Page 5 of Trading In A Broken Heart

“Get off me,” she said and pushed me back from her. She looked behind me and then headed back toward the table. I followed closely behind her. She grabbed the shot glass and tossed that shit back like it was water. Solei was well past her limit, but that didn’t stop her from grabbing that second glass.

“After everything that I’ve done for them . . .” she started and rested her elbow on the table. Solei’s eyes connected with mine. “They still treated me like shit because they thought I was talking to you. They wouldn’t even believe me.” I noticed the glisten in her eyes, but she wasn’t about to allow a tear to fall. “Sometimes they make me feel like an outsider.”

By now, her cheeks were flushed from the alcohol. Her glossy lips were slightly parted while she fanned herself dramatically with a cocktail napkin.

“Why is it so damn hot in here?” she complained, tugging on the neckline of her jumpsuit.

My eyes briefly dropped. The heat wasn’t the problem. Music pulsed through the dimly lit bar while people laughed around us, but I barely heard any of it over the sound of her voice.

“I killed my husband.”

That caught me a bit off guard. Apparently, the liquor was causing her to confess her sins.

“Why?”

At this point, she had me intrigued. I wanted to know more.

“For my family . . .”

I studied her profile while she stared down at her glass. The diamond on her finger caught the dim lights from above, reflecting across the table. She looked too soft to have blood on her hands, but with her being a Saint-Mercier, I should’ve known better.

Solei was extremely pretty and looked delicate. I knew better than to confuse beauty with innocence. Some of the deadliest women looked like they wouldn’t even hurt a fly.

“I had to do it. He was gonna hurt Wicked . . . He shot me,” she said just above a whisper.

I understood that kind of loyalty better than most.

Solei laughed bitterly before downing the rest of her drink. “I feel like I’m cursed.”

My eyes slightly narrowed. “Cursed?”

She nodded. “Every man I’ve ever been with has only been with me because he thought he was gon’ benefit from it. Don’t nobody ever want me for me, and after Zayden, I don’t think I want anyone else. I just don’t want to try and trust again.”

“You just been dealing with weak-ass men. They ain’t got no motion of their own.”

She frowned, as if she’d gotten offended. “I’m just telling you the truth, mamas.” Her stare lingered on me. I could see the curiosity building in her head.

Danger recognized danger.

“You think I’m crazy?”

I looked her dead in the eyes and replied, “No. I think you loved your family enough to do what you had to do.”

She pulled her stare away from me and cleared her throat. “I have to go to the bathroom,” she said before lifting from the table. She stumbled a moment and lifted her hands out in front of her to hold her balance. “I’m good,” she made known and stepped away from the table.

I watched her as she strutted to the restroom. Her fingers raked through her long, black hair. Men lustfully gazed at her, but none of them dared to say anything to her. They probably thought she belonged to me.

The vibrating of my phone gained my attention. Grabbing it from my pocket, I swiped the screen and placed it to my ear.

“Got damn. How come you ain’t been answering the phone?” Ghost questioned me. With everything that has been going on with Solei, I had forgotten all about how my phone had been blowing up.

“Been a bit preoccupied. What’s up?”

“Alexander moved the meeting up. Eight o’clock.”

“Did he say why?”

“No.”