“I have a few contacts to talk to tonight, so we’ll just grab a drink and then I’ll leave you to socialize a little while I get some things squared away,” he says when the doors open and we step into an apartment that is obviously a penthouse and not what I’d been expecting at all.
See what happens when you don’t pay attention to where you’re going?
“Taylor,” I protest, accepting a glass of champagne. “Please don’t leave me alone. I don’t know anyone here,” I hiss, grabbing hold of his jacket sleeve.
He shrugs me off with a reassuring smile and rubs at the bare skin of my shoulders.
“Don’t worry, Hannah, I’m sure you’ll do just fine,” he murmurs, shocking me by planting a quick, hard kiss directly on my mouth.
Well, that answers my earlier question. Not even the barest tingle from our lips meeting.
Shit.
He’s gone a second later, and I watch his retreating back with annoyance before turning back to the packed room and getting a good look at the guests. Rich, rich, rich.
Everywhere I turn shows me that this is not a place I should be, not by a long shot, and I need to get my ass out of here before someone—
“So quick to replace me,” I hear from behind me, and I whip around to see Gregory standing behind me, a dark look searing into my skin. “You look very cozy together.”
“Gregory.” It’s a breathy whisper, all I can get out as my eyes drink him in like I’ve been wandering the desert and he’s an oasis.
My reaction floors me, steals my breath and good senses, and I want nothing more than to throw myself at him and never let go. I’ve missed him unbearably and—
“Good to know our relationship meant so much to you that you’re already fucking another man. But then, what should I really expect from a woman like you?” he sneers, his look so scornful I’m snapped out of my love bubble with a crash.
“What?” I ask, looking around frantically for Taylor.
I need to leave, get out of this place now. Before his words break through the shell I’ve built and I end up humiliating myself. On the heels of the hurt comes anger. How dare he stand there and insult me when he’s no better than a—
“Tell me, Hannah, do you cry out and claw at him when he fucks you? Have you whored yourself to another rich man as you did with me?”
“What? No!” I hiss, very conscious of the roomful of eyes and ears on us as he looks down at me and quirks a sardonic brow.
To everyone else he’s just a handsome man, talking to a woman. What I see is his disgust and the deep spark of anger he’s trying, and for once, failing, to conceal.
Strangely, I’m not that upset by his words. I just want to explain and—
“So, how does he measure up, Hannah? Does he eat you as well as I did? Does he—”
“Stop it! Stop it, Gregory. This is not the place—”
“Where, then?” he interrupts icily, and I see the ruthless light I recognize so well fill his eyes. “Should I call and say this to the machine for Nana to hear? Should I take an ad in the paper? Oh, I know! Perhaps I should hire you for a night and take advantage of your services,” he snarls in a deadly whisper. “I suppose I should have known you were nothing more than a—”
My temper ignites, and I slap him so hard the sound rings through the room, turning my hand and heart as numb and cold as stone.
“Whore? Is that what you think of me? Let me tell you something, Gregory Lucas, I am and never will be a whore.”
It’s taken a month for me to understand that, but now that I have I won’t allow him to call me one. Especially not after what he’s done.
“The mistake I made with you was nothing more than a foolish love that you are not worthy of in the first place. You’re a cold-hearted cheat, and I thank God I came to my senses before I let you destroy me. I hope you get everything you deserve, and I hope Selena figures you out before she makes the biggest mistake of her life.”
When I’m done I realize I’m shouting the words and that the room has gone deathly quiet, quiet enough that I’ve not only made a spectacle of myself, but also just told the best of New York society that I’ve been sleeping with him.
“Hannah.”
“You stay the hell away from me,” I hiss before turning tail and dashing to the elevator.
By the time I’ve hailed a cab and am halfway home, I’ve calmed down enough that the rage is only a simmering bubble beneath my skin. I’m raw and hurt instead, and horribly embarrassed by my behavior.
There’s no way this won’t hit the papers, or even just Selena’s ears.