Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
LIVIANNA/LILY
Then
Elusive Encounters it pulls. You don’t see the strings, but they’re there.”
My pulse thunders through my veins. He’s wrong. Jax doesn’t treat me like a pawn. He doesn’t treat me like anything but his equal. His obsession is my anchor, not my cage.
Bren studies me, eyes narrowing. “You sound like you admire him.”
My throat dries, and I force a shrug. “I admire a lot of people.”
“Yeah, but not like this.” He glances toward his untouched vodka like he’s debating drinking it. “The way you’re defending him…it’s interesting. Makes me wonder.”
I shift on the couch, heat crawling up my neck. “Don’t, Bren. Don’t turn this into something it’s not.”
His expression turns into a look I know too well, protective and intrusive. “Fine. Forget Crowne for a second. What I really wanna know is if you’re finally over Cash.”
The name explodes in the air, jagged and unavoidable. My breath catches before I can mask it, my chest aching with the truth I’ll never hand over.
The sound of his name slices through me like knives over my skin. My pulse spikes, heat and cold colliding in my chest.
“I’m over him.” The words leave too quickly, like they’ve been rehearsed a hundred times in a mirror I never want to face.
Bren doesn’t blink. “You sure about that?”
“Yes.” I pause for a beat. “I don’t want to talk about him anymore.”
But Callum’s ghost doesn’t care what I want. It presses in anyway, the rasp of his voice through a microphone, the reckless way he loved me like there’d never be a tomorrow.
The addiction in his eyes wasn’t just chemicals. It was me. And part of me still aches for him like the drugs he couldn’t quit.
I breathe deeper, anchoring myself in the thought of Jaxon. Steady. Grounded. Calm.
His touch doesn’t burn; it only caresses. His silence doesn’t punish. It protects. He’s the choice that keeps me sane, even if Bren would never understand.
Bren analyzes me too long, suspicion laced in the quiet. “You’re not good at lying to me, Livianna. Other people, yes. Me, no.”
My gaze flicks to the window, the Eiffel Tower glowing like a beacon I can’t reach. “I’m not lying. I’m moving on, and that’s all that matters.”
“Which brings us to this mystery dude you’ve been… What are you doing with him?”
“We’re taking things slow.” I welcome the change of topic, even if it still covers Jaxon.
“Tell me about him.”
“Let’s see. You know I met him at Elite-Sinsations. He’s a good man and treats me well. That’s all I can ask for and all that matters in the end.”
“Your own flawless boy-toy.” Bren motions an unimpressed twirl of his pointer finger in the air. “He sounds like a dream.”
“When you’re as busy as I am, that’s all I want.”
“In your case, I definitely see the appeal of having a constant booty call. But for me, I like the variety.”
“Do you think you’ll ever settle down?” I curl up in the corner of the couch.
He seemingly considers my question as he drinks some of his vodka soda.
He lounges back with it cupped in his palms. “Nope. There’s no reason to. I get to date anyone I want, and there are never strings attached. I don’t buy women jewelry or waste my money on trying to make them happy.”
“You don’t have to buy things for a woman to make them happy. Just treat them well. That’s all most of us want.”
He cocks a brow. “Yeah, and that’s why you were dancing around your apartment in a designer dress your boy-toy bought you. You were happier than I’ve seen you in a long time.”
“That had nothing to do with the dress.” My cheeks heat. “I’m not denying I like to be spoiled, but my joy that night was about the date, not the gifts he bought me.”
“Gifts? There was more than what I saw?”
“Bren, stop.”
“Not on your life. You’re hiding something, and I wanna know what that is.”
My chest tightens. “Drop it. It’s not that big of a deal.”
He leans forward with his elbows on his knees and his voice low. “You think I don’t notice the way you flinch every time Cash’s name comes up? Or the way you light up when I mention your dude? You’re living in some half-truth, Livianna, and sooner or later it’s gonna blow up in your face.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know you.” His jaw hardens, gaze locked. “You hide behind design sketches and expensive clothes, but underneath you’re still bleeding from Cash. And if this guy from Elite-Sinsations is just a distraction, you’re gonna tear yourself apart.”
The words land like bullets, sharp and precise. He doesn’t even know how close he is, and it’s worse because he’s right.
I force a brittle smile. “You’re wrong. I’ve moved on.”
Bren studies me, unrelenting. “Then prove it. Bring him around. Let me meet this mystery man. If he’s as good as you say, what’s the problem?”