Page 44 of Brassy Bigwig

“So, I grew up thinking I was the most special girl in the world and was blessed with two fathers who adored me—which I’ll admit was one-hundred percent true. At fourteen, however, I finally started putting two and two together and confronted my mom and dad, forcing them to tell me what really happened. I found out my mom cheated on my dad, and also that Liam cheated on my mother with his assistant. That’s when I stopped trusting anything that came out of my mother’s mouth and how I developed my deep-rooted hatred for liars and cheaters.”

Now it's my turn to swallow nervously, but I try my best not to let my unease be known. I’m torn between relief I didn’t tell her about what happened with Emilia and grief.

Whether I would have told her or not, either way I’m both a liar and a cheater.

Unable to think of what to say, I ask her for more details about her parents.

“So what does your dad do?”

“He owns Morgan Financial Holdings.”

“Your father is Graham Morgan?”

“You know my father?” she deadpans.

“No, not personally. But he and Dex haven’t always gotten along. They’ve become rivals in their industry.”

“Actually, now that you mention it, I have heard my dad grumbling about the nefarious dealings of Montague Enterprises before,” she jokes, cupping her chin and tapping her lips with her finger.

The way her eyes flash and her nose flares as she speaks makes my dick twitch.

“Well, anyway,” she continues, “what about your parents? Hopefully you get along better with them than I do with mine.”

“Yeah, we’ve always been close. Not geographically—they still live in Miami. They own a mom-and-pop grocery store and deli.”

“Oh, that’s neat.”

“Yeah, they sell a bunch of different Greek dishes and desserts. It’s small, but they’ve found a lot of success there, which is all I could ask for.”

Sincerity in her smile at my statement sends a warmth through me, and I hope she’s able to see the compassion I do possess.

“We grew up dirt poor, and they brought us to America with the hope that we would find whatever it was we were looking for here.”

Before I continue, I think about all of the hardships we overcame in the years after getting here.

“And did you? Find everything you were looking for, I mean.”

She looks at me through her thick lashes. Her hair is still slightly a mess from our brief encounter in the bathroom at the club. She’s breathtaking no matter if she’s pristinely put together or a disheveled disaster.

“Yeah, I did.”

I stare deep into her striking blue eyes as I utter the words. I found her, and she is everything I’ve ever wanted.

Her eyelids are getting heavier the longer we sit here.

“Good,” she whispers, finally shutting them and letting the alcohol and fatigue pull her under.

I carefully lift her from her chair and carry her down the hallway to the guest bedroom. Pulling back the comforter, I lay her down gently before removing her shoes. When she’s free of them, I cover her up and stare down at the beauty she is.

There isn’t one thing about her that screams deviant, and for the second time today, I realize how utterly and truly stupid I was for even thinking she’d be capable of doing what Kendra did.

She’s the epitome of innocence, and I pray to God when she wakes up tomorrow morning, she doesn’t regret coming here tonight.

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