Page 34 of Strange Seduction (Strange #2)

No Body, No Crime.

Still Day Nine.

“What?”

The word barely made it out of my mouth.

My stomach dropped as I looked up at Vince’s face. I tried to blink him away.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “No. I don’t believe you.”

“It’s the truth,” he said quietly.

I stared at him. My chest tightened, vision narrowing like I was about to black out.

Doubt: Was it Leah?

“With who?” The voice didn’t even sound like me. It was stripped of all the confidence.

“Carmen, maybe I shouldn’t have told you like this—”

“With. Who?” I pushed. “Please, just tell me with who.”

He stared at me for a while as I fought back the tears stinging my eyes.

“Last Thanksgiving,” Vince went on. “We had a staff party. He and Guila left together.”

“ Guila ?” the name cracked in my throat.

“The receptionist,” he explained. “That’s why she’s so cold to you. Everyone in the office knows, but we’re not allowed to talk about it. Especially with you here.”

My heart split open.

He’s lying. He has to be lying. Theo wouldn’t do that.

Not to me.

We just had a discussion on the balcony less than five hours ago about how committed he was to me. Theo told me he didn’t know why the receptionist was rude to me. Vince just wanted to turn me against Theo.

Doubt: But the way he said it…

“You’re lying,” I said, voice breaking just slightly.

“Ask him,” Vince said. “Ask him about it.”

“Vincent, what the hell are you doing?”

Carter’s voice sliced through the tension as he turned the corner, his expression hard as he took in the scene.

“Let her go, man.”

Vince stepped back, hands up. “She deserved to know.”

Carter’s gaze flicked to mine. “Carmen… Theo’s looking for you out front.”

I didn’t say anything. I turned and walked.

My heels echoed down the hallway, but all I could hear was that one sentence:

Ask him about it.

I just knew the second I saw him, something inside me would break all the way open.

I didn’t remember how I got to the stairwell.

Theo looked up from his phone, eyes softening the moment he saw me.

“Hey, I was looking everywhere for you. The car’s here.”

I didn’t even look at him as I walked past, my steps slow, sharp, and unsteady.

“Carmen?” His voice sounded strained now, following me down the stairs. I still said nothing as what could only be described as shock took hold of me.

“Hey, I’m talking to you. Are you upset? What happened?”

I didn’t respond.

He reached for my hand, and that simple touch snapped me out of the haze I was in.

“Don’t fucking touch me.” I yanked my hand back, my pulse racing.

He looked taken aback by my sudden outburst. “What is going on?”

I took a breath, then I asked the question clawing to get out. “Did you go home with your receptionist last Thanksgiving?”

Theo froze, looking into my eyes as something terrified took over his expression. “Who told you that?”

What. The. Fuck.

“So it’s true?”

My stomach twisted in ways I didn’t know were humanly possible as the words left my mouth. I wasn’t sure what hurt more—the question or his silence after.

“It’s more to it than that.” He took a step closer, but I took a step back.

“Oh my God.” I held my stomach, fighting the urge to throw up.

“Nothing happened with her.” His voice was low, but the look in his eyes made me want to scream.

“I’m such an idiot,” I said bitterly. “I let you fill my head up with that shit about being committed to me. I let you manipulate me into thinking I was being inappropriate with Marcus and Vince when the whole time, you were inviting women back to your room.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Yes, it is like that!” My voice cracked, and a few heads turned our way.

Theo’s jaw tightened. “Can you calm down, please?”

“Why should I?” I couldn’t hold it in anymore. “They’re all laughing at me anyway. Everyone knows about it.”

“No one is laughing, Carmen.” His eyes pleaded with me, but the hurt in his voice made my insides twist.

“Of course they are,” I shot back. “I’ve been oblivious to everything, thinking we were fine, when the whole time you were entertaining other women. And with your receptionist? Pathetic. Do you want to be like your father that badly?”

His face faltered, the hurt unmistakable now.

“Carmen, please—” He stepped forward, but I held my ground.

“Don’t you dare touch me.”

He stepped back and gave me a little space before speaking again.

“Can we please talk about this in private?” Theo’s voice dropped to almost a whisper. “I can explain it all when we get back home. But not here, baby. Please?”

His eyes locked on mine, full of raw emotion.

Giving him my back, I got into the car without another word.

The car was silent as we pulled away from the venue. I stared out the window, the lights of the city blurring past, matching the storm of thoughts inside my head.

