The Starkest Truth (A Breaking Insanity Novel Book 2) by Courtney Lane
Authors: Courtney Lane
Ads: Link
alleviate the sudden tightness. I wrung my hands, trying to will them to stop their persistent trembles. “I don’t want to be social. I’ve closed your client account, you can leave now.”
“You would scrap nearly sixty billable hours of work for what? Pride?” He glanced at my hands. “Am I making you nervous?” he asked again as if he was expecting a different answer than before.
“I don’t have any familiarity with that word. Pride. I don’t have a friendship with it. I don’t truly know what it is.” I shrugged. “Goodbye, Mr. Wilcox.”
“Estelle was pregnant with Eric’s child once. Did he tell you that? If you’re thinking your pregnancy holds you above her, you’re wrong.”
His words generated an uncomfortable feeling inside my abdomen. I didn’t care how he knew I was pregnant. I surely didn’t want to find out the how and why. I did, however, want to believe it was above Eric to talk about me with Preston. I also wanted to believe Estelle never cared to mention anything about me to Preston in any sort of way.
I wanted to stand firm in the belief this wasn’t the continuation of a cycle from a man who got off on breaking women. I wanted reassurances the cycle ended with Estelle, and Preston simply had a problem letting go of the game he and Eric played together. In having it shut down, Preston was seeking revenge by filling my head with lies like his ex-girlfriend before him.
“Why can’t you leave us alone?” I asked, keeping my tone placid.
He paced over to me with a self-assurance that shook me and blocked my path to the patio doors. “What am I doing? I’m only trying to tell you the truth. I’m only dismantling the dozens of lies I know Eric has told you. Are you wondering why I’m doing this to you, when I’ve never done it with any other women before?” He rolled his shoulders. “You’re…different, Nikki. I can say it with the utmost confidence, because I know things about you—things Eric doesn’t. As for the rest? It’s not an answer I’m prepared to give you…yet. I would think you should be grateful for this. I’m doing something to help you, while desiring nothing in exchange.”
“That is such shit,” I balked. “You want something. It’s rare for a man to do a favor for a woman he finds attractive without wanting something in trade.”
He lightly smirked. “You think I find you beautiful, do you?”
I shot my glance back to the door. “I didn’t say that. Move away from the door.”
“Nikki.” He abruptly snapped his fingers, his tone calling my attention to his face. “I have nothing to gain by doing this. Nothing to gain and everything to lose. I’m trying to help you.”
I gazed at him, startled by the way his demeanor suddenly changed. “I don’t believe anything you’re saying to me. Why would you bother unless you were getting something out of it? You can thank your deceased ex for teaching me a very valuable lesson. She tried. Tamala tried. They all failed. You will not break me and Eric apart with the guise of trying to help me, or pretending to know things about me. It’s not going to work.”
“She was never my fiancée,” he retorted. “And your version of events is very, very wrong.”
“Then, what do you want? To fuck me? I’m not Estelle. Eric would never share me with you.”
The expression on his face threw me further from finding my easiness. “You think I’ll need his permission to have you? When I want you, if I want you, the decision to share won’t be up to him. You, Nikki, will soon know the true nature of the man you married.”
“I know him very well,” I rebutted, my tone throaty and deep with a warning.
“Nikki, you don’t. You really, really don’t. He’s just begun with you.”
“You don’t know that. You don’t know a thing about Eric and me.”
“Can I tell you what I know?” he asked, his eyes glittering. “He’s been pushing you away, hasn’t he? If a tragedy ever befell
“You would scrap nearly sixty billable hours of work for what? Pride?” He glanced at my hands. “Am I making you nervous?” he asked again as if he was expecting a different answer than before.
“I don’t have any familiarity with that word. Pride. I don’t have a friendship with it. I don’t truly know what it is.” I shrugged. “Goodbye, Mr. Wilcox.”
“Estelle was pregnant with Eric’s child once. Did he tell you that? If you’re thinking your pregnancy holds you above her, you’re wrong.”
His words generated an uncomfortable feeling inside my abdomen. I didn’t care how he knew I was pregnant. I surely didn’t want to find out the how and why. I did, however, want to believe it was above Eric to talk about me with Preston. I also wanted to believe Estelle never cared to mention anything about me to Preston in any sort of way.
I wanted to stand firm in the belief this wasn’t the continuation of a cycle from a man who got off on breaking women. I wanted reassurances the cycle ended with Estelle, and Preston simply had a problem letting go of the game he and Eric played together. In having it shut down, Preston was seeking revenge by filling my head with lies like his ex-girlfriend before him.
“Why can’t you leave us alone?” I asked, keeping my tone placid.
He paced over to me with a self-assurance that shook me and blocked my path to the patio doors. “What am I doing? I’m only trying to tell you the truth. I’m only dismantling the dozens of lies I know Eric has told you. Are you wondering why I’m doing this to you, when I’ve never done it with any other women before?” He rolled his shoulders. “You’re…different, Nikki. I can say it with the utmost confidence, because I know things about you—things Eric doesn’t. As for the rest? It’s not an answer I’m prepared to give you…yet. I would think you should be grateful for this. I’m doing something to help you, while desiring nothing in exchange.”
“That is such shit,” I balked. “You want something. It’s rare for a man to do a favor for a woman he finds attractive without wanting something in trade.”
He lightly smirked. “You think I find you beautiful, do you?”
I shot my glance back to the door. “I didn’t say that. Move away from the door.”
“Nikki.” He abruptly snapped his fingers, his tone calling my attention to his face. “I have nothing to gain by doing this. Nothing to gain and everything to lose. I’m trying to help you.”
I gazed at him, startled by the way his demeanor suddenly changed. “I don’t believe anything you’re saying to me. Why would you bother unless you were getting something out of it? You can thank your deceased ex for teaching me a very valuable lesson. She tried. Tamala tried. They all failed. You will not break me and Eric apart with the guise of trying to help me, or pretending to know things about me. It’s not going to work.”
“She was never my fiancée,” he retorted. “And your version of events is very, very wrong.”
“Then, what do you want? To fuck me? I’m not Estelle. Eric would never share me with you.”
The expression on his face threw me further from finding my easiness. “You think I’ll need his permission to have you? When I want you, if I want you, the decision to share won’t be up to him. You, Nikki, will soon know the true nature of the man you married.”
“I know him very well,” I rebutted, my tone throaty and deep with a warning.
“Nikki, you don’t. You really, really don’t. He’s just begun with you.”
“You don’t know that. You don’t know a thing about Eric and me.”
“Can I tell you what I know?” he asked, his eyes glittering. “He’s been pushing you away, hasn’t he? If a tragedy ever befell
Similar Books
