The blonde’s stare moved to the elevator and back to Layla. She bit into her bottom lip, before the words rushed out of her mouth. “You really don’t want to go up there.”
Layla frowned, unease moving over her like a dark fog, and leaving a sour taste in her mouth. “Why?”
Colleen averted her stare. “Just...trust me, okay. Despite how I’ve acted lately, you’ve been good to me. I don’t want to see you hurt.”
What the hell?
Layla’s frown deepened, sickening premonition already churning her stomach. “What’s going on, Colleen?”
Her workmate cleared her throat, a tinge of red coloring her cheeks as she again faced her. “Galan has another woman up there.”
For a moment Layla swayed, her mind buzzing with a rush of heat and nervous energy. She shook her head. “No.”
He loves me.
But even as she denied it, the truth was written in Colleen’s unsmiling, concerned face. Layla resisted taking a step back. Colleen had been envious of her relationship with Galan, but surely even she wasn’t capable of making this shit up.
There was only one way to find out.
She entered the elevator’s password, her fingers surprisingly steady.
The doors hissed open, and Layla stepped into the elevator before turning to face Colleen.
The blonde sent her a sad smile. “I hope for your sake it’s not true, Layla. I’m only sorry I had to be the one to tell you.”
Layla’s mind screamed rejection, a lump the size of a boulder sitting in her throat. If it was true, the proof would be up there for her to see. She inhaled slowly, bolstering herself, while focusing on the woman who’d been a good friend to her until she’d let jealousy take over. “Just tell me one thing.”
Collen nodded. “Anything.”
“Is...is this the first time Galan’s taken another woman up to his apartment since I’ve been with him?”
Colleen plucked at the top of her lilac negligee shorts, revealing her toned belly with the navel piercing winking beneath. “As far as I know. What I do know is that he’s met up with that same blonde woman at the bar—numerous times.”
Lord help her, was it that sexy blonde lawyer she’d seen him with one time in the past? Surely not? He only ever slept with a woman once and never bothered with them again... unless this time it was serious?
Layla somehow held herself together. Galan loved her. Now was the time to put her faith in him. Except prior to Colleen being jealous she’d been a good friend... maybe she was being that good friend again now?
Did you forget? Once a player, always a player.
Colleen’s face softened, as though reading the doubts playing in Layla’s mind. “I’m so sorry, Layla. I honestly thought you two were perfect together.”
Layla jabbed at the button that shut the elevator doors, before she said starkly, “That’s because we are perfect together.”
Layla refused to believe Galan would cheat on her.
But, still, she sagged as the doors slid closed and the elevator took her smoothly upward, her breath coming out rough and erratic, as one bad thought superseded another.
If Galan was cheating on her, how long had he been interested in this other woman? Were they even now in bed together? When he’d been screwing Layla, had he been thinking about the blonde? She swallowed hard. Had he deemed it okay to cheat on Layla with one gorgeous woman, rather than dozens?
Lord help her, was it the sexy blonde lawyer she’d seen him take up to his rooms a few weeks ago?
Nausea burned her stomach, a rush of heat leaving her dizzy. The very idea of him having another lover after he’d promised to never hurt her was simply unthinkable.
The elevator doors slid open, and somehow she held her nerve as she approached the front door of his penthouse and silently pushed it open. She stepped inside...and froze at the scene before her.
She pressed a fist to her midriff as a blade plunged deep into her insecurities. This was his idea of being faithful?
Galan stood in the kitchen with a beautiful blonde woman, his entire focus centered on her. It wasn’t the sexy lawyer Layla had imagined, but someone she didn’t recognize. They were lost in the moment. Galan’s face wore a tender expression, his hands clasping the blonde’s as he said gently, “You know that’s not true, Sienna.”
