“Listen to me carefully, Devin. You’ve made enough off of me. I want to be free of you…completely.”
The silence on his end of the line was deafening.
I started to speak again, but the phone went dead. A knock at my door twenty minutes later had my heart pounding. I closed my robe tightly and looked through the peephole.
Shit.
“Open the fucking door, Nina. I can see your silhouette,” he barked.
I opened it quickly, and he barreled past me.
“Devin, listen…” I trailed off, realizing he had no right to be angry. We were over and had been for months. He had omitted a wife, and everything I’d thought about him was a lie.
“What is your excuse?” He whirled on me suddenly.
“I don’t need one. You’re the most dreadful bastard I’ve ever met. You knew I was new money and you took advantage and you won. You made a small fortune off of my investments. I won’t apologize for anything. I want nothing more to do with you. You need to leave.”
“I can afford to lose you, Nina, but why now?” I did my best not to look at him. Somewhere inside of me, weakness lingered for him. But he’d come a hell of a long way from the man I met to the man standing before me. The memory of his mouth all over me less than twenty-four hours ago would have to wait.
“I want to move on,” I said quickly.
“Your pussy is not my paycheck,” he said, taking a step toward me. “It’s my pastime.”
“Well, find another pastime. I’m done. I should’ve washed my hands of this as soon as I found out about Eileen.”
“Always back to that.” He took another step forward, the anger rolling off him in waves.
“I know, how indecent of me to bring up your wife, forgive me,” I snapped. He took another step toward me, his blue eyes blazing as he attempted to corner me. If he got close enough, we would be fucking in a matter of minutes. I walked toward my kitchen, putting the c
ounter between us. He said nothing as his chest heaved. He looked genuinely hurt, which confused me, but I was too fed up to care.
“Just what the hell were you thinking last night with that little stunt you pulled?” he asked carefully.
I shrugged, feigning indifference, then changed the subject. “If you can afford to lose me then what is the big deal?”
“I can’t watch—” he cut himself off.
“Watch what…? My money?” I was certain that was the case; that I meant nothing to him. He’d spent the last few months proving that fact to me.
I received no reply as he ran his hands through his hair, all the while silently assessing me.
“So last night was a goodbye fuck?” he asked with no emotion on his face. I didn’t even recognize him anymore. Secretly I was hoping for some show of emotion, but I knew better.
“Yes,” I said quickly. “You may not have morals, but I’m trying to salvage what’s left of mine.”
He laughed bitterly as his brows rose. “If you aren’t mine to play with, you will be someone else’s. No one is going to take you seriously.”
“Wow, now you’re insulting me. Seriously, Devin, is this really you?”
I couldn’t believe his audacity. I crossed my arms over my chest, no longer willing to let his cool demeanor or my lingering feelings toward him get in the way of what had to be done. We were over.
“I need a few days,” he said, making his way toward the door.
“No, I want you to do exactly as you’re told. Freeze it all…now. I will have my attorney on this within the next fifteen minutes,” I threatened. He turned back to me, and I walked in front of him to the door, my hand on the handle.
“Nina, I’m asking you nicely here. I just need a couple of days,” he pleaded.
“I really don’t give a shit what you need, Devin. It’s done.”