Page 128 of The Temptation of Truth

“Hi. It’s Aurora. I didn’t want to have to do this on your voicemail, but since you’re not picking up, I guess I have to. Brady, I’m not leaving the tour. I’m going to stay and honor my commitment. And...”

I pause to collect myself. Do I tell him I want a divorce? That I’m leaving? For a moment, I almost do just to make it easier on myself, but then I think better of it. I don’t want to give him any extra ammunition to throw at me.

“And we really need to talk. It’s important, so please call me back when you get a chance. Goodbye.”

I hang up, then sit for several minutes just staring at the phone. I wait with rigid muscles for it to ring, for him to return the call just to scream at me from across the ocean. When my phone buzzes with a text, I about jump out of my skin before Irealize it’s not from Brady. Immediately, my fear vanishes, and I’m filled with those fluttering butterflies.

Mabel

Open your door, Sleeping Beauty.

I rush to let her in, and it takes all my strength not to collapse into her as soon as we’re alone.

She takes off her jacket and drops it on my bed, then sits to take off her boots. She’s still in her concert clothes, so she must have come straight back to the house. I’m so glad she did. I’m jittery and bouncing with adrenaline, but she always makes me feel calm.

“Hey. You played a great show tonight,” I say. “You all did, but especially you. I bet you got some great footage.”

She gives me a tired smile. “You looked like you were having fun in the audience. I saw you dancing and singing.”

“I had a blast. It was probably my favorite show of the tour so far.”

She stands and steps closer, several inches shorter now that she’s barefooted, and tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear.

“And how are you feeling? About what you said earlier, I mean. Second thoughts?”

I shake my head. “No second thoughts. I actually tried to do it tonight, but he didn’t answer his phone.”

Her brows rise. “Really?”

“Yeah. I’m serious about this, Mabel. I want it done. I want it over.”

I want you,I almost add, butI bite my tongue. I told her that this decision wasn’t about her, and I don’t want her to doubt that.

She smiles softly, then leans in and presses her lips to mine. It’s sweet and tender, but I want more, so I deepen the kiss. Slowly at first. Timid. But when she responds, I grow bolder.

I run my tongue along her lower lip, just like she’s done to me, and she parts them. Our tongues glide together, and I swear I can feel it on every inch of my skin. My neck. My breasts. Between my thighs. I tug on her corset, pulling her closer, but she pulls away, and I’m left panting and confused.

“I’m going to shower, okay? After, if you’re not too tired, maybe we can hang out? Watch a movie or something.”

I try not to frown as I nod, and I watch her leave through the terrace French doors. Minutes later, the shower kicks on in her en suite bathroom. Then I start to pace.

Blood is pumping quickly through my body. My skin pulses with it. I’m still energized from the phone call, from the promise of my life without a cage, and after kissing Mabel, I can’t settle. I don’t want to settle. I wanther.

An idea pops into my head, and with it are images that set my skin on fire. That same sense of urgency grows stronger, more frantic. I’m almost free. My new life is right at my fingertips, and I want it now. I’m so tired of wasting time. Of wastingmyself. I want to close this dark chapter and start a new one. I want a life full of light.

I want Mabel Rossi, and I’m going to show her.

29

MABEL

I’m so farin my head as I step under the shower spray and let the warm water roll down my body.

I will it to take away some of the tension, but it doesn’t. Kat’s note is weighing heavily on me, and I’m not sure how to make it stop. All I keep thinking about is the advice I gave Aurora hours ago.

I can’t make life-altering decisions based on someone else. I have to do what’s best for me. I know this. But what is that?

I was with Kat for a long time. I invested so much time and energy into that relationship, and a month ago, that note would have made me fucking ecstatic. It was all I’d been wanting, to go public with her. To love and be loved in the open. And now she’s saying I can have it, but is it what I want?