Lessons in SECRET (12 page)

“I said I can’t
talk about it. I really need a shower. You can help me…or go if you
can’t be with me.”

“I’m not leaving.
And of course I want to be with you.”

“You’re not
disgusted that I was with someone else? I basically cheated.”

“I could never be
disgusted with you,” he says as he cups my face with his hands. “I
love you. You didn’t want to be with the other guy, so it’s not
cheating. You had a job to do. I already told you I hate your job,
but I could never hate you.”

“Stop. Just stop,”
I yell as I run to my bathroom. Maybe I can’t pretend, because I
almost believed what he just said to me. Almost.

“Isa, oh God. Don’t
cry. Please don’t cry.”

“I can’t talk right
now. I want to just be clean, and then go to sleep.”

“We can do that.
I
can do that. Let’s get you cleaned up and then I’ll tuck you in.”

I let him help me out
of my clothes, and God help me, but I watch him take his off, too.
Reina was right. I can’t just turn off the love, or the lust. He
turns on the shower, and uses the remote to turn off the lights.

“You don’t want to
look at me?”

“I do. So very much.
But I thought maybe you needed the lights off.”

He’s doing everything
right. Everything a real boyfriend would do. Why? Why is he doing
this to me? I’m quiet, but I’m not pathetic. I know that. So why
is he pretending to care? I don’t know if I’ll ever find out, but
I need to know.

“Thank you.”

He kisses me lightly on
the mouth, and then leads me into the shower. I stand there and let
him wash me up. He’s still trying for that Boyfriend of the Year
award as he gently scrubs every inch of my body from feet to
forehead. He also washes and conditions my hair. I’m crying by the
time he’s done. He’s right to think it’s because of what
happened last night. Because the fact that he sold me to the highest
bidder, and is now pretending to cherish me, is tearing me up inside.
And when he pulls me into his arms to hold me tight, I’m done.
There’s nothing left of me.

I barely notice as he
dries me off, and carries me to my bed. I let him kiss me softly for
a few minutes before I turn my head. He continues to kiss my cheek,
and forehead, until I turn to my side because I honestly can’t take
it anymore.

“I’m sorry. I
didn’t mean to push.”

“You didn’t. I just
need to sleep.”

“Can I sleep with
you?”

No. “Yes. Of course.”

“I love you, Isa.”

I pretend that I’m
asleep so I don’t have to answer him. Because he doesn’t deserve
to ever hear those words from me again, and I’ll do everything I
can to avoid saying them. He lies down close to me, but doesn’t
touch me. I guess now I
am
doing with him what I did with Ryan last night. That’s my last
thought before I succumb to the sleep my body needs.

* * *

Mason

I’ve been angry
before in my life, but never like this. It’s like a red haze is
clouding my vision, and I’m on the verge of committing murder.
Isa’s so broken, and Ryan Griffin needs to pay for doing this to
her. I wish she’d tell me exactly what he did, but then again maybe
it’s better that she doesn’t.

I’m just about done
with the dinner I’m cooking for her when I hear her come
downstairs. I turn to give her the best smile I can. “Did you get
enough sleep, babe? Dinner is almost ready.”

“I slept surprisingly
well. You didn’t have to cook me dinner, Jake.”

She looks genuinely
shocked that I did this for her. Oh God. Does she think I don’t
love her anymore? Did he break her that badly? Death may not be a
good enough punishment for him.

“I love you, Isa.
That hasn’t changed.”

“Are you sure? I
mean, do you really love me?”

“Yes. I really love
you. More than I thought I could love another person. I told you
that. You’re everything to me.”

She bursts out crying,
and I start to go to her but she stops me. “You should go. I-I
can’t do this right now.”

“You’re scaring me.
I don’t want you to be alone.”

Awareness dawns on her
face. “You think I’d hurt myself?”

I reluctantly nod. I
am
afraid of that. She really does seem broken, and fragile
right now.

“I’m not going to
hurt myself over you, Mason.”

Over me? What? Oh. “You
really don’t believe me. Are you breaking up with me?”

She shakes her head.
“No. But could it even be that? We’ve never given what we’re
doing a name.”

