Page 3 of His Nephew's Ex
“Oh, this should be rich.” I turn my attention to the woman I’ve shared secrets with for years, the woman who helped me pick out lingerie for the very man she’s been screwing. “Please, enlighten me. What’s your excuse? Did you slip and fall pussy-first onto my boyfriend?”
Her face flames red, and for a moment, I see a flicker of the shame she should be drowning in. But then her chin lifts with that familiar stubborn tilt I used to admire.
“You’re acting like a child,” she says, and the condescension in her voice makes my vision blur with rage. “It’s just sex, Lori. It’s not like you were using him anyway.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. I stagger back a step, my heel catching on a piece of crystal, and the sharp pain that shoots through my foot feels like justice.
“Just sex,” I repeat slowly, letting the words roll around my tongue like poison. “Is that what this was to you, Flavio? Just sex?”
His eyes dart between me and Astrid, and I can see him weighing his options, trying to figure out which answer will get him out of this hole.
“No, of course not. She’s lying. She seduced me, told me you didn’t care about me, that you were just stringing me along—”
“So now it’sherfault?” I gesture wildly at Astrid, who has the decency to look uncomfortable. “First, it meant nothing; now she’s the evil temptress who corrupted your pure heart?”
“You’re twisting my words.”
“No, Flavio. You’re twisting reality.” I step closer, ignoring the glass biting into my feet. “Here’s what actually happened: you got tired of waiting for me to spread my legs, so you found someone who would. Someone who’s supposed to be my best friend.”
Astrid flinches at that, but she doesn’t deny it.
“And you know what the really sick part is?” My voice drops to a whisper that somehow carries more venom than screaming. “I was ready tonight. I bought champagne. I bought lingerie. I closed my bar hours early because I finally decided you were worth giving my virginity to.”
Something flickers across Flavio’s face—surprise, maybe even regret—but it’s gone so quickly I might have imagined it.
“Loriana—”
“Get out.”
“What?”
“Get. Out.” I enunciate each word like I’m speaking to a child. “Both of you. Get your clothes, get your lies, and get the fuck out of my home.”
Flavio’s expression hardens, and for the first time tonight, I see something that looks like his uncle’s influence bleeding through his charming mask.
“You don’t mean that.”
“Try me.”
He takes another step forward, and suddenly the air in the room feels different. Dangerous. “You’re upset. You’re not thinking clearly. We can work this out.”
“There’s nothing to work out. We’re done.”
“No.” The word is flat, final. “We’re not done. I’ve invested too much time in you to let you throw a tantrum and ruin everything.”
Invested time.Like I’m a business venture. Like six months of patience was just an elaborate long-term strategy.
“Listen to yourself,” I breathe. “This is who you really are, isn’t it? When the charm doesn’t work, when you can’t manipulate me into giving you what you want, this is what’s left.”
His mask slips further. “I’m trying to be reasonable here, Loriana. You caught me in a moment of weakness, and instead of talking about it like adults, you’re acting like a hysterical teenager.”
“Hysterical?” The word comes out as a laugh that sounds nothing like humor. “You fuck my best friend in my bed on your birthday, the same night I planned to give you my virginity, and I’m hysterical for being upset?”
“You should have given it to me months ago,” he snaps, and there it is. The truth underneath all his patient, respectful bullshit. “What kind of woman makes a man wait six months like some kind of eunuch? I have needs, Loriana.”
Behind him, Astrid shifts uncomfortably, finally seeming to realize she’s not the injured party here.
“Then you should have broken up with me,” I say quietly. “Instead of lying to my face while you fucked your way through your ‘needs.’”
