Sin (Just This Once 3)

“I mentioned it to one of the girls on the trip and it took all of two minutes until everyone knew.” Her eyes close briefly. “I was embarrassed. I thought something was wrong with me.”

Jesus. I wish I would have known her then. I wish I could have been there to tell her that she was beautiful and desirable.

“There was nothing wrong with you,” I say softly.

Her gaze drifts to my face. “I know that now. I do, but back then it felt like I needed to change it as soon as possible.”

“So you slept with Corbin?”

Her head shakes. “We never did. I never saw him without his clothes on.”

I raise a brow. “I’m not following. Mitchell said you hooked up with Corbin and then got married.”

“Mitchell was wrong.” She looks down. “Corbin was a virgin too. He promised his parents he’d wait until he was married, so after a few drinks, we both thought marriage was a good option.”

I smile. They were just two innocents with an attraction to each other and a skewed view of what was right.

“We went to the chapel,” she goes on with a faint smile on her lips, “I wore jeans and a tank top. Corbin wore jeans and a T-shirt and an Elvis impersonator pronounced us husband and wife.”

“And then?” I question with a roll of my hand in the air.

She sighs. “We went back to the hotel room he was sharing with his friends. He kicked them out, went into the bathroom and got sick. By the time he crawled into bed with all of his clothes on, I was sobering up. I called my dad. He freaked out and caught the next flight to Vegas.”

“It was annulled?”

Her eyes skim my face. “It was. My dad took care of everything. I never spoke to Corbin again.”

“Your dad is a good man.” I rub my forehead. “He’s always there for you, isn’t he?”

Her bottom lip quivers. “Something happened tonight.”

I move quickly, rounding the coffee table between us until I’m next to her. I wrap my arm around her, tugging her into my chest. “Tell me, angel. What happened?”

She looks up at me, her vivid green eyes unreadable. “I quit my job.”

“Because of what Mitchell did in the conference room?” I tilt her chin up with my finger. “He was drunk, Linny. It doesn’t change anything about your work on our account.”

Her eyelids flutter shut. “No, it’s not because of that.”

I whisper a kiss against her forehead. “What then?”

Her eyes lock on mine. “Tonight, my dad told me that Mitchell is his biological son. He’ll be taking over the company next year once my dad retires.”

What the actual fuck?

“Mitchell is your brother?” The question sounds ridiculous, even though it seems to be grounded in fact. “Your dad is handing him the company.”

“He said that my grandfather wanted it to be passed on to my dad’s son.” She rests her head against my chest. “That means it’s going to Mitchell.”

This woman gave her all to her job. She has talent beyond measure and her father is going to ignore all of that to hand the reins of his company over to his incompetent son just because he has a dick?

“I’m sorry, baby.” I tug her closer. “Jesus, you’ve been through so much today.”

She takes a deep breath. “The hardest part of this is I don’t know what to feel for my dad anymore. He’s not who I thought he was.”

“I can help with that,” I whisper.

“You can?” She shifts in place to look up at me. “You’ve never talked about your parents. Did your dad let you down too?”