“You need a name for
this?” She shrugs and I know she does. “You’re my girlfriend,
Isabelle Carlton.”

“You sound like you
mean it.”

“I do mean it.
Whatever happened with that guy last night doesn’t matter to me. It
doesn’t change anything between us.”

“I-I just need to
think. Please give me some time to think. I’ll see you at school
tomorrow, okay?”

I don’t want to
leave. Walking out of her apartment is the hardest thing I’ve ever
done. And I’ve done some pretty intense things. But she wants, or
needs, to be alone, and I’ll never deny her anything. I put on the
rest of my clothes, and kiss her goodbye, thinking that it feels too
much like forever.

I’m home for less
than five minutes when the first phone call comes in.

“Hello.”

“Congratulations,
Mason. Last night was our most profitable ever.”

“It was great.”

“And this Isabelle
girl? I think we should move her around. Weekend trips to the other
cities for parties.”

Oh Fuck no. “No.
She’s doing very well for me here.”

“And she’ll do even
better in some of our other markets. Those big eyes combined with the
sexy lingerie is a big moneymaker. I almost bid on her last night.”

“You’re here in
Vegas?”

“No. But I could’ve
been.”

“You just said I made
you a ton of money. Leave me and my girls alone.”

“Did you just try to
give me an order? Are you forgetting that I own you? That I have
enough evidence against you to send you to jail for years?”

“I haven’t
forgotten.”

“Then bring Isabelle
to Milwaukee next weekend.”

“No.”

“Yes, Mason. Either
you bring her, or I’ll send a couple of the guys with her. I’d
have to remind them not to mark her up on the plane ride, but they’d
be happy to do what I ask.”

That red fog I’ve
been seeing has turned into a full blown storm. There is no way in
Hell I’m letting any of his “guys” put their hands or anything
else near Isa. “I’ll bring her.” I won’t, but he doesn’t
need to know that yet.

Once I’m off the
phone with him, I get the other call. That one doesn’t go well,
either. I know I’m in big trouble, but I’m not really caring
about it. I should be, but all I can think about is protecting Isa.
That’s my biggest priority. My
only
priority. I know she can take care of herself, but she doesn’t know
how big this is, or how bad the man I work for is.

The other person who
called me isn’t much better, but at least he works for my mother.
He can’t push me too far unless he wants to deal with her. And no
one wants to ever deal with her when she’s on the warpath. Which is
why we all try and stay on her good side.

I spend the rest of the
day planning. I’ve had an exit strategy for myself, but now I need
to also protect Isa before I disappear. I take out the phone that’s
only for emergencies. The one that no one knows I have. Well, one
person knows, and that’s who I call now.

It rings in a weird
way, but I know that’s because the line’s being scrambled. “Jake,
you’re using the phone. What happened?”

“I need your help,
Mom.”

“Why? Again, what
happened?”

“I fell in love.”

“Tell me everything.”

Isa

Ellie and Jade come
over as soon as Mase/Jake leaves. They have ice cream, and the
Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider movies with them. I laugh, and hug them
tight. I thought no one saw me, but they brought me just what I need.

“He was here all
day?” Ellie asks.

“Yeah. It was hard.”

“Did you have to…you
know? I mean, it’s none of our business, so you don’t have to
say,” Jade tells me.

“You’re my friends
and I-I want to tell you. I know I usually keep everything in, and
I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry
for. You don’t need to be loud and in your face like us. We love
you the way you are.”

“Thanks, Ellie. I
love you guys, too. Even though you can be a little scary sometimes.”

“El and I are only
like that with other people. We’ve got your back, Isa. Always,”
Jade tells me.

“Thanks. To answer
your question, we didn’t sleep together. It was even worse,
though.”

“Worse, how?” Jade
asks.

“He took care of me.
When I said I needed a shower, he turned off the lights and scrubbed
every inch of me. Then he washed my hair. All because he thought Ryan
made me do…things.”

“He loves you. I
don’t think he lied about that. I’ve seen the way he looks at you
when we’re at school. He’s a dirty bastard, but he loves you.”

