Sins, Lies & Spies (Black Brothers #2) (7 page)

CHAPTER TEN

Trinity

Sweat snaked down my spine. My thighs burned, and my chest heaved as the soles of my gray and orange sneakers slapped against the red brick sidewalk at six-thirty in the morning. Growing up, I always dodged the cracks. It was a habit I picked up as a kid after my mom disappeared. As ridiculous as it sounded, taking the silly children’s game to heart and avoiding the cracks was the only thing I could do to keep my mom safe. I’d never been able to shake the compulsion. The brick sidewalks of Capitol Hill made it impossible to play the game.

Faint pink and red brushstrokes still painted the horizon, softening the hard edges of all the buildings. It was my favorite time of the day. Some people loved twilight. Some people loved the night. I loved the morning, especially those few hours where the city was still sleepy and the day was filled with infinite possibilities.

I mouthed the words to “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten as they blasted from my earbuds for at least the sixth time since I started running. It seemed more than a little trite, but I needed all the courage I could get to show up on Miles’s doorstep this morning. Even though Derrick begged me to stay away from Miles and distance myself from his problems, I refused. I needed to help Derrick. He helped me start a new life in D.C., and I wanted to help him now. Besides, I didn’t want the media to drag me through the mud because someone revealed my connection to the Bentons.

It took me twenty minutes to jog to Miles’s house from mine. With my hands braced on the tops of my thighs and the wire from my earbuds draped over my shoulder, I stood in front of his lacquered black front door. When my breathing returned to normal, I rapped on the door. I could’ve used my key, but it would give him the impression that we’d get back together at some point. While creating that illusion might’ve been useful to help Derrick, I couldn’t bring myself to let it happen. After what Derrick told me, the thought of inviting his touch or kissing him made my stomach roll.

Miles’s daughter flung open the door. She propped one of her hands on her hip and flipped her long blonde hair behind her shoulder. Even though I had at least six inches on her, she managed to look down her nose at me.

“What do you want?”

“Hi.” I smiled brightly as I slid my chunky sunglasses onto the top of my head. “I need to talk to your dad. Is he around?”

“Yeah, but he’s not up yet. I’ll tell him you were here.”

As she moved to close the door, I shoved my foot into the opening and smacked the palm of my hand against the door. “It’s important. This can’t wait. Can you get him?” I peered over her shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of Miles.

Just then, her phone buzzed. “Hold on,” she mumbled, pulling it out of her pocket and walking into the living room.

Using her momentary distraction to my advantage, I sailed inside and darted down the hall. Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the door to his bedroom.

“Wait, he’s not alone,” his daughter yelled from the living room, but it was too late.

Shock vibrated through my chest, and I clutched the doorjamb to stop myself from collapsing. Time freeze-framed as I surveyed the scene in front of me. Miles’s bare ass was in the air, pumping furiously back and forth. His ex-wife was on all fours, her too long yellowish-blonde hair extensions swaying back and forth.

Air expelled from my lungs with a whistle like a deflating balloon. His hips froze mid-pump. In slow motion, he turned his head, his gaze colliding with mine.

“Oh my God,” I muttered, at a loss for words.

Sasha, his ex-wife, snickered.

“Shit!” Miles yelled, without making any effort to untangle himself. “What are you doing here?”

My morning coffee threatened to make an appearance on the floor, so I turned my back to the scene. “I texted you last night, remember?” When he didn’t answer, I continued talking. “I needed to talk to you about work, and go over some details, but I don’t think that’ll be necessary now. I’m done here.”

Poison dripped from my words. I couldn’t believe I considered letting Miles back into my life, no matter how transitory the thought. Even though I didn’t want him, it hurt to catch him in yet another lie. My mind whirled with the sheer number of fabrications and half-truths he’d probably told me over the last few years. This moment tainted everything about our relationship.

“Wait.” I heard the sheets rustle and his bare feet thump against the floor. “Let me explain.”

“It’s not necessary. Go ahead and finish.” Pressure built behind my eyes, begging to trickle down my face. Inhaling and exhaling slowly, I willed it away, refusing to give him the satisfaction. When I regained control of my body, I slammed the door and fled down the hallway. My heart thudded like a drum in my ears, louder and louder as my sneaker-clad feet devoured the distance between the front door and me.

But I didn’t move fast enough. A foot from the door, his fingers hooked into my shoulders and he spun me around. Luckily, he had managed to slip on a pair of plaid pajama pants before he chased me. “Tri,” he said, his voice hushed.

“Don’t call me that,” I snapped. When he started calling me Tri a few months after we met, I’d loved it. Nobody cared enough about me to give me a nickname before I met Miles. It made me feel special, cared for, and loved. Now, the thought of the time I had wasted on his deceitful ass made me want to rip the hair out of his head, strand by strand.

