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“I was betrayed by someone I loved,” he replied, still staring at me. “I almost lost my entire career over it.”
I tilted my head sideways, telegraphing my surprise and disbelief. Surely Paxton was just messing with me by implying that he once loved me. A monster like him couldn’t feel love, let alone any other sort of emotion.
Besides, even if that dark, twisted heart of his was somehow capable of love, I knew he never felt it for me. We were only sixteen and eighteen when we were together, and it didn’t last long. In fact, we’d only declared our exclusive status about four hours before the massacre.
I tightened my lips and looked down. My instincts had to be right. Paxton was just trying to get in my head. Trying to convince me he was innocent all along when we both knew better.
I moved on to the next series of questions, keeping my voice and expression neutral. When I finally reached the bottom of the printed document, I noticed that Lucy Carlyle had scrawled a note there. Sienna – please ask Paxton how the Forrester incident affected him. Readers will definitely want to hear about this. Just try to be as respectful as possible in the way you bring it up.
My stomach lurched, and I looked up at Paxton again. A faint smile was playing on his lips, like he already knew what I was going to ask.
I took a deep breath and curled my left hand into a fist below the desk, using the sharp pain of my fingernails digging into my palm as a way to focus my mind.
“I wanted to circle back to our previous discussion about the hardest thing you’ve overcome,” I began. “Would you mind expanding on your involvement in the Forrester incident, in terms of how it affected your hockey career?”
Paxton nodded slowly and rubbed his jaw. “Like I said, I almost lost everything over it. It was hard. But after I was exonerated, everything changed, and the offers came rolling back in. I just had to keep working at it and prove myself to the world. Prove that I truly belonged,” he said. “It’s still hard sometimes, knowing that there’ll always be some people out there who think I’m guilty. But I have so many amazing fans. So much incredible support. I’m really grateful.”
“That’s good to hear,” I said. My voice almost cracked as I spoke, and my left palm throbbed from my nails digging in so deeply.
“Yeah.” Paxton exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “It really sucks, you know. Whoever that guy was… he totally got away with it. The world will probably never know who did it.”
He was mocking me now. Goading me. I ignored the bait and cast my eyes back over my notes, along with the question document.
“Thanks so much for talking to me today, Paxton,” I said, affecting a cheerful tone. “I think we got a lot of good stuff.”
He smiled thinly. “Yeah. It was fun.”
“Oh.” My gaze landed on a line about halfway down the question document. “I’m sorry. I just realized I accidentally skipped one of the questions.”
“No problem. Shoot.”
I picked up my pen again. “Apart from hockey, what’s your favorite sport?”
Paxton inhaled slowly, deeply. Raked a hand through his floppy hair. Then he grinned and leaned forward again. “Hunting.”
I snapped my gaze down to my notepad again. All the hairs on the back of my neck were prickling. “Thank you,” I murmured. “That’s all I need for today.”
When I gathered my things and stood up, my legs seemed to turn to jelly, and my knees buckled. Paxton was on his feet in an instant, one strong arm shooting out to steady me.
Jeremy sprang up from his chair too, brows puckering with concern. “Are you okay, Sienna?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I smiled weakly at him. “I think my legs just went numb from sitting in the same position for so long.”
Paxton dropped his hand from my arm, and I dared to look over at him again. His expressionless face betrayed nothing.
I quickly lowered my eyes to the desk, not wanting him to see the truth flashing in them. His heavy hand on my arm had triggered a flood of memories, causing a flash of molten shame along with a twinge of arousal.
God, what the hell was wrong with me? Paxton was a vicious murderer. A psychopath. But still…
I truly hated myself for thinking it, but he was still the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen.
Paxton
“Come on… turn around.”
I narrowed my eyes at my phone screen, watching the back of Sienna’s head through my zoomed-in camera app as she lounged on her bed. Her cell phone was practically glued to her right hand and ear. She’d been chatting away to whoever was on the other end of the line for thirty minutes now, and I was getting sick of waiting for it to end. I wanted a decent show.
Obviously, she had no idea anyone was looking through her fourth-floor window every night. If she did, she’d probably close her curtains more often. Or maybe she wouldn’t. Maybe she liked knowing that anyone could watch her. Maybe she loved the attention. It wouldn’t surprise me, given her sordid history.
