Page 10 of Empire of Lust
She’s not wrong. He’s sort of hopeless. He’s also a dick who wants to control her. “I’m sorry he’s being an asshole, but for what it’s worth, you look hot.”
She frowns at her reflection before meeting my eyes in the mirror. “Yeah?” I’m not used to seeing her this insecure. It kills me to know he has the power to break her like this.
“You know you do,” I assure her with a smile. “I’d rather have you to myself, anyway. We need a girls’ night before you abandon me for a month.”
Stepping behind her, I wrap my arms around her middle and give her a hug. “If I had a thing for girls, I’d totally steal you from him.”
“And I wouldn’t stop you.” Her grin is genuine, and there are no longer tears shining in her eyes. “Let’s get drunk.”
“That’s more like it.” I’m laughing as I open the door, prepared to pour my energy into picking her spirits up. Only the floor falls beneath me when I’m greeted by the last person I expected to see here. His familiar, dark eyes widen with shock once he realizes who he’s looking at.
“Lucas?” Tatum bumps into my back, but I barely feel it. I’m too busy staring at my boyfriend. He’s out of place. He shouldn’t be here. “I thought you were working.”
I once caught him jerking off to hardcore BDSM porn with a pair of my panties wrapped around his dick. The look on his face now is a lot like the one he wore that day—a man at a complete loss, shock and guilt competing for control.
He scrubs a hand through his short, sandy hair, probably trying to find an explanation. “What are you doing here?” I demand. “You said you had to close up the gym tonight.”
His eyes light up. “I got out early and came to surprise you,” he explains with a chuckle.
“I would believe that, but I didn’t tell you where we were going.” I fold my arms across my chest.
“I overheard you talking with Tatum about it.” He shrugs, grinning in a way I used to find sexy. Now, it nauseates me. “Surprise?”
No, this isn’t a surprise. That comes two seconds later when the door behind him opens, and a pair of arms snake around his waist.
“Mm, that was fun,” a woman purrs, leaning over and craning her neck to look up at him. “But next time, let’s take it someplace more private than the men’s room.”
From what I can see of her, she’s a petite, curvy redhead. She’s pretty. I’ve never seen her before, but she’s clearly someone my boyfriend knows. My choked groan brings her attention to me. You can practically see the puzzle pieces aligning in her mind. Her gaze ping-pongs between us.
“Oh, shit,” she breathes, her brows pinching together. “I didn’t know. I swear.”
“Son of a bitch,” Tatum growls. “You stupid fucking prick.”
“No!” Lucas whines, his face becoming as white as a sheet. He shakes his head profusely, like he can sense the impending doom that lies ahead. “No, it’s not what you think, Bianca.”
The nameless redhead frowns. “I’m really sorry. I had no idea. I’m not…”
I could be mad at her, but that would be the easy way out, because none of this is her fault. Even if she knew and still slept with him, the only person at fault is my boyfriend. For him to even consider sleeping with someone else, for not having the impulse control to keep it in his pants, this is all on him.
“Please… you don’t have to explain yourself,” I tell her, and her cheeks grow redder with embarrassment. She nods and slips past us, heading onto the dance floor.
“You lied to me.” I keep my voice low.
“I told you, it’s not what you think. It’s all a misunderstanding. You know I love you.”
He’s trying to soothe me. In the past, it might’ve worked, but not this time. There is an endless ocean of anger and disappointment between us. I can’t believe him, not when I’ve seen with my own eyes what really happened. He reaches for me, and I slap his hands away before he can make contact. Never again will he touch me. My heart feels heavy in my chest, like someone tied a brick to it.
“All this time. All these years, and you do this to me? Things have been hard, and I haven’t been perfect, but…” I can’t even make sense of what I’ve witnessed. Yeah, things weren’t great between us, and we were headed toward ending things, but cheating on me was never necessary.
“You’re right,” he’s quick to agree. “All these years spent together. Do you want to throw away what we have all because of something like this? Something so small.”
Nothing about this is small. Only he would assume cheating on me is a small thing. Only he would expect me to accept it and ignore the bright red flag waving in front of me.
“You’re damn right, she does,” Tatum snaps.
Lucas rolls his eyes. “Why don’t you mind your own fucking business for once?”
“Don’t talk to her that way.” My voice is cold and stony, just like the wall I’m putting up between the roiling inferno of my emotions and the outside world. I will not break down here.I won’t.An icy chill sweeps through my bones, and beads of sweat form against my brow. Something in my gut twists, digging the knife of betrayal deeper. Forcing air into my lungs, I tell myself that I won’t lose it in front of this cheating prick and a bunch of strangers.