He pursed his lips as he adjusted the waistband of his pants. “Fine, but at least give me the opportunity to explain.”

“Miles,” I said, drawing out his name. “I’m not a five-year-old. What I just saw doesn’t need an explanation.”

He opened and then immediately closed his mouth because he knew I was right. I’d caught him mid-act. He couldn’t deny it happened.

“That’s what I thought.” I wiggled out of his hold and took a few steps backward. “Have a nice life, Miles.”

His brows pinched together. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I drew in a shuddering breath. “You can consider this my resignation.” A pain stabbed through my chest when the words exited my mouth, but I didn’t have a choice. I needed to jump off this emotional rollercoaster while I still could. I’d already invested too much time in him.

“You can’t walk away from this job. You need the money.”

I shrugged and painted a tight smile on my face. “Leslie will give me a job at the bar until I find something else. I’ll survive. I always do.”

“How are you going to pay your bills and Faith’s tuition? You need me. You need this job.”

Rage set my nerve endings on fire, and my hand whipped through the air of its own volition. My open palm crashed against the side of his face. A loud crack reverberated through the room.
I couldn’t believe he’d used my fears against me.

He cupped the side of his face, his eyes glittering with rage. “What the hell was that, Trinity?”

“That,” I pointed my finger at him, “is for being a liar, a user, and an all-around piece of shit.”

He took a step forward, frustration creasing his forehead and a vein near his temple pulsing.

“Stay the hell away from me,” I said through clenched teeth. “I’m done with you. I’m done with this job. I never want to see you again.”

“You’re not done until I say you’re done. You owe me.”

“I don’t owe you a damn thing,” I snarled, as I curled my hand around the doorknob behind me.

His lips quirked up at the corners. “You’d be nowhere without me.”

My gaze flicked to the side. Miles’s daughter and his ex-wife—current lover or whatever the hell she was—stood in the living room, staring the scene unfolding in front of them. His daughter looked horrified. Sasha had a smug, self-satisfied smile stretching her overly plump lips across her face. She was gloating. Instead of anger, I felt pity.

Pity for her.

Pity that she hadn’t walked away from Miles years ago.

Pity that she actually thought this fight gave her an opening to have Miles all to herself.

I suspected Sasha was an enabler, not a victim, of her ex-husband’s affairs. They played a game of tug of war with their affections. She pushed him away. He found someone new, and she fought to win him back. Then it started all over again. He’d replace me soon enough. In fact, I didn’t know why he kept me around as long as he did. It didn’t make sense. When we were together, we were better friends than lovers. We lacked passion. If our relationship had a pulse line, it would’ve been nearly flat with a few miniature upward ticks.

Flinging open the door, I shook my head. “After everything you put me through, I think I can safely call us even.”

His chest heaved and he pinned me with his narrowed gaze. “If you walk out the door right now, don’t expect me to pay you for the last job.”

A shot of disbelieving laughter exploded from my lips. My hand twitched with the urge to hit him again, but I dug deep inside myself and located my last ounce of self-control. “Keep the fucking money. I don’t want it.” I stepped outside, shutting the door behind me.

Suppressed tears beaded on my lashes, spilling down my face as my vision swam. The feelings of unworthiness, rejection, and despair I’d been holding back hit me with the force of a roundhouse kick. I clutched the railing to keep from falling to my knees. Good or bad, over the years I’d gotten used to Miles’s constant presence in my life. He’d become my boss, my friend, my confidant, and eventually my lover.

Why did he lie to me over and over?

I shook my head to clear my mind. None of this mattered. We were over before we ever started, and I never really loved him. I didn’t think I’d ever understand his motivations for pulling me into his life when he never intended to end his relationship with his ex-wife.

At least I hadn’t succumbed to his manipulative attempts to get back together. That would’ve made today even more humiliating. Right now, I needed to focus on rebuilding my life, and staying true to myself in the process.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Knox

As I rounded the corner of my street, Trinity pushed away from the wall of my building. She wore a long black coat and black boots. The glow from the overhead lamppost highlighted the soft fall of her hair over her shoulders. Her dark gaze collided with mine, and I paused, reluctant to deal with her right now. She already monopolized too many of my thoughts today, and I hadn’t gotten anything done.

Archer would light a fire under my ass when he found out I didn’t bother installing the security updates for Black Investments, but I couldn’t concentrate on his company right now. I’d spent more than half of the day digging into her background, trying to ferret out her secrets. I wanted to know every little thing about Trinity Jones.

Did she prefer coffee or tea?

How many men had she dated?

Who were her parents?

