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John’s eyes narrowed, his gut tightening in suspicion. “What did you just say, Sierra?”
The one thing that hit him faster than even the words was the fact that neither Marlena nor Gerard was denying it. Guilt flickered in both their eyes instead.
“My God, that little tramp has nerve,” Marlena finally muttered. “Where is her keeper?”
Gerard was watching John, though. It was a damned good thing, John thought, because he wasn’t certain himself of his reaction. Was that an edge of relief mixed with the sudden anger that his best friend and his fiancée had been lying to him? Lying. Cheating him as though he were too damned stupid to eventually catch on to it?
“Why were you at Gerard’s house?” he asked. “You told me you didn’t know him. ”
“Really, John, these things aren’t discussed in public. ” Her cold blue eyes narrowed on him. “Your roots are showing, dearest. A marriage such as ours doesn’t necessitate such answers. ”
A marriage such as theirs? Where the hell had that come from and what made her think their marriage would be any different than any other couple’s?
“The hell it doesn’t. ” He was aware of the looks nearby diners were giving them. The subtle hunger as they smelled the juicy gossip getting ready to roll. “If you’re fucking my best friend, then it’s as good a time as any to discuss it. ”
Marlena’s eyes widened.
“Hell, John,” Gerard muttered, looking around in embarrassment. “Business arrangements don’t include jealousy. ”
“Business arrangements?” Fury was beginning to envelop him.
“Well, surely you didn’t think it was a love match,” Marlena drawled. “Your money, my family. That does not a passionate affair make. ”
Her family? Her father didn’t have shit compared to his in financial success. Did she honestly believe the Genoa name held an advantage to him?
“John. ” And there was Sierra, sliding in close, her tiny hand settling on his arm. “This is the wrong place to fight. You don’t want witnesses when you kill them, right?”
He almost laughed. Hell, he was almost amused as he stared down at her somber little face. “I have a good lawyer,” he promised her in a loud whisper. “And diminished capacity goes a long way. ”
Lifting his gaze, he watched as Marlena and Gerard both stepped back. “What’s wrong, Gerry, buddy? You don’t have as much money as I do?”
Gerard winced; they both knew he didn’t.
“Fuck both of you,” he growled. “You can mail the ring back, keep it, or flush it, who the fuck cares. Now I know why I hesitated to give you the heirloom Mother has. You don’t fucking deserve i
t. ”
Marlena gasped in outrage, and her lips parted to deliver what he was certain would be a scathing retort when he turned his back on her and walked away.
“Go home, Sierra. You did your good deed for the day,” he snarled down at her as he hailed a cab then jerked the door open as one pulled in beside him.
“John. ” Her hand was on his arm again. Her nipples were pressing tight and hard against her dress. Hell, there were days he wished she wasn’t his father’s goddaughter. It made it damned hard to give her the fucking he’d wanted to give her since he’d learned just how easily she could be had.
“I’ll deal with you later, you little troublemaker,” he snapped as she jerked her hand back. “Until then, stay the hell out of my way. ”
“You had a right to know, and she had no right to an opportunity to lie to you. ” She bit her lip, anger and conviction shining in her eyes, along with her tears.
“I’m not so easy to lie to,” he informed her sharply. “Fuck it, Sierra. Go play with your little artist boyfriends and leave me the hell alone. ”
Sliding into the cab, he slammed the door, the sight of her pale, serious little face in his periphery as the cab pulled away. Giving the driver the address to his penthouse, John sat back in the seat and closed his eyes briefly.
Hell. He should have known she was cheating on him. He should have known the entire relationship was nothing more than a sham. In the year and a half they’d been together, not once had he felt what he knew he should have felt from Marlena. There had been no depth, no passion. He’d convinced himself that would change once they married. He should have known when his mother gave the news of his engagement such a cool reception that something was wrong.
When he walked into his penthouse half an hour later, he went directly to the bar. He’d been doing that more and more lately, he thought. Heading straight to the bar the minute he walked in the door.
He’d been doing it for the past three months.
What had ever convinced him that marrying Marlena was a good idea?
