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“What the fuck does that even mean?”
She cringed. “He bought me. I got into some financial trouble a few years ago. He bailed me out, in exchange for my…services.”
“And at some point he decided he wanted you to service me? You told me that night, when we met at the bar, you didn’t know who I was. Was that a lie?”
She hesitated long enough to answer my question without a word.
I pounded back the rest of my beer. “God, you must have really thought I was an idiot, huh?”
She sighed and raked her hair out of her face. “No! I didn’t, Aaron. I know it doesn’t matter now, but I really like you.”
“How touching.” I shook my head. “That’s a real sad story, Talia, but it doesn’t excuse what you tried to do. You played me like I was a fucking game. I mean, what the fuck was all that? Were you trying to make me fall in love with you? Is that what he told you to do?”
The notion was laughable.
Aaron Rosen didn’t fall for anything.
“Henry thought that if I could get you to care for me, then when we were at the museum, I was supposed to switch and act like he beat me or something. He wanted you to want to save me. That way, when he offered me to you in exchange for the plane, you’d take the deal.”
“But he didn’t want the plane, Talia. He wants the whole goddamned museum.”
“I know.” She nodded. “The plane was just the first step in his plan. A way to get into the room, so to speak. I don’t think he anticipated you being so stubborn.”
I shrugged off her comment. I’d been called worse. “And what’s the rest then?”
“After he got the plane, he’d pitch you the idea of buying the museum.”
“Why? I don’t buy his whole I’m into aviation bullshit.”
Talia shook her head. “I just figured that out. That’s why I wanted to see you.”
She had my attention. I set down the fresh beer that Stacy had brought me and turned to face her. “What is it?”
Talia sighed. “He can’t get permits to build the high rise he wants to build. So, he needs a large piece of land to build it. And, where the museum is located, would be the perfect spot. The view is the best in the whole town anyway. He’d probably make even more money.” She shook her head in obvious disgust. “Once you signed the contracts, he was going to bulldoze the museum and your house and build the resort there—keeping the airstrip. His lawyers would have crafted a convenient loophole into the contract. That way, all he’s out is your initial lump sum, which, to be honest, is chump change for him.”
Rage boiled up inside me, spilling into my veins and seizing every muscle. “Holy shit.”
“Yeah. When I found out that part, I told him I was done.”
I shifted my eyes to hers. “So, what happens now? With your deal?”
“I have to pay him back for breaching our contract if I want to avoid a legal battle. Obviously in the contract, it doesn’t state what my actual…position was…so he can basically say whatever he wants. Either way, I’m screwed, but…that day, in your office, things changed for me. It was this moment of clarity where I saw how little he actually cared for me, even after the years we spent together. We traveled together, he bought me nice things, and kept me happy. Most of the time. But, I saw at that moment, how much of myself that I’d lost in all that…stuff.”
The picture she painted was grim, and I could understand her feeling trapped. Still, it didn’t excuse her lies and the ways she had tried to use and manipulate me into joining Henry’s game.
“Well, luckily for us, we’re both free. I didn’t sign his bogus contract, and you’re on your own too.” I clinked the tip of my bottle to her glass of ice water. “Cheers to that.”
“Aaron, do you think we could…” she floundered for a moment, trying to find the words. “Do you think we could start over? I’d like to get to know you. You know, outside of all that.”
I chuckled and finished the beer. I signaled to Stacy to bring me my check and then returned my gaze to Talia. “I don’t play games, Talia.”
“I don’t—”
I pushed off my stool and her excuse died on her pretty lips. She was still one of the sexiest women I’d ever seen in my life. I knew there was no chance in hell I’d forget about her anytime soon, but I also knew that she was trouble and not worth one more night of steam between the sheets.
“I’d say see ya around, but I really hope I don’t.”
I crossed the room and didn’t look back as I made my way to the pool table, where the blonde and the geek were finishing up. From the looks of it, she’d kicked his ass. I set a stack of quarters on the edge of the table. The blonde looked up from lining up her final shot and grinned.
