Read The Lover's Surrender (No Exceptions) for Free Online Page B

an amount
of money he can’t refuse. And if that’s not working, I’ll make sure he changes
his mind. He has to. Everyone has a price. I’ll just have to find out what his
is. In the meantime, I need you to comb through the web for any copies, leaked
or uploaded on purpose, while I try to get the originals.”
    “What about
Brooke?”
    I
hesitated. “She can’t know.”
    “You’ll
keep another secret?” Kenny asked.
    I stopped
my pacing near a couch and plopped down, no longer able to ignore the pounding
sensation in my skull. “Just until her pregnancy’s over.”
    Kenny shook
his head. “Man, I’m telling you, you’re hitting deep water. If you decide not
to tell her now, the shit’s going to hit the fan eventually. Did it even occur
to you that Brooke might not want to stop working for him?”
    I leaned
forward, resting my elbows on my knees as I observed him, taking in his words.
“You think she would continue doing this stuff even though she’s pregnant?”
    Kenny
watched me in silence for a few seconds. Eventually, he resumed the
conversation. “Well, I could be wrong, but if she’s not doing it for fun, I
think she’s doing it for the money. You said she had debts. Maybe she thinks
she has no choice.”
    “I’ll be
her buyer.” I stared him down, my grim expression daring him to question my
decision.
    Kenny shook
his head slowly. “Behind her back?”
    “Yeah.
Well, it wouldn’t be the first time.” At Kenny’s confused look, I added, “The
Lucazzone estate. I’m trying to find a buyer. As long as Brooke has connections
to the estate she inherited, she won’t be safe.” I started to pace the room
again. “She should have told me if she needed money. I would’ve helped.”
    “Maybe she
doesn’t want you to, considering…”
    “Fuck, man,
you’re not helping,” I cut him off, irritated by his need for brutal honesty.
“I get it. No need to remind me that she’s a proud woman.”
    “No, what
I’m trying to say is that if you had told her earlier, she might have confided
in you. Now she doesn’t trust you anymore.”
    I stared
him down again, my anger consuming me.
    “I gotta go.”
I turned around and headed for the door, ignoring Kenny’s voice calling after
me.
    “Where are
you going?”
    I didn’t
reply as I stepped out the door and walked to the training halls.
    I needed
time alone.
    Time to
think.
    Time to
reconsider my plans.
    To admit
that I had failed.
    Maybe not
telling Brooke had been a mistake.
    Maybe I
should have let her in on some secrets, stopped playing games, given her a
little bit of information—enough to make her feel that she knew
everything and feared nothing.
    Kenny had
been right all along.
    Brooke
needed something—anything.
    The problem
was I had no idea what I could tell her without making her worried, without
risking her health. I had no idea how to repair the damage to our relationship.
I had so many secrets. I didn’t see how adding one more could cause more
damage. If only it weren’t exactly the same sentence that pushed me into hot
water with her in the first place.
    There’s still time to tell her.
    Kenny’s
words rang in my head.
    But what if
he was wrong and it was too late?
    What if
that Grayson guy had touched her? Made out with her? Fucked her?
    The thought
made me want to punch someone. It got me furious beyond hell.
    Contrary to
Brooke’s belief, our relationship wasn’t over. I refused to lose her. How the
fuck couldn’t she see that?
    As long as
I still loved her, which I knew would be forever, or as long as forever
existed, I would fight for us.
    Or at least
until I knew for sure she had stopped loving me.
    Stopped
wanting me.
    Maybe I
couldn’t force Brooke to give up her new pastime, but I sure could make it
clear to her that I’d be the only one who had her pictures.
    I might not
be able to tame her, but maybe I didn’t even need to and surely not by force.
    Maybe all
she needed was for me to put some distance