Page 79 of Wickedly Played

Serena twists a chunk of hair around her finger as she watches in the mirror at their car. “Sometimes. It almost seems like he is trying to compete with me over some bull shit.”

“Baby,” I begin, trying to figure out the right words. “Has he crossed the line?”

Her laugh is forced. “I’m a sex worker, Max. Everyone has crossed the line.”

“Are you going to tell me about your ex-husband? Or what happened with Murray?” I throw out.

She looks at me with narrowed eyes. “I want some information.”

Sighing, I nod. “All right. What do you want to know?”

“That night you ate me out… Who were you thinking of?”

Fuck.“Um.”

She huffs. “Max, if we’re going to do this, I need honesty. I’m horrible at relationships, but I need to feel safe. Honesty helps me feel safe.”

Shit.“I dated a girl for a while, and she went missing… and that night you came into my room, I was dreaming of some shit that went down.”

Serena’s sharp intake of breath is hard to hear. “I, uh, I didn’t know… Do you love her?”

“I thought I did,” I answer honestly. “At the time, I thought I was in love.”

“You don’t know what happened to her?”

“Baby, I wish I did. We think she was killed.”

“You never heard anything from her again?”

I shake my head while pulling into the club. “All right. Now it is your turn.”

Looking down at her nails to avoid me, I see the wheels turning in her head. “My ex and I never loved each other, and he cheated on me. He still works for my dad.”

“Who’s your dad?”

She picks at her nail beds. “I think you already know the answer to that.”

“I want to hear you say it.”

Serena’s eyes are full of fire as they stare at me. “My dad is Lorcan McGuire. Head of the McGuire family.”

This is when I see the crack in her armor, and she’s allowing herself to be vulnerable. I hear the insecurities in her voice. I feel her pain and worry flowing off of her in waves. Much more than that, I hear the self-doubt she has. What kind of asshole would make their daughter suffer like this? What kind of maniac doesn’t care enough about his daughter to protect her?

I will find Lorcan. I will kill him for the pain he has caused my family. However, I will also kill him for Serena. Serena needs to know how wonderful she is.

I grasp her chin in my hand to pull her closer to me. “Baby, I still want you. As you. Not some mafia princess.”

She lets out a deep breath, staring right through me with intensity. “All I have ever been is either the mafia princess or Mistress Aphrodite.”

I lay a sweet kiss on her lips. “They are both pretty great, but I like Serena more.”

Is it lying if I’m omitting the truth? Should I have told her about my intentions of taking out her father? Probably. However, once she finds out everything about me, she’s never going to want to talk to me again.

“Max?” Her breath is feather-light against my lips.

“Yeah?” I kiss her once more before breaking away to look at her.

“I wasn’t kidding when I said I was bad at relationships. There is no harm if you want to stop whatever this is.”