Page 74 of City of Sin (Men of Manhattan 1)

"Come on, Bee. I still think we can work this out."

"We can't."

"You keep saying that. But you're not really telling me why."

"Do you remember when we first moved here? And how nervous I was? It was so different from what I was used to."

"Yeah. I do."

"And remember what you said to me? You said that when you were with me, you felt like you were home. That meant the world to me. And then you promised me that the city wouldn't get in our way. You promised."

"And I said I was sorry. I'm different now."

"I know. I'm very aware of that. Because the guy I fell in love with promised me he wasn't going to run off. He said he loved me with everything that he was. And he said he'd never leave me." I was crying now. I hated remembering how sweet he was. Because I didn't understand how that person had disappeared. It felt good to finally get that off my chest. It wasn't just about the cheating. It was about breaking his promises. That almost stung more. I might have been able to forgive the cheating. But I couldn't forget his broken promises.

"I didn't leave you, Bee. You kicked me out."

"Because you cheated on me. And when I found out, I realized that your promises were all empty. And I don't trust you. I'll never trust you again."

"Bee?" I felt Mason's hand touch the small of my back. "Is everything okay over here?"

I rubbed my eyes with my palms to remove my tears. "Yes. Patrick was just leaving."

"You've got to be kidding me," Patrick said as he glared at Mason.

"Nice to see you again," Mason said and nodded at Patrick.

Patrick turned back to me. "You're seriously not giving me a second chance, but you're sleeping with a guy like him?"

"That's none of your business," I said.

"You think I'm bad? Do you have any idea who this guy is? What he does?"

"I know that he's nice to me. And that he likes spending time with me. Which is a lot more than I can say about you."

"You're so gullible, Bee. This guy is a piece of shit. He's just using you. And if you're okay with that, then you've changed too."

Using me? Using me for what? Sex? I looked up at Mason. He looked so mad. Was he hiding something else from me?

"You're mad at me for what I did. But that's all he does," Patrick said. "He's the one you should be mad at. Not me. Don't you see that? He's the one that ruined us."

"How about you step back, man," Mason said.

"Make me." Patrick grabbed my wrist again. "Let me take you home."

"Don't touch me, Patrick." I pulled my arm away from him. "I'm not going anywhere with you. You can't blame what happened between us on Mason."

"Come on." Patrick grabbed my wrist again. "You have to trust me on this."

Mason shoved his chest. "She asked you not to touch her."

"Mason." I put my hand on his arm. I didn't want them to fight. God, this whole thing was ridiculous. People were starting to stare at us.

"What, like she's yours to touch?" Patrick said.

"Yeah. She is mine. So fuck off." Mason sounded so mad.

"You think that guys like him date girls like you?" Patrick laughed. "He doesn't even date. He's a womanizing asshole. Don't you see that?"

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