Page 24 of Reticent

“Get the fuck out of my house,” Niko growls. “Now!”

I flinch, taking a sharp breath at my brother’s raised voice, which likely reminds Hunter that I’m still in the room. Pained eyes land on me, and the guilt that flickers across Hunter’s face is unmistakable. You fucked my wife. So I guess we’re even.

“Yasmine,” Hunter starts. “I—”

“Just go.” Damn my voice for shaking.

Hunter’s throat bobs as he shakes his head. “No.”

Before Niko advances on Hunter, I pin him with a look that screams calm the fuck down and let me handle this. He tenses but falls back slightly.

“Let me explain,” Hunter pleads, searching my eyes. Whatever he finds in them causes him to wince.

I feel nothing for the man standing in front of me. I’m not even hurt. I’m numb. This. This is why I keep my heart on lockdown.

“I’ll see myself out,” he finally says. He looks like he’s about to say more, but he turns and walks out of the room.

He can keep whatever lame explanation or apology he has to himself. There’s nothing he can say to fix this. Using me for sex is one thing. We used each other. But this is different. This means that none of it was real. Not his attraction to me. Not even the lust. It was all a stupid game, and I was his pawn. All because of his fragile ego and the need for revenge.

* * *

Hunter’s engine roars to life outside my window before the sound grows distant. I’m staring at an empty doorway when Niko’s growl shreds through my thoughts. “Fuck him!”

I swing my head in Niko’s direction. “You had an affair with his wife?”

Niko stares at his shoes for a moment, visibly calming down. “Yes.”

“Oh, Niko.” I sit down on the edge of my bed.

“It was years ago.”

“You broke up their marriage?”

“Their marriage was already broken.”

I huff, gaping at him. “Spoken like a true side piece.”

Niko slumps down on the bed next to me and leans forward, elbows to thighs. “He didn’t give a damn about her.”

“He loved her enough to marry her.”

“People fall out of love every day. And when he did, instead of ending it, he stayed because it was cheaper to keep her.”

“Did she leave him for you?”

Niko looks over at me, and his eyes grow dim. “She left me right after he filed for divorce. She wanted to save her marriage.”

“I told him on the night we met that I was visiting family and crashing with my brother. I think I told him your name.”

“He had sex with you as a fuck-you to me. You need to stay away from him. He’s not a good dude.”

If only things were that simple. “You know I can’t do that.”

Niko rises to stand, facing me. “You can share a kid and still have nothing to do with him.”

“And have him be a stranger to me?” I push to my feet.

“He doesn’t give a fuck about you.”