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“I’m assuming you all know who she is?” I ask no one in particular, not looking away.
None of the guys answer as I continue taking in the woman as she saunters up to the bar with a natural sway to her hips. She leans over the bar and even though her back is to me, I can tell by the smirk Dimitri, the bartender, gives her that she is displaying a generous amount of cleavage for him. He nods after listening to her and begins mixing a drink.
When my question is still met with silence, I turn to the three guys who are staring at me with pitiful eyes. “She…she called Conrad hubby last night,” I tell them.
“Shit,” Camden hisses under his breath.
“Please, guys, just tell me. Did he…did he cheat on me?”
“What? No,” Camden answers automatically.
I eye him with skepticism. “Then how do you explain her? Who is she to him?”
Maddox looks between his teammates. “Listen, Blondie, we like you and what happened between you and Conrad is messed up, but we can’t answer these questions. You have to ask him. It’s more…complex than any answer we can give you.”
“Well, if it isn’t the little skank I found with my man in the bathroom last night,” a voice comes from behind me. Even though April in Florida is filled with warmer weather, a shiver runs through me at the tone of the voice.
Turning, my blue eyes connect with a pair of brown ones that are searing through me. “Excuse me?” I ask.
With blatant judgment on her face, the woman drags her eyes from my head to my toes. She smirks before saying, “You heard every word I said, but don’t worry. I have no concerns about someone likeyouwhen it comes to my relationship with Conrad.”
While I have been on the receiving end of my fair share of bullying and scrutiny, most of that ended in high school. Never in my adult life have I had someone judge me when I don’t even know their name.
Before I can respond to her hurtful comment, Maddox chimes in, “Listen, Liliana, I don’t give a fuck about the arrangement between you and Con, but leave Blondie out of it. She’s innocent in this.”
Arrangement?What could Maddox mean by that?
“Innocent?” The woman who I now know as Liliana laughs. “She wasn’t so innocent when I saw her coming out of the bathroom last night at a frat party looking freshly fucked.”
“Back off, Liliana,” Levi growls. His usually calm demeanor is altered into something defensive. His eyes are narrowed at Liliana, hands clenched on the tabletop.
She arches a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at him. “The day I take orders from a goddamn lumberjack will be a cold day in hell.” She looks back at me with a sneer on her face. “Besides, the skank and I need to get this conversation over with sooner rather than later.”
From the corner of my eye, I see Camden looking around and then down at his lap. Blaire is taking another table’s orders behind him, but I can see her attention is split between them and us, clearly sensing some tension going on over here.
“Sweetie, I don’t even know you. We have nothing to talk about because Conrad and I are not together and he is free to do what he pleases.” The words taste bitter coming out of my mouth. Admitting to this woman that Conrad is not mine and she can have him feel wrong deep inside of me.
Over Liliana’s shoulder, an angry Conrad storms through the door, fury evident on his face as he makes his way toward our table. Garrett is looking my way with an inquisitive look on his face, and I know I need to leave and get back to my job, but my feet feel as if they are cemented to the ground as I fight to catch my breath as Conrad approaches.
“Liliana, let’s go,” Conrad snarls.
Her eyes widen in shock at the sound of his voice, and she whirls around, coming face-to-face with him. “Conrad, what are you doing here? You said you were busy tonight.”
He crosses his arms over his chest and stares down at her. “I am. Now you need to leave.”
Being this close to him and hearing his deep voice reminds me of how he made my body feel last night, and my cheeks heat up thinking about how wonderful he felt against me.
“Oh, but you’re not too busy to come rescue your little skank?”
“Liliana, please,” he begs, sounding tired. The interaction is starting to attract attention, and I look over to see Garrett whispering something to the bartender Liliana ordered a drink from.
“We’re getting fuckingmarried, Conrad, and you’re still fucking around with other women and barely even talk to me,” Liliana screeches, her hands moving out to her sides with frustration.
Conrad looks over her at me, and I see the sorrow in his eyes. Bringing his eyes back to hisfiancée, the look on his face changes to evident anger. “We’ll fucking talk about this later, but you’ve created enough of a scene here tonight. Go back to your hotel, and I will come there tomorrow.”
With an irritated huff, she storms off the way she came in, leaving behind a tense situation that she herself created.
Once she is gone, Conrad takes a step toward me, but before he can say anything, Garrett interrupts. “Not sure what has been going on here, but Em has tables to tend to.” I’m grateful his tone is light and not stern like any other boss’s would have been.
