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But she could also be telling the truth.
“I’ll work for that forgiveness,” she told me, a determined glint in her pale-blue eyes. “And I’ll get it. I’ll accept nothing less, and I won’t care who I mow down in the process—he’s too important to me for me to simply give up on.”
“Huh.” I poked the inside of my cheek with my tongue. “So what you’re saying is that you wanted to warn me, one woman to another, that you aim to win Kaiser back and so I should either strap on my seatbelt or cut my losses?”
She blinked. “Yes. That.”
I gave her a winning smile. “Oh. Okay. Thanks for letting me know.” I went to face forward, but she spoke again.
“Wait a moment. Look, I can see that you’d prefer to ignore my warning and hope that the situation works out well for you. It won’t.”
I inwardly sighed. “As I said, thanks for letting—”
“He always called me his little muse, you know.”
That was a stab to the gut.
“Whether he’ll record the songs he’s written about me I don’t know, given I messed up so badly. My point is that I’m not simply a woman he dated. I was important to him. I’mstillimportant to him. He won’t choose you over me, if that’s your hope.”
I didn’t envision him ‘choosing’ me as a permanent partner in any scenario, but I wasn’t going to admit as much to her. So I shot her another wide smile. “Don’t you worry about me, I’m a big girl, I’ll be fine. You just, you know, do you.”
Her eyes hardened. “If you have any sense, you’ll back off.”
Hearing the threat buried there, I tensed. “And if I don’t?”
“Patton Harvey.” She threw out the name, and my insides seized. Her mouth curved. “You remember him, I’d imagine. I suppose it would difficult for you to forget him, all things considered. The world doesn’t know all the itty, bitty details of what happened between you two, does it? That can change in an instant, Inaya Rose. I’m sure the tabloids would beveryinterested to hear all about it.”
Bitch.I kept a neutral expression on my face by sheer force of will. “You’re blackmailing me now? Wow. That’s a weirdly desperate move for someone who’s so sure I’m no threat.”
She let out a dismissive chuckle. “Oh, you’re no threat to what I have with Kaiser. But that doesn’t mean I like that he’ssleeping with someone else, so do the best for everyone and remove yourself from the picture. I can promise that you’ll regret it if you don’t.” With that, she sauntered back to her car and then peeled out of here.
That motherfucking hoe.
As I drove through my gates and up my driveway toward the house, I told myself again and again to stay calm. But it was damn hard. I wasn’t in a panic over her threat as she’d clearly hoped. No, I wasfurious.Furious that she’d threaten to drag such a serious and saddening story into the limelight, which would hurt many people in the process.Vindictive bitch.
For the sake of the people that would be upset if the story surfaced, I should probably pull back from Kaiser, despite that the aforementioned people would do me absolutely no favors in any situation. But why should I have to give him up—give up this one thing I’d always wanted—justto placate some skank? It wasn’t like I’d get to keep him permanently. Couldn’t I at least have the simple luxury of enjoying our little arrangement before it all went south?
Inside the house, I took my groceries to the kitchen and began putting them away, wishing I hadn’t heard Camila out. Not that it would have changed what she intended to do, but at least she wouldn’t have taken a dump all over my day.
Chewing my lower lip, I wondered if Kaiser truly had sent her those messages she mentioned. I couldn’t weigh in on the matter, because I had no clue if she had been—or still was—as important to him as she claimed. I’d never asked him about her, and he’d never brought her up in conversation. He was so hard to read that I doubted I’d sense if he was pining for another woman.
I mentally replayed how he’d spoken to her that time she’d shown up at his house. He’d been cold, yes, but it hadn’tseemed like a coldanger. It was more of an icy indifference that suggested she had no real emotional hold on him.
He always called me his little muse, you know.
Jealousy and dejection curdled in my gut, making me feel sick to my stomach.
Cursing, I leaned against the countertop and swiped a hand down my face. Even if her claims were in fact true, it didn’t mean that she was right in believing she’d win him back. But I’d have a better idea of judging that if I knew exactly what she’d done to hurt him so much. And the only person who could enlighten me was him.
If it hadn’t been for her threat, I probably would have shrugged off her words and let the whole thing play out. Or maybe not … because this wasKaiser.The thought that he might be yearning for someone else, that he’d soon set me aside for said someone and that I was nothing more than a way to hurt her, wasn’t something I could easily ignore.
I could just ask him outright if she’d spoken the truth. He played his cards close to his chest and didn’t share much, but he was also a straight shooter. I couldn’t envision him lying if I asked if he still cared for Camila.
I honestly dreaded the answer. Because if it turned out I was simply a tool to make her jealous, well, I was done. Being used for sex was one thing. Being used to knife someone in their metaphorical gut was another. I was worth more than that. And he wouldn’t be worth dealing with the mountain of shit she might cause if that was all I was to him.
I’d like to think that that wasn’t the case. I’d like to believe that he was completely done with her. More, I’d like to believe that the man I’d crushed on for so many years wasn’t simply using me to hurt his ex.
He always called me his little muse, you know.
