Page 38 of His Obsession
Val looks between us, and the tears that threatened to fall earlier finally break the surface.
“It was one time,” she says weakly.
“I don’t care how many times it was,” he seethes. “Once was enough. I trusted you,” he says to me. “I told you to be careful with her, and you did exactly what I told you not to do.”
“Hold on,” Val says, and I can already hear her ramping up for another fight. “What makes you think you have the right to dictate who I do and don’t sleep with?”
Nico goes completely still, and he has the good grace to look sheepish. “I wasn’t…” he stutters. “That’s not…”
“Jesus Christ, you’re both the biggest assholes I’ve ever met,” she growls in frustration.
“This is a thing he does,” Nico deflects. “He always sleeps with the event planners before the gala. It’s why he never uses the same person twice.”
Fuck. Val turns back to me with hatred in her eyes, and there’s not enough time in the world to explain that it wasn’t like that. She’s not just another notch on my belt. But she’ll never give me the time of day again.
“You’re un-fucking-believable,” she hisses. “Here you are, trying to make me feel bad for never calling you back, and this is just your fucking move. Have the life you deserve.”
At this, she finally does storm out. I’d follow her if Nico weren’t there, blocking my way.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” he asks, challenging me in a way he never has before. I deserve it, and that’s why I let him.
“It wasn’t like that,” I say honestly. “I like her, Nico. I fought it for your sake, but?—”
“But nothing,” he spits, curling his upper lip. I’ve never seen him this angry. “You didn’t just fuck my sister behind my back, you ruined her life. Fix this.”
“I want to!” I fire back. “You saw how she reacted. She’s not exactly making it easy.”
“Good,” he sneers. “You need to work for it. You’ve got to find a way to make this right by her, and you need to make this right by me.”
He doesn’t let me respond before he, too, turns on his heel and storms out. I can’t help wondering if the temper is a family trait. It would be funny if the situation weren’t so fucked up.
Once they’re gone, my ears ring from the silence. This is a goddamn disaster. So much for sparing my best friend’s feelings. Not to mention, like it or not, Val and I are tied to each other for the rest of our lives if she decides to keep the baby.
We all just need a minute to calm down. They’ll both take a beat, and then we can talk about this like rational adults, and everything will be fine.
I hope.
Otherwise, I’ve lost my best friend and the woman I’ve been obsessing over, all in one fell swoop.
15
VALENTINA
When I leave Sebastian’s office, my whole body feels like one big exposed nerve. That couldn’t have gone worse. I’m used to dealing with disasters, but this was an atomic bomb. There’s no coming back from this.
I can’t believe Nico. I can’t believe he actually told Sebastian not to sleep with me. Here I was, avoiding Sebastian to spare my brother’s feelings, and now all I can think is that he’s just another man in my life trying to control my every move. Who the fuck does he think I am? Who the fuck does he thinkheis? I’m fuming.
I’m moving too fast and not fast enough at the same time, heels cracking against the polished floor while my brain replays every terrible second of that conversation in useless, nauseating loops. I make it to the elevator and jab the button harder than necessary.
The doors open immediately, which feels like the only small mercy I’m going to get today. I step inside alone and hit the lobby button, then stand there in the mirrored box trying not to cry out of sheer frustration.
This went badly. Really badly.
Maybe when I’m in a better headspace, I can acknowledge that I didn’t exactly handle it well. Sebastian was trying to be reasonable in his own annoying way, but it came off as interrogation. I know I responded out of my own trauma, but that doesn’t ease any of my anger. All I could hear in his questions was control.
The elevator doors open into the lobby and I walk straight through without seeing any of the people around me. The whole building feels too bright. Too polished. Too full of normal life continuing while mine has cracked right down the middle.
Outside, the morning sun is sharp enough to hurt my eyes. Downtown traffic roars and honks and glitters in the heat. I climb into my car with shaking hands and sit there gripping the wheel before I can make myself start it.
