Page 62 of Perfect Sin
“It doesn’t matter if it isn’t like that with us, Sin doesn’t believe it.” Saying the words out loud causes a sharp spear of pain to tear through my chest.
“Oh god, he doesn’t trust me,” I gasp, my tears become sobs, and I’m quickly losing control over my emotions careening toward a full on breakdown.
He reaches out to comfort me, then thinks better of it and drops his arm. Instead, he pulls his phone from his back pocket. “Jen, can Raven crash with you for a while? I’m going to let her tell you what’s going on if she’s comfortable with it.”
He hangs up the phone and returns it to his pocket. “C’mon, I can still offer you a ride. Jen lives alone, and her couch pulls out into a bed. It’s not a five star hotel, but—”
“It’s better than being here,” I finish.
* * *
“Didyou sleep at all last night?” Jen asks, handing me a cup of coffee.
“A little. I must have at least,” I say with a yawn. “Clearly not enough, though.”
She hands me a cup of coffee, and I moan as the scent hits my nose. “Thank you, but I’m not sure this is going to be enough to get me moving today.”
Jen shrugs. “So skip. You deserve a chance to lick your wounds.”
I reach for my phone, but she grabs it first. She frowns down at the screen. “You should turn this off for today. Driving yourself crazy checking it won’t change anything, and likely only make you upset.”
I frown. “He hasn’t texted, has he?”
She shakes her head. “I’m sorry. He’s going to come to his senses eventually. Then you can make him sweat.”
“I’m not sure he’s going to come around. Maybe we just rushed into something neither of us were ready for.”
Jen brushes my hair out of my face. “Don’t give up yet. Shane and I had a rough patch early in our relationship. He had a hard time dealing with the fact Ford and I used to date. Unlike the two of you, Ford and I were together for about six months. We joke about it now, but it almost broke us. Shane had a hard time getting past how well Ford and I know each other, but eventually he did. Not only did it almost break us up, but Ford and Shane didn’t speak for weeks. We managed to make it through that. Try and have some faith that you will too.”
“I don’t know, Jen, you all had the benefit of history to help you through. Sin and I don’t have that. I don’t know if his feelings for me are strong enough to help him fight off his insecurities.”
She rolls her eyes. “Men can be such babies, but don’t for a second underestimate your hold over him. He’ll come crawling back, just you wait.”
After she leaves I set the coffee aside, in favor of trying to get more sleep. It also has the added benefit of preventing me from checking my phone every few minutes. When I wake a few hours later, about the time we’d be heading to lunch, there’s several messages on my phone. None of them are from my husband.
Jen: Don’t turn on the TV.
Ford: I hope you don’t see this. Stay off social media if you do.
Lucien: Little bird, I’m going to take care of it.
All of their warnings have the opposite effect on me. Since I don’t have any social media accounts, I turn on the television. I have to flip through several channels showing insipid daytime programming before I land on a celebrity gossip show.
Photos and video clips of Ford comforting me outside of class yesterday flash across the screen. They’ve joined the photo Tessa took when we were all at Shane’s cabin. Together they seem to paint a picture of an ongoing romance. All talk of Sin’s father making up the story of him being forced to marry me has ceased.
“That spiteful bitch,” I scream at the tv and toss the remote across the room. It’s clear that not only has Tessa shared the picture, but she also shared the fact that Ford and I have hooked up.
“According to an unnamed source,” the host begins, “Raven Blackthorne and the man pictured with her, Ford Shaw, were seeing each other when Jackson Whitmore pressured her to end the relationship and marry him.”
“Recently the press has reported Damien Blackthorne, Raven Blackthorne’s father, used his control over Jackson Whitmore to pressure him to marry his daughter. Our sources suggest Jackson was sent to infiltrate Damien Blackthorne’s household with the intention of unearthing dirt for his father to use in his campaign for reelection of governor. How Raven fits into this plan is still a mystery,” the host concludes.
At least I’m no longer portrayed as a conniving schemer hell bent on forcing Sin into a marriage he didn’t want. I doubt the governor is happy with this turn in the story either. I can’t put it past my father to have had something to do with this turn in the story. Either they will believe Sin and I are madly in love or that he and I are victims. No matter what, he wins in the end. He will always win, and I will always be made to appear weak.
Since I impetuously threw the remote across the room, I have to get up to retrieve it. They were right, I didn’t need to see this. At least it got me out of bed. What I need is a plan, and I know just who can help me come up with one.
I take my phone again and make a call. “Holbrook, I need to get away for a few days. Can you help me with that?”
“Ford says you’re staying with Jen?”