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I wake up the next morning with a text from Noah. He’s apologizing, saying the press has discovered my real identity. There are links to articles and images of me as both the gamer, VioletV. and Violet McNamara. When a message from Cameron pops up, my heart thumps. It’s a picture of the kiss.
Just as my hand shoots to my mouth, a knock on the door startles me.
When I open it, I see it’s all over Cato’s face.
“Oh my God, it’s not like that . . .”
“I know, I was there. But one of Cam’s men sent the picture to him.”
Without another word, he turns and leaves. I make my way downstairs with a heavy heart. I didn’t do anything wrong, yet what if the situation were reversed?
The ballroom of the hotel has been transformed into a buzzing gaming center. High pitch and thunderous applause erupt as we take our places. We barely scrape by with a win against today’s competition, and we still have one more team to defeat. Dread drags me under, and everything crashes down on me. My eyes glisten.
I want my husband. I need him. Just him.
“Are you okay?” Noah asks.
“No. I’m not okay.”
His face drops. His fingers fidget, and he says, “It was just a kiss.”
He opens his mouth, but I raise my hand. “A kiss that was not for you to take.”
“I thought you left him or... I wanted to kiss you. If you say you’d give me a chance right now, I would take it.”
I shake my head in total disbelief. “The woman you kissed is only here because my husband successfully smashed the walls around me. I am his. You know he had to see that picture...”
“Sorry . . . I didn’t think things through.”
I sigh, having no idea how to explain this to my husband.
And we do win, making me feel incrementally better.
My agent hums while showing me all the companies wanting me to promote their brands. I guess the net worth of my brand increased with my identity uncovered.
It’s night by the time we wrap things up. We spend the drive to the plane in silence. When we take our seats, Cato says, “You were amazing up there.”
“Thank you.”
An awed expression takes over his face, eyes sparkling with adoration. “My wife, she’s a rebel at heart. I would do anything for her. Love is about sharing your successes and offering support when things get harder. It’s about being there, about making compromises. Chiara would postpone the presentation of her new collection indefinitely with danger still lurking. She looked at me and knew I would die for her. At the beginning of our marriage, she would have said fuck you and just gone with it, not caring about the consequences.”
I don’t think I’ve heard him talk so much. Staring outside the window, his words burrow into my rotten-with-guilt heart.
“You remind me of my wife.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“That will be you too. Even if we normally have everything under control, sometimes the enemies push too hard and get too close, and then you would have to skip events like this. Trust is so hard-earned and so easily lost. You lied to get here. What do you think is waiting for you at home? A party?”
“I needed to be here.”
“You wanted to test him. Well, when Cam gets over it, then you will finally fucking know he loves you.”
He returns to his phone, and I wrap my arms around myself, thinking.
Before I met Cameron, I was content with how things were. Now, challenging myself is a part of who I am. I like the bold, fearless, and functioning woman I’ve become.
Maybe the timing was wrong, but I made it to Vegas, first and foremost for myself, and succeeded. I loved the thrill of conquering my fears and the time with my team. I loved the excitement surrounding the competition, and especially winning.
