AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It doesn’t matter,” I muttered.
“It matters tome,” she pleaded. “Please, Roarke. What does all this mean? What do you want from me?”
“I don’t want you seeing anyone else,” I murmured, looking at her mouth.
“I’m not,” she insisted, and I wanted to believe her. I wanted to believe her so much it hurt, but I’d believed women before when they told me lies.
I opened my mouth to say her name, but she leaned up and kissed me, pressing her lips hard against mine, her tongue seeking in my mouth.
I couldn’t help myself. I kissed her back, my tongue meeting hers, my hand in her hair. But after just a moment, I pulled away.
“No,” I said. “I’m not doing this.”
“Butwhy?”she asked, and I was horrified to see that tears were welling in her eyes. “I want you. You want me. Why can’t it just be simple?”
“Because things get messy, Riley. Things always get messy,” I said, and my heart was aching. Fuck, I really did like her.
“They don’t have to,” she went on. “I’m not seeing anyone else, so unless you’re not telling me something...” She trailed off and looked up at me expectantly.
I sighed, rubbing a hand over my face. “Riley, please. I know that I’ve been acting like a jealous dick but I have my reasons. I know that you’re seeing Mark. It’s fine. We’re not exclusive or anything.” Saying it was fine that she was dating someone else felt like acid in my mouth. It was a lie, the first I’d told since walking in here.
“What do I have to do to prove to you that I’m not seeing Mark?” she asked, exasperated. When I didn’t answer, she walked around to the other side of her desk and picked up her phone, unlocking it and showing me that the last text message she sent to Mark was after their date last night. He’d sent her a wealth of more texts, but she hadn’t responded.
I frowned, but then I clicked on recent calls, and instead of Mark’s name, it was Richard Webster. I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach.
“Are you sleeping with Webster, too?” I accused, and Magda snorted and threw her phone down on the desk.
“That’s disgusting,” she said. “He’s myfather.”Suddenly, her eyes widened as if she realized what she’d just said.
I gaped at her. “What?"
My head was spinning. What was she saying? Surely, I’d heard her wrong.
Magda slowly dropped her hand from her mouth, shoulders slumping. “Richard Webster is my father,” she said quietly.
“You...you’re lying,” I sputtered.
She was just trying to keep me from knowing that she was seeing Mark. Granted, this was a ridiculous lie, but...
“I kept my mother’s maiden name. Riley,” she said. “I didn’t want it to seem like I got my job because of nepotism. I’ve kept it a secret all this time and asked my dad to keep it quiet too.”
Suddenly, the pieces started coming together in my head. Him pushing her for partner, the fact that she walked around as if she owned the place from day one, his soft spot for her and how he let her get away with things that no one else could. The way she talked to him, like she knew he wouldn’t fire her. Of course, he wouldn’t. That’s hisdaughter.
This was much worse than her sleeping with Mark Windham. Magda Riley was my partner’s daughter. Mybest friend’sdaughter. How could I have been so blind? How could they do this to me?
I turned to leave.
This was the final straw. Now, more than ever, I had to dump Magda. She was a liar as well as a cheat.
MAGDA
I couldn’t believethat I’d just told Roarke my big secret. I was just so shocked at his accusation.
His face went blank and he started to leave. I rushed around him and braced my back against the door. I couldn’t let him go. Not like this.
“Not this again. I refuse to chase you to your office again,” I said.
“Get out of my way, Riley.” Roarke’s face broke into a bitter smile. “Or should I call you Webster?”