Theo sat beside me, his body tense, his hands clenched around his drink, the same drink he’d been nursing all night. I could feel his gaze on me, but I refused to meet it. The anger still burned in my chest.

After what felt like an eternity, he finally spoke.

“Carmen,” his voice was soft, almost pleading. “I wanna explain.”

I didn’t answer immediately, still staring out the window. The city lights reflected off the glass, making everything feel distant, almost unreal.

“Explain what, Theo?” I asked, my voice tight.

His breath hitched, and I could feel the tension in his body even though he was sitting a few inches away. “Nothing happened between me and her. I swear.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “You swear? You expect me to believe that? How could you even think about lying to me like that? After everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve built…” My voice cracked.

Theo’s hand moved to mine, but I pulled away quickly, not wanting his touch right now. He flinched, but didn’t say anything.

“I never meant to hurt you,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I messed up, Carmen, and I…” He trailed off, his gaze shifting toward the window, his jaw tight. “I never wanted you to find out like this.”

I didn’t answer. I just stared at myself in the side mirror.

I just wanted to fucking cry.

“Did you fuck her?” I asked bluntly.

His head whipped in my direction. “No, baby, of course not!”

“So why did you leave with her?” I yelled.

The car pulled into the hotel parking lot, and the sudden stop jolted me back to reality. I glanced up at the glowing lights of the hotel.

“Let’s talk upstairs,” he offered.

I didn’t argue.

He got out of the car first, then opened the door for me, but I walked past him without saying a word. The energy between us felt so wrong as we entered the hotel.

As soon as we got into the suite, I let it out.

I stared at him, fists clenched at my sides. “You had another woman in your room and never said anything to me?”

“It was late, Carmen. She was drunk out of her mind, and I couldn’t let her drive.”

“So you put her in your bed ?” My voice cracked on the last word.

“It was the holidays. The hotel was fully booked—I couldn’t get her another room. I let her sleep in the bed, and I took the couch.”

“Did you have sex with her?” I repeated.

“Baby, I swear to you I did not touch her.”

I laughed, but there was nothing amusing about it.

“I find it so funny that when I told you I had lunch with my boss, you acted like I’d committed a war crime.

You got mad at me for being in Vince’s office, but you had a whole woman in your bed.

And even had the nerve to ask me, ‘How would you feel about me being in a room with another woman?’ You’re sick as fuck for that, you know that right? ”

“Carmen—”

“It’s the same shit as Allyson!” I cut him off. “You still can’t set fucking boundaries with women. And I bet you were never going to tell me about this, were you?”

“I didn’t want to upset you for no reason, Carmen. Nothing happened—but I knew how it would look.”

“You knew how it looked, but you still let me walk around your office like a damn fool.” The tears started to fall. “I asked you about her…”

“I know.”

“You should’ve told me…”

“I know.”

“Everyone knew. You had me walking into that office like an idiot when everyone knew. You embarrassed me. And you know how I feel about being embarrassed.”

“Carmen…” he reached for me.

I snatched my hand away. “No!”

That was it, the turning and bubbling in my stomach reached a boiling point, and I started to heave. I dashed for the bathroom before the hors d’oeuvres made a final appearance for the evening. After retching over the toilet for what felt like forever, I collapsed next to it in tears.

“Baby,” Theo called from the doorway. “Please don’t be like this. Let’s talk about this.”

“I can’t believe this is happening to me,” I sobbed. “I never in a million years thought you would do something like this, Theodore. I’m seriously fucked up behind this.”

“Sweetness, get up and let’s talk. Please, baby.”

His arms wrapped around my waist, and I was too weak from spilling my guts to fight him off, so I let him carry me out of the bathroom and into our bedroom.

He set me down on the bed and began taking off my heels.

I stared at the ceiling, almost in a daze, as my mind ran a million miles a second. I snapped out of it the moment his hands moved up my thighs.

“What are you doing?” I shot up. He looked up at me with apologetic eyes as he tried to position himself between my legs.

“I wanna make it up to you,” he explained.

I scoffed and pushed him away before standing. “You’re unbelievable.”

I stomped over to my dresser and started grabbing my things from it. “You had a bitch in your fucking bed and you think head is gonna fix this?”

“I don’t think it’s gonna fix anything, baby. I just wanted you to relax a little. Then we could talk some more.”

I scoffed again. “Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious,” he replied.

