Hostile Territory (Blackbridge Security 1)

Wouldn’t not loving Deacon or not counting him as her soulmate, the one that got away, make a difference for me? If I could find happiness in his arms when she doesn’t miss his embrace be okay? Wouldn’t a real friend see how much I’ve been hurting for weeks with his absence?

Don’t even get me started on returning to my apartment to find it completely cleaned and refurnished. On top of that act of kindness, he even had the painting Zeni gave to me restored as best he could considering the damage that was done to it. He even returned the check I sent to cover the hotel expenses and shopping I incurred while I was there. That last one hit differently than the kindness. It was a slap in the face, the final I don’t want you in my life. The one reason I haven’t reached out to him since we’ve been back.

“But seriously, had I known Deacon was going to end up rich, I never would’ve left him.”

As if she didn’t just explode a bomb in front of me, Dani winks at the guy across the bar.

I take a long slow breath, wanting to just get up and walk away. In doing so, I know I won’t be just walking away from tonight. When I leave, I know that will be the end of this lifetime friendship, if you can even call it that.

“You left him because he wasn’t rich?” My tone is as calm as the gin will allow.

“Anna, seriously? Didn’t you see how I was living?”

“You mean the cute house he used his enlistment money to put a down payment on?”

“Cute? The square footage of that house was smaller than my suite at my parents’ house.”

“I thought you were happy there?”

She shakes her head, a look of confusion on her face. I know I would’ve been happy there. She had three bedrooms, and an amazing backyard. I distinctly remember a conversation we had about how much fun their kids would have playing in the fenced-in backyard.

“I wasn’t happy. We were even poorer than I am now, and that’s saying something because if that guy over there doesn’t pick up my tab, I’m going to need you to pay for these drinks.”

So, reading between the lines, she wanted me to come out tonight to foot the bill. Wow, things just keep getting better.

“You know,” she leans in closer, her actions slightly sloppy, “I told him I needed more money for groceries, and he had the nerve to suggest I clip coupons from the Sunday paper.”

“No!” I hiss dramatically, covering my mouth.

“See? Now you understand just how bad things were.” I’d blame her being drunk on her inability to detect my sarcasm, but alas, she still thinks I’m completely on her side and would even if she hadn’t been drinking.

“So you divorced him?”

“Daddy wouldn’t let me come home if I was still with him.” She takes another long drink, once again draining her glass and flagging down the waitress. I tilt mine back just to keep up. “Plus, Charles had a better offer.”

“Better offer? You didn’t start dating Charles until after you and Deacon split.”

My blood runs cold when she rolls her eyes at me again.

“You cheated on Deacon?” I nearly scream in disgust.

Her head snaps in my direction faster than I thought possible. Usually her reactions are lazy, a little fuck you to whomever may have upset her, because she’d rather be caught dead than having a visceral reaction.

Instead of opening her mouth to speak, she curls her lip in a menacing sneer.

“Did he cheat on you first?”

The sneer turns into a frown.

“Really? I had that man wrapped around my finger. If he sucked in bed, I would’ve denied him access to my body, and he’d still follow me around like a lost dog looking for scraps of affection.”

“Th-that’s disgusting, Dani.”

“Still the truth.”

“How did I never see the real you before?”

“I’ve always been real.”

She can’t even be bothered to look me in the eye right now, and it’s not because she’s ashamed of her confessions. No, Dani just doesn’t give a shit about anything or anyone. She claimed to love Deacon, wanted to spend the rest of her life with him and have his children, when from the sounds of it, she never really cared at all. It’s almost as if he was a way to piss her parents off until her father maintained his side of the threat and cut her off. Maybe out of spite, she kept Deacon on a string for the six years they were married.

“I can’t believe I chose you over him.”

“Chose?” she snaps, her eyes finally showing some heat. “Has he contacted you over the last month? Deacon doesn’t want you. Whatever you two had, even though you’re continuing to lie about it, wasn’t real. If anything, he tried hooking up with you as a second-place replacement because he lost me.”