Live For Me (Blurred Lines #2)(50)
Author: Erin McCarthy

“Oh, my God. This is just classic Kadence. So what bullshit did she tell you about me?”

“Actually, all she said about you was that you have bad taste in home decorating.”

His eyebrows shot up. “What? I do not. And seriously? That can’t be all she said.”

“She said that she never wanted your marriage to end and that she wanted to fight for it, but you had already checked out and started seeing Brooke. She said Brooke is an idiot, which I agreed with. But also that you and she had discussed me and you seem fond of me and my intelligence.”

“Not right now,” he muttered.

Ouch. That stung. I wanted to reprimand him, but I didn’t have the energy.

“Why didn’t you just call me? I would have come back sooner.”

Briefly closing my eyes, I said, “By the time you would have gotten here, she would have been gone already.”

“I could have called her.”

“And told her what? To get the hell out? What would be the point in that? You’d just antagonize her. It was no big deal, in the end. Which is what’s so weird about it.” I rested my head in the palm of my hands. “Holy shit, my face feels like it’s going to explode.”

Devin went into the kitchen. He pulled out a glass and filled it with water. He came back and handed it to me. “Here. I’ll go downstairs and get you some aspirin from the desk.”

“Thanks.” I sipped greedily. My mouth was thick and dry, with a sour taste. The water was too cold though and it hit my stomach hard. I gagged and coughed. “This is awful. I’ve never been hungover. I don’t like it.”

He shook his head. “Unbelievable. She’s a f**king piece of work. Next time, if she’s here and you don’t want to argue with her, just turn around and leave. Go downstairs and call me. But I’m going to change the locks and have a word with the doorman.”

“He seemed fond of her.”

“Because she blew him on a regular basis. I found that out a couple of months back.”

I frowned. That sounded so crude. I had a hard time reconciling all the things he’d said about Kadence with the woman I’d met the night before. I also didn’t like how sometimes it felt like Devin was telling me what to do. I knew he had more life experience but it just felt like he was in charge and I was… his employee. Even though I wasn’t anymore. I didn’t think.

“Where’s the bathroom?” I asked, forcing myself to stand, though I was hunched over a bit.

“You haven’t been to the bathroom yet?” He shook his head. “I guess this was a bad idea. I should have left you at Richfield.”

Because that was what I wanted to hear. Not. “Why? Because I’ve never been to New York and I didn’t know the etiquette for tossing sort of ex-wives out of my boyfriend’s expensive apartment? I flew on a plane yesterday for the first time in my life with people who don’t even like me. I was worried about Cassandra, worried about you, I didn’t eat all day. I was tired, stressed, and totally unprepared for Kadence so all in all I think I did okay.”

He looked immediately contrite. “I’m sorry. I’m not upset with you.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Devin made a face. He touched the ends of my hair and gave me a smile. “I’m looking forward to showing you the city. It will be fun. And I’m not your boyfriend. I’m your fiancé, remember?”

“When are you going to be divorced, Devin?” That was bothering me. Really, truly weighing on me.

“As soon as Kadence is reasonable. God, I just can’t stand her and her manipulations. It’s like she enjoys tormenting me.”

I nodded, but I didn’t like what I was hearing. He was angry. Kadence had sounded anything but. I didn’t know the full story. I imagined no one really did but the two of them. It bothered me that I wasn’t sure he was telling me the whole truth. It also bothered me that I could spend months, years, potentially living with him as his mistress. That’s what it was. If he was married, that’s what I was.

Devin showed me the bathroom and I shuffled inside, shutting the door behind me. I pulled down my jeans with trembling fingers and sank onto the toilet with a sigh. Wine was clearly not my friend. I didn’t even understand why people drank it if this was the after effect. I peed for about twelve minutes straight, my bladder clearly over capacity. I looked around the room. More modern design. Dark wood and shiny white tile. It was tidy, with nothing resting on any of the surfaces. No tissue box. No scented candle. No magazine rack.

The only sign that this wasn’t a hotel was the wastebasket, which had a box stuffed into it. A white box with a pink strip across it.

That was a pregnancy test. I’d seen the brand enough times in the tampon aisle. It had been opened. Finishing up my business, I washed my hands, then took some toilet paper and pulled the box out of the wastebasket. Inside the foil had been opened and the test stick was just rattling around. Tentatively with the toilet paper I pulled it back out. The test was positive.

Oh. My. God. I turned and finally lost the battle against my stomach, throwing up into the toilet. I flushed quickly so Devin wouldn’t hear, but he was already knocking on the door.

“You okay? I’m coming in.” I hadn’t locked the door and he opened it and swore when he saw me half bent over the toilet. “You need to eat something or it’s going to linger all day.”

But I just wiped my mouth on my sleeve and stood back up. “Who is pregnant?” I asked.

“Huh?” He gave me a blank look. “I have no idea.”

I picked up the stick with the positive line on it and shook it at him. “This was in the trash! Who the hell is pregnant?”

“I have no idea.” He glanced down at the stick in horror. “That was in here?”

“Yes. So either this belongs to Kadence or there are other women who are free to come into your apartment when you’re not here that I don’t know about.”

“No one comes in here. This is my apartment, not a hotel.”

“Then Kadence is pregnant.” I tossed it back down on the counter. It clattered across the shiny marble surface and fell into the sink.

“Then I guess we should send her a gift.” He stared at it, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “If she’s knocked up, then clearly she has a new guy she’s trying to trap. That means she’ll be more agreeable to the divorce.”