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“Have you heard anything I’ve said?”
“I heard it all, and the only conclusion I can come to is you have PMS.”
“PMS?” Lisbeth hadn’t realized her voice could reach that pitch. “I’m explaining my feelings to you, and you’re blaming it on my cycle.”
“What else could cause such a shift in your personality?”
Lisbeth drew a deep breath, spun on her heel, and marched into the bedroom. Samson’s head jerked up, and his mouth opened to say something, but she ignored him, retrieving her ring from the nightstand, then marching out of the room.
“Here.” She shoved the glimmering diamond ring into his palm. “We are no longer engaged.”
He held up the ring between his thumb and forefinger. “Is this some kind of joke?”
“I didn’t expect this to be easy, but I thought we could talk this out like adults. I see now we’re one short. I also get the impression you’re more worried about missing your father’s campaign announcement than hearing what I have to say.”
Edward examined the ring, then glared at her. “You are making a huge mistake.”
“Maybe, but it’s my mistake to make.”
“I find it very suspicious everything was fine between us before you came to Vegas. Did something orsomeonehappen in the last few weeks you’ve been here?”
Lisbeth refused to make this about Samson, so she stayed quiet to see where it would lead him.
“As I’m sure you know, we have many resources at the tip of our fingers, and although I was willing to overlook your recent indiscretion, I know what you’ve been doing and who you’ve been doing it with.”
“Now, who’s being cryptic? If you have something to say, just say it.”
“Fine. I don’t think a fiancé of mine should be frequenting a strip club owned and run by outlaw bikers.”
“First of all, I was there on business, running an event for them, and second, are you having me followed?”
“Of course not. I have a tracker on your phone.”
“You have awhaton mywhere?” Lisbeth threw her hands in the air. “I don’t believe this. How dare you track my—”
“I told you before, I don’t have time for dramatics, so here’s the deal: get yourself dressed, come to LA, and act like my doting fiancé, and I’ll forget your recent involvement with your old flame, Samson.”
“What do you know about Samson, and how—”
“Did you think I wouldn’t do a background check on you before we got engaged? Your naivety used to be endearing, now it's becoming very tedious now.”
Edward’s annoying eye roll had her clenching her fists at her side.
“I know all about your first job as a stripper in Brooklyn and your affiliation with known New York gangsters—namely, Samson. He recently opened a club off the Strip with his other mob-connected partner, Nick Santoro, who tries to fool everyone by using the name, Nick Sinclair. My father and I had a business meeting with them last week, but they stupidly refused to join our organization.”
Lisbeth’s head jerked toward her bedroom, then back to Edward.
“Not a smart decision on their part, as I’m sure they are starting to realize.”
“I can’t believe you knew all about my past and never mentioned it.”
“I assumed you’d want your past as a stripper in a dive bar kept secret. I didn’t mention it for your sake. No sense in hashing up the past, especially when it’s not very flattering.”
Edward’s words sounded sincere on the surface, but his condescending undertone echoed in her ears.
Shouldn’t he be accepting of all her flaws and past mistakes?
Lisbeth mashed her lips together, searching for the right words to express the tumultuous feelings surging through her entire body. “I can’t help sensing our whole relationship has been built on a lie. Granted, I kept part of my life to myself, but somehow, to have me investigated and not inform me seems worse.”