“He kept saying it.
Like he knew I didn’t believe him, and had to convince me. But if
he loved me, he wouldn’t have sold me to the highest bidder last
night.”

“Ain’t that the
truth. He may love you, but he loves his money even more,” Jade
says.

“And that’s why
we’re not going to talk about him anymore. I need just one day to
be a no Mason Wells zone so I can be ready to face him again on
Monday.”

“Let’s talk about
Ellie and Aiden alone in a room
all
night
. While she was wearing almost nothing.”

“He gave me the one
night,” she says suddenly.

“Gave you…you mean?
Oh my God, El.”

“Yeah, J. I think I
did
see God last
night. But that’s it. He told me he couldn’t resist me, but it
had to be for just last night.”

“Shit. That sucks.”

“And she did too, I’m
sure,” I say and then cover my mouth as they both burst out
laughing.

“Why yes I did, my
little harlot in training.”

“Damn, Isa. We’re
rubbing off on you. I like it,” Jade says.

“Seriously, though.
Are you okay, Ellie? I know you want more than sex from him.”

“Yeah, I do.
Especially after last night. I mean, I knew it’d be hot with him,
but that man has skills no one I’ve ever been with could even come
close to matching. I’m surprised we didn’t burn the house down.”

“He was nice to you?”
I ask.

“Oh sweet little Isa,
he gave her the best fuck of her life. That’s very, very nice.”

Ellie throws a pillow
at Jade before answering my question. “Yes, he was nice to me. As
my bestie over there so eloquently put it, he gave me the best fucks
of my life. Plural. But it wasn’t all rough and hard. He made love
to me slow and sweet, too. And when he whispered my name, and cuddled
with me…well, I could die happy now.”

“You cuddled? Silent
and scary Aiden Ford
cuddled
with you?”

“Yeah he did.”

Ellie looks like she
might cry, and that jars me. These women who I always think of as
stronger than me, are actually just like me in some ways. I’ve
spent too much time hiding when I should’ve been getting to know
them better. And even though I’ve kept to myself, they came right
over to comfort me because they knew I needed it.

“It’s not over,
Ellie. If you’re feeling like this, I bet he is, too. He can’t
have been with you like that and not felt something.”

“I know he cares for
me, Isa. That’s what makes it harder. If I was just a random fuck,
I could probably handle this better. But I’m not. When I walked
into the room last night, he pulled me into his arms, and held me
tight. He told me that he’d almost lost in the bidding war, and he
would’ve had to kill the winner if that had happened.”

“Then you need to
step it up. Have Stella shorten your skirts even more than she does
now. Wear your damn corsets every day. Flaunt the other guys in front
of him at the clubs. Whatever it takes to show him what he’s
missing.”

“No, Jade. She needs
to do the opposite. She needs to become me.”

“What?”

Ellie sits up, her eyes
sparkling. “She’s right. Oh my God, she’s fucking right. I’ve
done the skirts, corsets, and other guys. It didn’t work. That’s
what he expects from me. The trifecta didn’t nickname me ‘Brass’
because they think I’m sweet or smart. So that’s what I’m going
to be. I’m going to still be sexy, but more like Isa and Reina.
Understated and classy sexy. And no more going to the bars. By the
time I figure out a way to get him alone again, I want him so
confused and worked up that he can’t help but give in.”

“I love you enough to
ignore that you inadvertently said I wasn’t classy,” Jade tells
her.

“You, Stella, and
Audrey are the sexpots. You can’t help it. The three of you exude
sex appeal no matter what you wear. There’s nothing wrong with you
playing it up.”

“Nate thinks there
is.”

“Nate eye fucks you
every time you’re in range.”

“I want a cock fuck,
not an eye fuck, from that sexy beast of a man.”

“We’ll think of
something,” I tell her.

The rest of the night
is spent watching movies, painting our nails, and eating junk food.
When I tell them that this was my first sleepover, they call all the
other girls who aren’t on missions, and we do it all again Sunday.
With an added fashion show courtesy of Stella, of course. I’m not
alone with my thoughts for even a minute, and I appreciate what
they’ve done for me more than they’ll ever know.

* * *

Mason