He didn’t bother to ask where I was parked, just took the keys from King and disappeared around the corner that led to the parking lot. Still silent, I followed King to his truck and climbed inside.
Neither of us spoke during the fifteen minute drive to his bar, but I knew that he was as angry as I was. I wasn’t going to get into it with him right now. Things happened between King and I when we were angry; sexy, wild, beautifully ugly things. I wasn’t going to feed that beast.
Apparently, King felt the same way. After we arrived, he wasted no time in directing me to a tiny office down the hall from his.
“Everything you need is either on that computer,” he said, pointing to the desktop, “or in the filing cabinet.”
“Filing cabinet?”
“Albert kept paper copies of everything. He said computers weren’t to be trusted.”
I smiled because that sounded exactly like something Albert would say. “Okay, I’ll get started.”
I set my laptop bag on the desk and pulled out my computer. When I looked up, King was gone.
Chapter Seventeen
‡
Later that night, King and I were washing the dinner dishes in silence. We’d barely talked all day but the unspoken words seemed to take up all the space between us. There was so much to say and I had no idea where to begin.
He needed to understand that I would never be able to forget about what he’d done to me. Trust was a fragile thing and the trust I’d felt toward him had been thin at best.
Now, it would remain non-existent.
I dried the last plate and put it in the cabinet as King poured me a glass of wine. When he held the glass out to me, I hesitated before accepting it. Wine might not be the best idea, but I needed something to help me relax.
He walked out of the kitchen to the bar in the living room. The kitchen and living area were open and spacious, so I watched as he poured himself a glass of Scotch.
When he turned and noticed that I was still standing by the sink, staring at him, King gestured to the sofa.
“Have a seat.”
I carried my wine over to the couch and settled in, my back against the corner and my legs pulled up to my chest so my bare feet rested on the cushion.
King sat in the opposite corner, his ankle crossed over his knee and his arms stretched out on either side of him.
“We need to talk,” he stated shortly.
I nodded and sipped my wine, waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t, I sighed and put my glass on the coffee table.
“So I’m supposed to start?” I asked.
“Since I have no idea what’s eating at you until you do, yeah.”
My eyes narrowed on him. “What’s eating at me?”
King shrugged and said, “What’s bugging you?”
“You’re seriously asking me that?” My tone was incredulous because I could not believe he was so dense.
His eyebrows slammed together in a scowl. “Yeah, Jena. I am.”
I wasn’t sure where to begin so I dove right in with the first thing that came to mind. “You spied on me,” I hissed. “For months, you watched me with Justin. You knew everything about me before we met. I thought maybe Justin just had a big mouth, but it was more than that, wasn’t it?”
“I thought you were going to let this go,” he muttered.
“I said maybe someday I could let it go, King. That doesn’t mean today. Tell me.”
He tossed back the Scotch and set aside the empty glass. “Yes, we were watching you.”
“We?”
“Wick, Justin, and I.”
I rolled my eyes. “Jesus, so you all fucking played me. Not only did you play me, you put me in danger!”
I abruptly hopped to my feet and started pacing around the living room, my arms wrapped around my waist.
King stood and stepped in front of me, stopping my frenetic movements. “Jena, I’m sorry.”
Wow, two apologies in one day. It had to be a record.
“What good would your sorry do me if Larry had blown my head off before you realized what was going on?”
He flinched as though I’d slapped him across the face. “Jena…”
I lifted a hand. “No, shut up. I don’t want to hear your excuses.”
I took a deep breath in a desperate attempt to gain a semblance of control. I was angry about too much, about everything. I couldn’t even focus on what was the most important. When I no longer felt like screaming my head off, I asked, “Why did you bring me here, King?”
He frowned at me, but didn’t answer.
I clarified. “Were you hoping to pick up where we left off?” I asked.
King had the best damn poker face I’d ever seen, with the exception of my cousin Tia. I couldn’t read a single thought. “What do you want me to say?”
“The truth! I deserve the truth!”
King ran his hands through his hair and turned away from me, going to the sliding glass doors that led to the back yard and staring out into the dark.
“You seriously think I would sleep with you now?” I asked sharply.
His shoulders tightened, but he didn’t respond.
“King!” I cried. “Answer me!”
He whirled around and I could see the fury and the heat in his onyx eyes. “What do you want to hear, Jena? Do you want me to spill my guts? Fine, I will.” He sucked in a deep breath. “I wanted to be in Justin’s place from the first time I saw you. I wanted you more than I’d ever wanted another woman.”
“And that makes it better?” I asked scathingly.
“No!” he roared. “It doesn’t. But you wanted the truth, remember?”
“So the truth is you wanted to fuck me then and you still do now?” My voice was harsh and cold.
“Yes,” he answered shortly.
I threw my hands up in disgust. “Great, so you regret lying to me because you want to fuck me, that makes perfect sense.” I whirled on my heel and marched toward the hall that led to the guest room.
King’s hand hooked around my arm, twisting me around to face him. He grasped both my elbows, staring down at me with an unreadable expression. “I wanted more than that, Jena. I still do.”
I ignored the slight feeling of relief his words brought. I was aware I couldn’t trust him. I knew next to nothing about him because he’d kept himself so closed off.
“How can I believe that? You’ve lied to me for years.”
His jaw tightened. “I started out lying to you, Jena, but everything I’ve said to you the past few days has been the truth. I’ll always tell you the truth from now on.”
It wasn’t enough. We were arguing in circles and I couldn’t remember what I wanted anymore. I struggled to think clearly past all the anger, hurt, and that damned inexplicable power he had over me. I had to escape in order to sift through all the emotions careening through me without feeling his pull.
“It’s too late, King,” I murmured. “There’s too much shit between us. You lied to me, you ruined me. There’s no coming back from that.”
I pulled my arms from his grip and turned away from him. When I reached the door to the guest room, King’s voice stopped me.
“I will do whatever it takes, Jena.”
I looked over my shoulder to where he stood in the mouth of the hallway. “Whatever it takes for what?”
“To fix what I broke.”
I smiled, but it was sad. “There’s no fixing this, King.”
When I stepped inside my room and shut the door behind me, I wondered which of us was the worst liar. King for what he’d done to me, or me for pretending his betrayal had killed my desire. Even as hurt and angry as I was, I still wanted him.
Now that we were in close proximity, I was afraid that my hunger for King would overwhelm my hatred.
I slept poorly that night, but when I woke the next morning, I found a purple iris on top of the other pillow beside my head. My first instinct was to crush it and flush it down the toilet.