Lust & Lies Box Set-Sexual Awakenings, Excess, Predator & Prey

“WHAT THE FUCK!” I stormed out of Rhys’s office and down the hall, thankful I’d had sense enough to wear a jacket that secured tightly over my lingerie-clad body. I rounded the bar, regarded Sandra for mere seconds as she argued with Rhys, and stood behind my ex-husband.

“You are gay!?” I screamed at the top of my lungs. The club was busier than usual and everyone, and I mean everyone, turned to watch me come apart, including Sandra and Rhys.

“Violet, what the hell are you doing here?” Alex turned on his stool to face me fully, completely confused and distancing himself from his lover as if he were ashamed.

My face heated, my anger surfacing further as I watched the man sitting to his left turn in his seat to face me, looking as if my name coming from Alex’s lips pained him. I knew his name. I’d heard the conversations they’d shared, and recalled the last one when he had whispered his I love you.

“Well, Alex, I am fucking the man who owns this bar. What are you doing here?” I snapped, glaring at Chris, who was strikingly handsome. I could see the appeal. My fury evident, I grabbed Alex’s drink and chugged it, the burn soothing me slightly. Rhys approached me from behind and grabbed my arm. I glared at him and jerked it away before returning my attention to Alex.

I kept my eyes trained on the man who had completely ruined my trust, ruined my confidence, all because he was too much of a coward to come clean. “All this time, I thought I wasn’t good enough. I thought I wasn’t woman enough and you let me think I wasn’t! You could have told me, you selfish son of a bitch! At least I would have understood in some way that I wasn’t MAN enough for you!” I took the rest of his drink and threw it at him, covering his dress shirt in ice and amber liquid. Rhys grabbed my upper arm and pulled me back roughly.

“Violet, let it go,” he snapped, forcing me to bring my eyes to his. I ripped my arm from out of his hands again, cursing and blinded with rage.

Every person had their breaking point, and this was mine.

“And you, Rhys. You loved this...this bitch.” I pointed at Sandra. “This whore...This monster!”

“Hey now, maybe bitch is deserved,” Sandra said, coyly walking up to us and covering me with her clear blue gaze. She was smirking and enjoying every minute of the confrontation. I held her eyes, thinking Bryce did slightly resemble her, and shook my head, not wanting to make the connection. It was too painful. My chest burned with anger and there wasn’t a rational thought able to compete with it.

I was in her office building a month ago, believing I watched a mouse at play before the snake struck, when in reality I’d been staring straight at the serpent.

She was the reason for so much of my pain, of Rhys’s pain. She was the reason Bryce would grow up without knowing or feeling the love of his real mother. Rage boiled within me as I thought of Bryce and what he deserved.

“I didn’t love her, ever,” Rhys said plainly. “Violet, look at me.” My voice trembled with fear of his answer, but I had to get my next question out.

“Did you know?” I asked in a harsh whisper. When he didn’t answer, I asked louder. “Did you know, Rhys!” I demanded. My voice rattled with my next question. “Am I another one of your games?” I looked between Sandra and Rhys as what composure I had completely left me. Rhys looked at me incredulously as Sandra took a step closer, unable to hide her excitement about the situation.

“No, Violet. I had no idea,” he said quietly. His eyes pleaded with me to believe him, but I couldn’t. In that moment, I hated Rhys for having anything to do with Sandra. I was flipping at my revelation and I was sure anyone in my position would be too. It was too much. I had to get out of there and fast.

“Violet, I’m sorry,” Alex said, stepping up to the most fucked up circle of people I’d ever known. “I thought you knew and that’s why I wanted a quiet divorce. When you said Chris, I assumed—”

“K-r-i-s, not C-H-R-I-S you fucking moron. How in the hell would I have known this?” I glared at him as he cowered away back to his seat as Chris grabbed his hand. I almost laughed at the way Alex needed to be consoled.

What a little bitch.

Sandra spoke next. I expected her posture to be hands clasped at her fingertips, eyes filled with mischief, an evil pose that let us all know that all of this had gone exactly according to plan. Instead, she looked between the four of us with pure delight. “Oh, this is too good to be true...I didn’t realize my playthings could bring out so much emotion.” Sandra shook her whole body in an exaggerated shivering motion and snickered as she looked back at Alex and Chris, who regarded her with contempt. “Little did I know when I took your husband, Violet, he would fall in love with me and my sub. I have your husband and his lover under my thumb. Why do you think that is?” She stood inches away from me and continued her torment. “You aren’t woman enough and you never will be, especially for Rhys. I promise you that.”

I turned to face her head on as Rhys moved suddenly, stepping in front of me. She took note of his protectiveness and her jaw hardened.

“Look at Rhys all grown up with a real girlfriend,” she taunted. “Tell me, do you two make supper and watch reruns before you fuck? How is life in vanilla, Rhys? Do you really think this woman is enough for you?” She laughed, but no one around her joined in. Not even her two subs at the bar, one of them being my ex-husband.

This was not happening.

I trembled with every breath I took as Rhys remained completely composed as he addressed her.

“I’m happy and it kills you,” he said smoothly, his voice unaffected. “I want her and you know it and it’s fucking killing you.”

“You always did think a little too much of my need for you, Rhys.” She waved him off, though her statement was far from convincing, her want for him evident in the way she regarded him.

“Really, is that why you made a house call for my cock just a few short weeks ago?” He nodded toward Alex and Chris. “I’m sure they would be interested to know their mistre

ss isn’t satisfied.” Chris stiffened, his face contorted in anger while Alex remained impassive and unimpressed. Rhys took a step toward Sandra and she cringed slightly as he addressed her with nothing short of hatred. “When I walk out the door with my future in my hand, I will never see you again. I’m done with this place, with you, for good. If you come anywhere near me, Violet, or my son, I will ruin you.” He leaned in closer so only the threat was heard by the three of us. “I will hurt you and you know I know just how to do it.”

Rhys took my arm in an attempt to pull me out of the club. I passed her, but I had to get my digs in. I gripped the back of her head, digging my nails in her scalp as I whispered in her ear. “Your inability to keep your hands off what didn’t belong to you led me straight to the arms of the man you wanted most. Your son will call me mother while the man you want fucks me, loves me, and worships my body. Keep Alex. We both know it wasn’t really a fair trade, was it, Sandra? Enjoy the short end of the stick.” I pulled back, inches from her face to see her shocked expression. She didn’t think I had it in me, and that made two of us.

I saw the humorous light in her eyes die as she glared at Rhys and me as he pulled me out of the bar.

As soon as the cold air hit us, I pulled away from Rhys, furious with the night’s events. “I’m a CLICHÉ!” I threw my hands up in the air. “Jilted wife finds out that her husband is gay!”