Page 19 of Harder Betrayal
“If you wanted me to leave, you could have just asked—”
“After everything my brother and I have put you through, you deserve this. It’s a chance for a new life.”
The keys were heavy in my hand. I wanted to give them back—but I also didn’t want to let them go.
“You can still have all the things you wanted.”
“I-I can’t accept this.”
He looked me dead in the eye. “You saved my life. Now we’re even.”
“Grave, I did that for Cauldron, not for you.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m still here because of your bravery. Money has been paid. Papers have been signed. It’s done.”
I stared at the keys again, at a loss for words. “Thank you…” My fingers closed around them, and I gave them a squeeze.
“A friend of mine owns an upscale art gallery just a few blocks away. He’s agreed to give you a job.”
“Uh, I don’t know shit about art.”
“Doesn’t matter. Rich bastards like me walk in and buy expensive shit to put on their walls, and you get a commission for it. Easy money.”
It was a great opportunity, but I wasn’t interested.
“Do you need help with furniture?”
“No,” I said quickly. I had enough money for that. “You’ve done enough…”
* * *
We headed back to his apartment, and I started to gather my things.
“Stay until after Christmas. You won’t be able to get the heat or electricity on until then anyway.”
“Christmas?” I asked, having forgotten the date. There was no Christmas tree in his apartment, and since I spent all my time indoors, I forgot about the holiday season.
“It’s Christmas Eve.”
“Oh…” I remembered Cauldron and I agreeing to skip gifts, just to enjoy each other for the holidays. I thought we would wake up together and lay in bed for a while. Then have a nice breakfast in front of the Christmas tree with the twinkling lights. The holidays always made me feel alone, but I’d never felt as alone as I did now.
8
ELISE
We made Christmas cookies and watched all our favorite holiday movies before they finally went off to bed. My son didn’t believe in Santa anymore, but he pretended otherwise for his sister. I cleaned up the kitchen and the living room before I slipped the presents under the tree.
Like always, my thoughts wandered to Grave. Through text, he told me he took care of Kyle, but he never specified what that meant. When I asked, he ignored me. He seemed busy because he didn’t try to see me before the holidays.
I missed him.
As if he heard my thoughts, my phone vibrated with a text from him.I’m outside.
The smile lifted the corners of my mouth. He must have sat in his car across the street and waited for the lights to go off upstairs. I let him in through the front door, and silently, we entered my bedroom on the other side of the apartment. Once the bedroom door was shut, he pulled off his jacket and tossed it on the dresser. “Merry Christmas.” He looked at me, a shadow along his jawline, his brown eyes dark like the winter night.
“Merry Christmas.” My hands slid underneath his long-sleeves shirt and slowly pulled it over his head, kissing him once the material was gone. When our lips touched, it was warm like a fireplace.
His big hands squeezed my ass before he lifted me to his body, bringing my chest next to his. He kissed me like that, our heights equal, his kiss hard like it’d been forever since he’d last had me.