Page 58 of Sold to the Silver Foxes

I try for a breath, and it comes surprisingly easy. “Alana Beckford was my girlfriend. We dated for a few years, in fact. And she used passwords that she stole from me to embezzle millions before anyone figured it out.”

“What?” Her pretty mouth drops.

“The stress of the situation coupled with the usual CEO stress…it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I had my heart attack, and was stuck in the Cardiac ICU when she left the country forArgentina with my millions…” I recount Alana’s visit from today—not verbatim, but enough to paint the event. Anger drains as I speak. Tabitha’s presence cushions each word like gauze. I don’t know how she does it.

When I finish, she exhales. “I don’t like speaking badly of other women, but that’s messed up. Showing up out of nowhere like that? Rude. And the rest? Pardon me, but that’s fucked up.”

“You can say that again.”

“Well, I can keep your secret. I won’t say a thing to your brothers.”

A corner of my mouth lifts. “They’d dismantle my office walls brick by brick to get the chance to yell at her face-to-face. And all they know is that we broke up. They don’t even know about the embezzlement.”

She nudges me gently. “Why protect them from that? They love you.”

“Because Dante’s ideas of revenge rival his ideas of a thrill ride, and Nico would bury her in bureaucratic headaches until she gave up and turned herself in.”

“You want her to get away with it?”

“No, I just… It’s hard to explain. Alana is diabolical in her own way, but she’s not nefarious about it. She’s not trying to cause harm—it’s just a side effect of her living how she wants to live.”

Tabitha flashes those eyes at me. “Do you hear yourself? Carelessness is just malice by another name.”

“I don’t want the law involved. My brothers would get the law involved. It’s as simple as that.”

Her sigh is heavy. “Okay. Why not tell them about the heart attack?”

That’s a different can of worms. “If I fall apart, Dante and Nico will too. I can’t let that happen.”

Tabitha’s eyes glisten. “I understand. When our parents died, I had to tell Erin. It felt like I was murdering her childhood innocence. I’d have spared her if I could.”

Her words slice something inside me—shared guilt, kinship. I clasp her hand. “Some truths destroy. Some protect. Alana is a destructive truth. Erin’s surgery is a protective one.”

She nods, tears hovering. “And our truth—how we met—destroys her and Grandma Judy, so I’ll keep it forever.”

“As will I.”

She wipes her cheek. “I’m sorry your ex brought this on.”

“I’m not.” The confession slips out. “Because when she walked in, my first thought was that I wish it had been you instead.”

Tabitha’s eyes widen. She cups my jaw. “So do I.”

She leans forward, pressing her lips softly to mine. The kiss is gentle, unhurried. The chest ache subsides, replaced by the warm pressure of her body against mine.

Déjà vu.

I couldn’t do it the other day. Couldn’t bring myself to do something one-on-one with Tabitha. It’s different than when it’s all three of us with her. That’s for fun.

But just me and her? That’s different.

I don’t know that my heart can handle different.

We shift higher on the bed, backs to the padded headboard. But instead of pushing this into something else, she curls into my side. I wrap an arm around her shoulders. For a stretch, we simply breathe, synced.

I’m not sure what she’s here for now, and my patience is wearing thin. My heart is racing, but in a good way this time. I wish she’d say some?—

“You deserve rest,” she whispers.

---