Page 26 of How We End

“I was just showing Mr.Silver out.”Jackson nodded as he opened the door for Julian.

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

WYATT

October 28

I didn’t have the energy to deal with Margo.“Why are you here so early?”

“It’s Monday.We go to the gym together, remember?And what was he doing here?There’s no one on your schedule.”Margo pulled her phone out.

“Margo, don’t start,” I said, walking to the coffee bar.

“Don’t start?You had a man here overnight without Jackson.Do you have any idea what could’ve happened?”

“Jackson was here.”I dropped the pod in.Sort of.He stayed the first half hour after Julian arrived and came back for the last half hour before he left.

“Not all night.I saw Jackson come in.No one had any idea you were here alone with him.”

“Margo, enough.”I slammed down the lid on the coffeemaker.“You really think Julian Silver wants his name connected to a dead hooker in a hotel room?”

“It hasn’t stopped others.What the hell is wrong with you?Why would you do that?”

“Why would I do what, my job?”I leaned against the counter.“And Julian isn’t like others.”

“Oh, you’re a Julian Silver expert?”

“Yes, after almost twenty years of being a prostitute, I know a thing or two about men.”I knew the signs now, the subtle little things men did that were a warning for something bigger.

“Men, maybe, but not Julian Silver.”She crossed her arms over her chest.“He has made a name for himself on the ice.He plays rough hockey and has a short temper.Some teams won’t touch him.He knocked a guy out once.”

“He walked up to some random guy and knocked him out?”

“No, during a game.But his outbursts are well documented.He got drunk at some charity thing this summer and tried to beat the shit out of another player.”

I didn’t see that with Julian.He didn’t fit the rough sex type of client.Those men wore their dominance for the world to see.They couldn’t get off unless they were hurting another.Julian wanted to please.He wanted to do everything right.“And how many women has he beaten up?Better yet, how many escorts in hotels has he beat up?”

“Fine, you don’t want to take my word for it?What about his wife?She has made some serious accusations.”

“You want me to take the word of a woman who’s fucking someone else?A woman who didn’t even want to be married to him?I should trust her?”You couldn’t search Julian’s name without hers popping up too.She was pretty enough—long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, a huge smile.She worked as a fitness model and yoga instructor.She had the look of a hockey player’s wife.Cute.Soft.Their wedding had been massive, full of famous faces and glossy coverage.It looked like a fairy tale.Julian, the prince.Her, the perfect match.

And then something changed.Suddenly, he wasn’t the hero anymore.He was the villain.

“Seriously?”Margo rolled her eyes.“You make Jackson wait outside when you’re with Maverick.Maverick, the man whose house you live in.Maverick, who has access to this room at any time.To you at any time.”

“No, Maverick makes Jackson wait outside,” I corrected her.

“Will you listen to yourself?”

“I am, and I trust Julian.”

“Just like in LA?”

“Julian Silver isn’t some rich fucker who thinks he’s above the law.He’s a hockey player who when he’s on the ice does what is expected of him.Just like when I am in this room, I do what is expected of me.Which is what I did last night.”Margo and I had a tricky relationship.She really wasn’t my friend, but she was the closest thing I had to one.She knew everything about me.How much money I made, how many men I’d slept with.What I looked like when I cried.

“You’ve never done this for Richard, or even Victor.”

“Do what?Fuck them?”I tried to play off that she was partially right.I had limited the time I could spend with either of them to four hours.“Richard told me I was old and had saggy tits.And Victor wants to be home before his ‘show starts.’”They both got what they paid for, four hours to do with as they pleased.