Page 65 of Dirty Money
“About me?” she asked him with a frown. “What have I kept from you?”
He gestured around to the grandeur of the small room. “A penthouse on Fifth Avenue, peach. How did this happen?”
“I never held out information from you. My father left me and my mother when I was in my teens. I never thought I’d see him again. There was nothing I was hiding. It was merely a thing I didn’t like to talk about. It hurt too much.”
“And you don’t think talking about my dead son would hurt me, Aulora?” he asked her, making her flinch.
Hayley cleared her throat. “Is my part here done? This is beginning to get uncomfortable.”
Weston nodded. “First let her know what I’ve told you about us.”
Hayley looked at Aulora who held her eyes with a solid stare. “Aulora, Weston and I will not be getting together. It doesn’t matter if you take him back or not. He’s assured me that I need to move on. He and I will no longer be talking. I think I’ve pushed him a lot further than I should have. I’m sorry about lying to you. I think I warned you, inadvertently, that I’d probably resort to anything I had to in order to get him back. Bitch move on my part.”
“Yes, it was,” Aullie agreed. “But I suppose I can understand. Thank you for coming clean. It’s appreciated. My heart has already been broken, though. Your apology hasn’t miraculously mended it.”
“I didn’t expect it would. But Weston made me do it anyway. I’ll be going now. Good luck with your future, Aulora. I wasn’t thinking when I lied to you.” Hayley walked out of the room and Aullie watched her go to the front door where the butler was waiting to let her out.
She turned her attention to Weston when he touched her cheek. Heat ran through her with his touch and the tears that sprang into her eyes only served to piss her off.
“Do not touch me,” her voice was low and threatening.
Weston removed his hand and gave her a stern expression. “So, spill it. How did you end up here?”
“My father came back into my life yesterday. He’s married a woman and they’re having a baby girl. My new sister. His wife wants me to be a part of their lives. So, I guess I will be.” Aullie walked over to take a seat and looked out the window with a vacant stare.
“Don’t shut me out,” he told her as he moved into her line of sight.
“I see you shutting everything down. This is your life. If you want to live this way, then do that. If you don’t then don’t. Be who you want to be, Aulora.”
She looked at him then sighed. “I’m lost, West. I’m completely lost.”
“I can see that,” he said then kneeled in front of her and took her hands in his. “I’m sorry for keeping so much from you. I didn’t mean to hurt you by doing that but I can see that I did. I was so afraid of telling you everything and you bolting on me.”
“So, you didn’t tell me and I did exactly what you were afraid of anyway,” she said then ran her thumbs over the backs of his hands.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispered then kissed the tops of her hands. “Have you missed me at all?”
Her eyes drooped with sadness. Her voice sounded tired as she said, “I have missed you. My heart has never hurt so damn much, though. I’m through with love, Weston. I want no part of it.”
“But you have it there, inside of your heart. You have love for me there. You can’t tell me you don’t have it for me still.”
With a heavy sigh, she said, “I think it will go away. If I don’t have to see you. I think I could get over you. I’ll never love again if that helps you to understand how devastated I am.”
“Look, I’m not liking the way this is going at all,” he said then stood up. “Your depression is over the top. You’ve found out that I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You kissed her,” she reminded him.
“One kiss. That’s all. Shit, Aulora! I’ll give you this. You can kiss anyone you want one time too. If that will make things go back to where they were, you get one kiss with anyone you want.”
“You are the only one I want to kiss, West. Only you. But you not only gave her one kiss, you gave her a thought. You actually thought about getting back together with her because you have feelings for her and you want to have a child.”
“Stop that,” he shouted at her, anger filling him suddenly and completely. “You have to stop doing this. I told you I want you and I want to wait as long as you want to. I’m sorry I kept things from you. I’ve ended everything with her. This pity party you have going on is unhealthy, to say the least. Now, get up and argue with me about anything other than that. I can’t change what’s happened. But we can move on from here.”
“And if I don’t agree to?” she asked him.
“You’re forgetting something. Something very important, peach. You’ve made a commitment to me. A verbal commitment. I warned you before I took you. You will not get away from me. I love you.”
She eyed him carefully. He was strong willed, she knew that. Even when he had done something wrong, he was still strong in his convictions. Could she ever really stop loving him? Could he ever give up on her? Could things get better or would she resent him forever for what he’d done?
Confusion filled her and all she could do was wonder if they could really have a future together.