“We ain’t got nothing else to discuss about this, Theodore. And I’ll be damned if I let you eat this pussy after the shit you pulled.”

“Nothing happened, baby,” he repeated. “I swear to you that nothing happened.”

I held out my hand. “Then let me see your phone.”

“What?” he asked, confused. I didn’t blame him. I never went through his phone. Ever. I had the passwords for everything, but never felt the need to use them.

But here we are.

“The phone, Theodore.” I pushed.

He let out a frustrated sigh but handed it over without protest. I stared at it in my palm, thumb hovering just above the screen.

Is this seriously what we’ve become?

I shook my head and handed the phone back.

“I’m not doing this,” I said, returning to pulling my clothes out of the drawers. “Not after everything.”

His brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”

The words came out before I could process what they really meant. “I want to break up.”

“No.” He said without hesitation.

“Yes,” I insisted. “I’m done.”

“No, you’re not. We’re not done.”

“I’m not going to be in a relationship where I have to check your phone and worry about what you’re doing behind my back.”

“We aren’t done, Carmen.”

I didn’t respond. I turned away and grabbed my suitcases from the corner of the room, tossing the clothes into them in angry handfuls. He just stood there, watching.

When I finished, I zipped the bags shut and headed for the bedroom door—but he stepped in front of it, blocking my path.

“Move,” I said.

“Where are you going?”

“Anywhere but here. I’ll get a flight out tomorrow.”

“It’s two in the morning. Nothing’s open.”

“I’ll find something.”

“And then?”

“Then? It’s none of your business. I’m done with this.”

“No.”

“Move, Theodore.”

He didn’t.

Instead, he said quietly, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I had a girl in the room and didn’t tell you. I’m sorry about how I reacted with Marcus. Obviously, we have trust issues between us, but it will pass. We can work through it.”

“I can’t,” I said. “I just can’t.”

“You can and you will because you ain’t leaving me.”

“Don’t put it on me like I decided to do this out of nowhere,” I snapped. “I’m not the one with the fucking problem. I want out because I don’t trust you.”

Theo nodded slowly. “Okay.”

I blinked. “Okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.”

“So, move. I’m leaving.”

He stood his ground, just looking down at me.

“Get out of the way, Theodore.”

Nothing.

I finally decided to push past him, somehow managing to pull my suitcases with me.

“It’s not over,” he said, following me to the door. “You’re not leaving me.”

“Watch me.”

I pressed the elevator button and walked in, suitcases in hand, not looking back.

Doubt: Wow. I never thought I’d actually be right.

Oh my God. What is wrong with you? Can’t you see I’m going through something?

Doubt: So what? I just came to say I told you so. You think a man like that is gonna go years and years without fucking something? Be fucking for real.

You don’t know him like I do. He’s a good man, he just—Fuck! I sound like one of those sad women who excuse their cheating ass man for their fucked up behaviour. Theo, what the fuck did you do to me?

Doubt: Do you really think he cheated on you, though?

I think…he put himself in a position where he made himself look guilty by keeping it from me. Do I think he slept with the girl? I don’t know.

Ultimately, the damage wasn’t just what he did—

It was him hiding this from me for as long as he did and having me parade around his office like a fool. That did more harm than he could ever imagine.

I want to believe him. I want to believe what he told me—that she slept in the room and he took the couch—because that sounds like the man I know him to be. Or thought I knew.

But the way my mind was fucked up behind this? The way doubt moved in where trust used to live? I don’t know what to think of him right now.

That’s the funny thing about trust. It takes years to build and seconds to destroy.

Especially after the week we just had.

At the front desk, a hotel agent greeted me with a practiced smile.

“Hello, Mrs. Clayton.”

“Call me Carmen, please,” I said, voice tight. “I need a room.”

“Of course. Mr. Clayton called ahead. Here’s your key.”

I blinked. “What? No. I don’t want anything from him. Can I book my own room? Please? Just something for a day or two.”

With the money in my account, I should’ve been able to swing that much. I just needed space until I figured out what’s next.

The agent’s fingers tapped the keyboard. “We do have a room available. Including taxes, that would be fourteen thousand, four hundred seventy-eight euros. Would you like to pay now or at checkout?”

I stared at him. “Fuck.”

Without another word, he slid the keycard across the counter—the one Theo had arranged for me.

I took it begrudgingly, gripping it tighter than I needed to.

“Have a lovely night, Mrs. Clayton.”

“It’s Car—” I sighed. “Whatever.”