Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 157

Chapter 157

SERAPHINE

The sound of my own heartbeat filled the car as I sped away from Helix, my hands gripping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles had turned white, my vision blurred by more tears I refused to let fall. I had not stopped driving until I pulled into my driveway, killed the engine, and sat there in the silence, my chest heaving, my mind replaying every single second of what had just happened.

Celeste had won that round. She had stood there with her calm face and her folded arms and her pitying eyes while I screamed and raged and made a spectacle of myself. And worst of all, she had shown them the video. She had shown everyone the video of me and Julian, my naked body on that screen, my breasts bouncing, my pussy exposed, my face twisted in pleasure while Julian fucked me. Every person in that lobby had seen it. Pat had seen it. The security guards had seen it. The receptionist had seen it. And Celeste had stood there watching their faces, feeding on their shock, savoring my humiliation like it was a five-course meal.

I got out of the car and walked to my front door, my legs heavy, my heart pounding. The moment I stepped inside, I crumpled to the floor, my knees giving out, my body folding in on itself as the tears I had been holding back finally broke free. I sat there on the cold tile, my back against the door, and I cried until my throat was raw and my eyes were swollen and there was nothing left inside me but a cold, hard rage.

I wiped my face with the back of my hand. I took a breath. Then another.

And then I called Kingsley Duke.

He answered on the second ring, his voice cautious, like he already knew this call was not going to be good. “Hello?”

“Come to my house,” I said. “I need to speak to you.”

“I’m very busy right now. I’m working on a specimen and I cannot just drop everything.”

“Listen to me.” My voice came out low and sharp, a blade wrapped in silk. “Do not push me. If you are not here in thirty minutes, I am going to drive back to Helix and I am going to walk through that building and I am going to tell every single person there that you are my spy. That you are the mole I planted in their laboratory. That every piece of information I have about Celeste’s schedule and Celeste’s movements came directly from your mouth.”

The silence on the other end stretched long and thin, like a wire about to snap.

“That will not be necessary,” he said finally. “I will be at your place in less than thirty minutes.”

“Good.”

I touched my cheek where her palm had landed. The memory of the sting was still fresh.

“I will destroy you, Pat,” I whispered to the empty room. “I will destroy both of you.”

I was still pacing when Kingsley arrived. He walked through the door looking uncomfortable, his hands in his pockets, his eyes darting around the room like he was looking for an escape route. I watched him from across the living room and I admitted to myself that he was handsome, tall and lean with eyes that caught the light, the kind of face that made women look twice. But handsome did not pay the bills. Handsome did not buy you a mansion or a car or the kind of life you saw in magazines. Handsome was useless if the man wearing it was broke.

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Chapter 158