Page 7 of The Forbidden Secret

Knowing Maggie, though, I knew she would have helped even without compensation.

Hell, when Maggie had taken the role as my manager, she had gotten me into galleries alongside some of the most successful artists in the city. She had made a name for me—an alias I would continue using when I left. I could thank her for everything I had and was. She had been my rock through the hardest moments in my adult life, and I knew I needed to find a way to reach out to her. She needed to know what was happening.

So lost in thought, I didn’t consider the way I had rushed into the bathroom in nothing but a towel. I didn’t even consider how I planned on getting back to my room across the hall without running into Zeke until I turned off the water and stared at the door.

Shit.

I rose up on my toes and then fell back on my heels as I considered my next move. I pictured the pile of clean clothes I had left on the dresser right beside the bedroom door. I had meant to grab them, but I had been so lost in thought that it had slipped my mind.

I knew that Zeke had seen me naked in the past, but it was a different time and a much different situation.

I straightened as the sound of the front door opening and slamming shut crept through the apartment, and I didn’t give ita second thought before wrapping the towel around my wet body haphazardly and pulling the door open.

In my haste, I didn’t notice the towering body in my path until I barreled directly into him.

My towel slid through my fingertips as I reached to right myself. A large arm wrapped around my waist, catching me from a near-certain fall backward into the steaming bathroom.

It took me two seconds to process the situation.

Two seconds of gaping at Zeke Coleman before I realized twoveryimportant things.

One: Zeke had not left the apartment as I had believed.

Two: Zeke’s arm was wrapped around my bare, soaking-wet waist, holding me upright as I stared dumbly at him.

His smug voice had my fists balling. “I thought we were past the days of you throwing yourself into my arms, Princess.”

I pushed at his chest, but he held me firmly to him with a smug smile that sent my blood boiling.

“What’s wrong? You suddenly don’t like me holding your naked body?” he asked, his lips coming close to mine.Tooclose. If I moved even an inch forward, I could suck that lip piercing into my mouth and feel it brush across my tongue. “I remember the last time we were this close, and you had no complaints.”

I felt my chest rise and fall with the heat of his breath against my mouth and the reminder of the night we had shared together. He had been amazing in bed.Morethan amazing. He was the kind of man who left me yearning for him for weeks, and the callouses that brushed over my hip reminded me of that touch.The way his dark hair dangled over his forehead as he leaned into me closer.

That golden chain that came so close to brushing my skin…

I shoved at his chest again, and this time, he took a small step back. He stared down at my body, then back up again with hungry eyes.

“Asshole,” I mumbled under my breath, moving toward my room and slamming the door behind me.

“Jaimie is here to give an update if you want to join us,” he shouted through the bedroom door. “Clothing isalwaysoptional where I’m concerned.”

Maybe I should open the door and deck him.

He had the same swaggering confidence that had drawn me to him a year ago, but I knew the truth now. Now, I knew he wasn’t the kind of man to want commitment, and I wouldn’t dabble with that again—not with Beatrice in the picture.

I didn’t even consider hiding in my room like a coward. I didn’t need to be ashamed of his comments. I was allowed to sleep with whomever I pleased, and I did nothing wrong by spending an evening with him. It meant nothing, and he only proved it by leaving without looking back.

Sexual tension meant nothing.

I dressed quickly and strolled out of my room with my shoulders back.

Jaimie sat at the kitchen table and leaned back in her chair. “I never asked how you’re involved in this. Or who you are,” I said as I approached her.

I felt Zeke’s gaze fixed on me, but I ignored it as I sat beside Jaimie.

“You were preoccupied,” Jaimie replied.

“You work for the Rissi crime family, too?” I pressed.

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