Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 39756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 199(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 199(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
What he got was something horrible.
At least the sexy doctor had waited until Ehren had gotten a few sips of coffee into his system.
“What’s up? Need to leave for the office early?” Ehren asked when Stephen frowned at his phone again. The screen was black, so it wasn’t a message that had come in, but maybe he’d gotten something while they were getting dressed. Stephen was so damn sharp in his pale-gray suit and colorful tie, professional and yet approachable. He wanted to peel the man out of that outfit, but there wasn’t time.
“No, I…I need to tell you something, but I’m afraid you’re going to be upset with me.”
Ehren’s stomach sank, and his heart started to painfully thud in his chest. “You’re seeing someone else. Engaged? Married?” Okay, that felt somewhat absurd, but he really needed Stephen to crack a smile. He didn’t.
Stephen shook his head and took a deep breath prior to dragging his eyes up to Ehren’s face. “I told you that my brother and his team were former CIA. I asked them to look into your uncle’s background.”
“What?” Ehren managed to gasp out. The world was closing in around him. Stephen was having his family investigated by the CIA? No, former CIA. That didn’t seem to make him feel any better, though.
“I was worried about your safety. When you mentioned that the break-in was timed with your trip to Turkey to settle your uncle’s estate, it felt like too much of a coincidence.”
“And what?” he snapped as rage started to build in his chest at this betrayal. “You thought that my uncle was involved in something illegal? Did you think that I was doing something illegal?”
“No! Not you.”
“No, just my family,” Ehren immediately shot at him.
“I don’t know. You even admitted that you hadn’t seen your uncle since you were a kid. What if he was doing something illegal and it put you in danger?”
“Are you fucking shitting me?” Ehren exploded, and Stephen at least had the good grace to wince. Yeah, he definitely shouldn’t have said that.
“Please, Ehren, take a deep breath and discuss this calmly. We need to stay rational about this.”
“Fuck calm and rational! You should have talked to me before you went behind my back, talking to all your little friends about me and my family. I fucking trusted you, Stephen, and you betrayed me.” He paced away from the breakfast bar, shoving both hands into his hair as his brain swirled with a thousand horrible, ugly thoughts, but the worst was the overwhelming feeling of betrayal.
Ehren spun around to find that Stephen hadn’t budged an inch. His face was pale and drawn as he watched Ehren with worried eyes. “Why? Is this a race thing? Did you see a Middle Eastern man and think, ‘Gee he must be up to something illegal’? You know, when you weren’t busy pitying me at the restaurant.”
“No! Absolutely not! Please, Ehren—”
But Ehren shook his head and paced in the opposite direction. He was too angry to listen to him. He wasn’t sure if he could believe him.
“Ehren, this isn’t about your racial heritage. This is about the art world. When you mentioned your uncle worked in art, I got worried. There are countless stories about dark and ugly things happening in that sector. Even if your uncle was completely legitimate—”
“He was!” Ehren snarled, spinning to face the traitor.
“Even if he was,” Stephen repeated with a small waver in his voice, “that doesn’t mean he didn’t capture the interest of evil people. And with you being his heir, that means their focus could be on you now.”
Ehren shook his head, angry at Stephen. But he was also slowly becoming angry at himself. He was starting to listen to this liar, he was asking himself if Stephen really meant what he said. He couldn’t soften. The man was a liar. He’d gone behind Ehren’s back when he should have talked to him first. He hadn’t trusted Ehren to make an informed decision. Ehren couldn’t be with someone like that.
His throat was raw with unshed tears, and his chest ached as though someone had ripped his heart out. He needed to get out of there before he crumbled to pieces completely.
He marched over to the couch and grabbed his shoes. Didn’t even bother to slip them on, just snatched them up and ripped his phone off the spare charger Stephen had loaned him.
“Ehren, please, we need to discuss this,” Stephen began.
“You know what?” Ehren replied in the coldest voice he could muster. “I get now why you don’t make it past three dates. I thought it was because you were better at cutting through the bullshit than the rest of us. But that’s not it.” He turned and stepped right up to Stephen, looking him dead in the eye. “No, it’s just that it only takes three dates for people to realize what a lying, two-faced bastard you are.”