hair before leaning in to whisper loudly. “Just because your boss is an asshole doesn’t mean we are. You can’t help who you love. Ain’t that right, Gwen?” He flashes her a silly smile before regarding Violet. “But we’re not like him.” He points at me, and I flip him off. “We’re a nice lot once you get to know us.”
Violet seems to relax toward Bull but won’t meet my gaze. She’s a tough nut to crack. But I will crack her. I’ll get inside of her in every way that I can, and she’ll never be able to get me out.
CHAPTER NINE
VIOLET
GWEN MAXWELL.
I can’t believe the nerve of that prick.
Parading his would-be mistress around in front of his wife.
The pain searing through me is similar to the first time Vaughn informed me he was going to share what I thought was sacred between us with another man. I was devastated. Furious even. But when I balked at his request, I’d learned who the strong one was in our relationship. Vaughn brought me to my knees that night with the back of his hand. And through my tears and not-so-silent begging, I’d pleaded for Vaughn to wake up and see what he was doing to me. To us. In one single night, he tore the hard-earned love from my heart and replaced it with something dark and sick.
“You’re a quiet one,” Sadie, the attractive blonde woman, murmurs as she grabs my now empty dinner plate. “Want to help me in the kitchen?”
I’m eager to escape the dining room where their child babbles about cartoons I know nothing about, and Gray’s wife stares at me as if I’m something rotten. She’d been all smiles until I couldn’t bring myself to shake her hand. How does one shake the hand of another woman when moments before she was lusting after her husband?
Bile creeps up my throat, and I wish I had more wine to wash it down with. Thankfully, once in the kitchen, Sadie seems to sense my stress levels. She pulls a bottle of rum from the cabinet and pours some into a coffee mug. Then, she starts the Keurig. Hot coffee pours into the mug along with the liquor. We’re quiet as it fills. Once it’s done, she pushes it along the counter to me.
“You like Gray,” she says softly.
Usually, I like a sprinkle of sugar in my coffee but tonight I’m after the numbing liquid that will have to suffice as a substitute. “He’s my boss,” I murmur as politely as I can manage despite the fury raging inside of me. And I don’t like him. Not at all. Especially now.
“He doesn’t bring women around. Ever. So you must be special,” she tells me and offers me a small smile.
I clench my jaw and try desperately not to say anything I’ll regret tomorrow. “I don’t feel very special. I feel horrible and embarrassed. Poor Gwen.” Even though Gwen seems to hate me, I can’t help but feel remorse for her. Her husband is a cheating asshole. There was heat and desire in his eyes. The man wanted to nail me, and had I let him, he would have.
“Oh, so you know?” she questions, her brows bunching together. “Don’t you feel sorry for her?”
“Well, if I had to live with Gray, I’d feel sorry for me too,” I hiss at the seemingly nice woman. My anger is misplaced. I want to grab him by his stupid collar and shake him for leading me on.
“He’s not so bad,” Sadie teases. “Even if he is a bit of a neat freak. I think that’s what bothers Gwen the most.”
I gape at her as if she’s lost her mind. Neatness is Gwen’s problem with her husband? What about his eager dick? The damn thing was hard for me.
“You girls having fun without me?” Gwen questions in a cool tone behind us. We both jerk around to stare at the small woman. Sadie glances at me and guilt shines in her eyes.
“I’m not feeling so well,” I tell them both as I abandon the steaming mug of hot spiked coffee. “I think I’ll catch a cab home.”
Gwen narrows her eyes at me. “I could have sworn you rode in with Gray. Is he not taking you home?”
Swallowing, I shake my head. “Nope.”
At this, she scowls. “Well then I’m taking you home.”
Before I can argue, she stomps into the dining room and announces it to the two men. I can hear her and Grayson arguing in hissed tones. Sadie simply offers me a sympathetic smile.
“I’m sorry you’re not feeling well,” Sadie says and pats my hand. “Please come over again.”
I nod that I will as I snag my coat from the hook. The voices in the dining room grow louder, and I slip out the front door to escape them. Moments later, Gwen comes clomping down the steps and hits the fob, making the lights on a red Camaro light up. When I steal a look at the house, Gray stands in the doorway with his arms crossed over his massive chest. He’s pissed yet he has no right to be. If it weren’t for not wanting to cause a scene, I’d run right over there and give him a piece of my mind.
Gwen and I don’t speak aside from me pointing her in the direction of my building. When she pulls up in front of it not twenty minutes later, she turns off her car. I reach for the door handle but she touches my arm to stop me. Turning, I meet her gaze and fear for a moment that she’ll slap me for something I didn’t do.
“I’m sorry,” she says and bites on her bottom lip. The move makes her seem young, childlike almost.
“About what?”
“About getting off on the
wrong foot. I was being grumpy and that wasn’t fair. He sort of blindsided me by inviting you. Work associate my ass,” she grumbles but waves me off when I start to speak. “Clearly, I love him. I just want him to be happy. I wish he would have told me about you—that he was dating you—”
“We’re not dating,” I argue.
“Fucking. Whatever. What I’m saying is—”
“We’re not fucking!” I screech, horrified to even be having this conversation.
She laughs and that confuses me. “Down girl. All I’m saying is that if he likes you, then I want him to do what makes him happy.”
I gape at her, my mind attempting to process her words before I snap out of it.
“Whatever kind of sick relationship you two have is your business. In two weeks, I’ll be out of your lives. I’m sorry I almost got involved in the middle of your…your…your whatever it is. Goodbye, Gwen,” I blurt before stepping out of the car and bolting to the building.
The car door slams and she shouts after me. “Violet! Wait!”
Ignoring the crazy woman, I rush into my building. I catch sight of a man leering from the shadows and I stop dead in my tracks.
Vaughn?
Panic slices through me, and I let out a garbled sob as I inch backward toward the door. I nearly knock down Gwen in the process.
“Stay away from me!” I screech at the man hiding in the shadows.
When he emerges, I flinch and cover my face with my hands. No! No! No! Gwen makes what sounds like a battle cry. Then, some man starts yelling. “My eyes! You bitch!”
I jerk my gaze to see that now the man has fully come out of the shadows. It’s not Vaughn. Just one of the usual lecherous men who hang around these parts. She grabs my elbow and ushers me into the stairwell. Once the door closes behind us, she urges me up the steps quickly.