Did she have any siblings?

What were her hobbies?

How much money did she have in her bank accounts?

How much credit card debt did she have?

I called in favors from acquaintances. I hacked into secure databases. I went through her cell phone records. And after nearly five hours of searching, I hadn’t found much of anything, except that her relationship with Benton predated her association with Miles. Lamentably, even with all the information I sourced, I couldn’t determine the exact nature of their relationship.

On at least two separate occasions, Benton had wired money into her bank accounts. Combined, the money transfers exceeded fifteen thousand dollars. As far as I could ascertain, she had never repaid the money. Granted, fifteen thousand dollars was nothing for Benton. He probably spent that much on a week’s worth of his custom suits, but it was a lot for a woman like Trinity Jones. All evidence pointed to an extra-marital affair, rather than a friendship, but her phone records indicated they didn’t communicate frequently.

I balled my hands into fists as my legs erased the distance between us.

“Trinity,” I said, her name tumbling off my tongue with detached coolness. As if she hadn’t starred in my dreams for the past two nights. As if I never imagined tangling my hands in her long dark hair as I moved inside of her. “Why are you here?”

She angled her head in the direction of the door to my building. “Can we move this conversation inside?”

“No,” I said, clenching my jaw. “If you want to talk to me, then start talking because I’m not inviting you into my home.” I didn’t want her in my home unless and until I thought I could trust her to some degree.

She tipped her head to the sky for a beat, apparently considering whether to continue the conversation or walk away. “Fine. Have it your way.” She cocked her hip to the side. “I’m ready to hear the truth about Lang and Benton.”

I scrubbed my hand down the side of my face. She wanted the truth, but I couldn’t tell her much of anything before I understood her connection to Benton. “Why should I tell you the truth now? You had your chance.”

She shifted on her feet, but I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. “I don’t work for Miles anymore. Does that change your mind?”

I laced my hands behind my head, struggling to decide how to handle this development. “Since when?” I asked, my voice gruff.

“Since this morning,” she said, her face inscrutable, her eyes like onyx.

I stuffed my hands into my pockets, staring at the clogged traffic in front of my building. The blare of horns filled my ears. People veered around us, caught up in their own lives. I rolled back my shoulders. “I’ll need verification.”

“Here.” She dipped her hand into her coat pocket and clutched her phone in the palm of her hand. “You can read our texts from today.”

My brows pinched together. “You quit by text?”

“No.” She entered her password and waved the phone. “I quit in person, but he’s been texting me all day. Take a look for yourself.”

I snatched the phone out of her hand.

Miles: Come back here. We weren’t done talking.

Trinity: I’m not interested in anything you have to say.

Miles: You didn’t give me any notice. I won’t give you a recommendation if you walk away like this.

Trinity: Perfect. I’m not asking for one. I don’t want anything from you. We’re done.

Miles: I don’t accept your resignation.

Trinity: I’m blocking your number. Don’t contact me again.

The messages went back and forth at least five more times before they stopped entirely.

“Okay, I get the point.” I shoved the phone back into her hand. “What happened?”

She exhaled loudly. “It’s stupid. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Then I can’t tell you anything.”

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “I walked in on him screwing his ex-wife this morning.”

I arched my eyebrows. “I thought you weren’t dating him.”

“I wasn’t. He wanted to get back together.” She folded her arms across her chest. “But he told me things were over between them, yet again. He’s been pressuring me to give him a second chance since we broke up, but he won’t push her out of his life.”

“Yeah, I’d stay clear from them.” I shook my head. “They’re one fucked up couple. I’m not very fond of Miles, and Sasha is absolutely crazy.”

Twin lines bracketed the side of her mouth as she pursed her lips. “Do you know Sasha?”

I mock shivered. “Let’s just say, I’ve had the distinct displeasure of running into her a few times, and I go the other direction any time I see her.”

Her lips tugged downward and her cute nose crinkled. “Should I ask for an explanation?”

“No. Definitely not,” I said, dryly as I gestured to the glass door of my building. “Let’s go inside.”

She forced a weak smile, the small action warming her brown eyes fractionally, and damn if I didn’t feel a spark of uninvited attraction. “I thought you’d never ask. I’ve been standing out here for an hour, and my feet are completely numb.”

“Well, Jones.” I chuckled. “We wouldn’t want that.”

I believed she broke up with Miles, but I didn’t know how long it’d last. Everything Jack told me about their relationship indicated Miles wouldn’t let her go easily. I could handle Miles, but I still didn’t know what to make of her relationship with Benton. I needed to see them in the same room together. Fortunately, I had the perfect way to make it happen and simultaneously put Miles on notice that Trinity wouldn’t be working for him any longer.