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His smile vanished. “Jesus Christ, Izzy, why the hell not? We’ve been together for three months.”
“We’veknowneach other for three months—a period during which we met here for sex at weekends. That’s it.”
“Don’t you belittle what we have.”
“Why? You did it when you kissed Genevieve Martin.”
His eyes flashing with shock, he went completely rigid.
“Don’t do something cliché like claim ignorance. I know it happened. Denying it would be pointless.”
Seconds of silence ticked by before he spoke. “It w-wasn’t real. As part of the shoot—”
“It had nothingto do with the photo shoot. You kissed her in a bloody alleyway where you thought no one would see you.”
“I don’t know where you heard that, but it isn’t true. Whoever said it twisted the whole thing.”
“You’re calling my mum a liar?”
His head jerked back. “Your mom? How could she possibly have heard about something like that?”
“You both have the same agent, dickhead. She was able to learn plentyabout you.” I hadn’t wanted to explain the ins and outs of the Vault to my mum, so I’d merely told her that I was very casually seeing someone. She’d badgered me for his name, and I’d known that she—being incredibly overprotective—would take a peek in his closet in search of any skeletons.
Ihadn’tknown she’d later that same day phone me back and break such shitty news to me before adding, “I am going to ram a plunger up that cheating bastard’s rusty bullet hole.”
Yeah, Jaxxon Carter had a way with words.
Ryland leaned forward, a pinch of desperation in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Izzy. More sorry than I can say. The kiss meant nothing.Genevievemeant nothing.”
“Then she should have been easy for you to resist.”
“It wasn’t planned; it was a moment of madness. I don’t even know how it happened.”
“I can give you a recap. You pushed her against the wall, played tonsil tennis with her, and then said that later couldn’t come soon enough because you needed to fuck her ‘again.’ As such, I’d say it was more than a single moment of madness. More like several.”
He spluttered. “I hadn’t seen you in weeks, I missed you, I was lonely.”
“How is that justification for betraying me?” It was the most ridiculous defenseever.
“To be fair, it’s not like we’re in a real relationship.”
“It was still a betrayal,” I pointed out, deadly calm. “Yourequested that we be exclusive, not me. You gave me your word that there’d be no other women in or out of the club. You went back on said word but expected me to stick to mine. If you can’t keep any promises you made to me regarding a simple arrangement, why in the fuck would I trust you to be faithful in a serious relationship?”
He squeezed his eyes shut, sighing. “Izzy.” His eyes popped open when I slipped out of the booth. “Wait, don’t go.”
“There’s no reason for me to stay.” And there was a genuine risk that I’d pour my wine over his head if I did. Just to be on the safe side, I drank the last of it and then set the glass on the table. “We’re done.”
He shot to his feet. “There’s more to say, more to discuss.”
“All you’ll do is try to convince me to let this go and forgive you. And all I’ll do is tell you to shove your excuses and apologies right up your arse.”
“Don’t do this, Izzy. Don’t give up on us. We can work through this.”
“Why would I want to? You proved that you’re not worth shit. Quite frankly, Ryland, I can do better. Ideservebetter.” I flicked imaginary lint from my black, halter jumpsuit. “Now if you’ll excuse me …” I went to pass.
He gripped my arm tight enough to hurt, his eyes dark with anger. “We’re not finished here.”
I snarled, keeping my voice low as I warned, “Let go of my arm or I’ll snap your fucking fingers.”
