Betrayed (The New Yorker) Read online

  “Sweetheart!”

  Reno shivered at the sound of Victoria’s shrill voice. He still hadn’t got used to it. He didn’t know why he still tolerated her. He had decided to leave her behind, just as he was leaving the apartment behind.

  “Sweetheart, you still haven’t told me where we are moving to.” Her snake-like arms wound around his torso.

  “We?” Reno stepped out of her embrace and turned to face her. “There is no ‘we’, Victoria. I thought you understood—ours was just a sexual relationship.”

  “But all my stuff is in the car,” she whined, her bottom lip pouting.

  Reno never thought that blatant show of blackmail was cute on anyone, maybe just his little sister and probably Lisette. But Lisette’s character demanded she use her words and her actions to get what she wanted. She never stooped so low as to use emotional blackmail.

  Lisette.He always thought of her. Each time he entertained the memories of their relationship he got the same reaction from his heart—hard bumpy jerks of happiness, then searing pain. She had betrayed him in the worst way. He knew in his heart he could never forgive her.

  “Take your stuff back home, Bitch-toria.”

  The voice of the woman who filled his dreams, whose image hid in the crevices of his mind with the sole purpose of torturing him, echoed in his ears. He almost didn’t want to remove his gaze from Victoria’s overly painted face. He didn’t know if his heart could take the disappointment if the voice was yet another figment of his imagination. But the angry scowl on Victoria’s face, her sharp turn, told Reno he wasn’t imagining.

  Reno schooled his features to appear like he didn’t care. He quickly stepped around Victoria and started walking out the door, ignoring Lisette completely. He couldn’t afford any weaknesses. One look at her and she would have him back in an instant.

  “I came here to talk to you.” Lisette stepped in front of him a determined look on her face.

  Reno’s eyes betrayed him then. He couldn’t stop taking in her features. She seemed to have healed. The ghastly contraption that held her spine still was off, the purple and blue bruises had faded into her olive skin and she was walking. “I’m glad you are healed, but we don’t have anything to talk about. Victoria, let’s go.”

  The squeal of delight that emanated from Victoria made Reno cringe and he immediately changed his mind. “On second thought, you should stay or go home. I have had my fill of overbearing, treacherous women, enough for two lifetimes.”

  “I didn’t cheat on you,” Lisette announced.

  “What exactly would you call it?” Reno was startled by the rage that laced his tone. He couldn’t blame Lisette for stepping hastily back a little. He watched her gather her courage once more.

  “Can we talk in private?”

  “Why, you don’t want the whole world to hear you traded me for that mouse?”

  “Please!” she pleaded.

  Reno refused to let his heart succumb to her plea, forced his hands into his pockets so his arms wouldn’t reach out to comfort her. Whenever she was around he couldn’t help the instinct to protect her, even from himself. He stared forward, his jaw clenched as he struggled to turn his heart cold and uncaring.

  “I lied. He threatened me and I had to lie.” Lisette stood before him, grabbing at his T-shirt. He didn’t look down at her. Instead he stood stiller than a statue as she pulled at his T-shirt and rose to her tip toes trying to grab his neck. “Look at me, please. I’m not lying.”

  “Oh please, Ross! You had your chance. Reno and I are moving in together. Then we are getting married,” Victoria boasted.

  The blatant lie thawed Reno out. He turned to face her, a smirk on his lips. Women never ceased to amaze him. They would say and do anything to best the other.

  “Get out of here, Victoria.”

  Lisette walked around him.

  A thought flirted in his mind. He could leave the two of them clawing at each other. His truck was parked at the curb. He could get to it and drive off in ten seconds flat. He was about to act on it when he heard a thunder-like slap rip from behind him. When he turned around Lisette was already on top of Victoria. It was hard to believe she was the same woman who had been confined to a bed just six months ago. He still thought he should leave. But his landlady had been so nice to him. It wouldn’t be fair to turn her place into a crime scene.

  Reno groaned in surrendered frustration. He curled his arm around Lisette’s waist and lifted her off the screeching Victoria. Immediately he noticed how light she was. It seemed she had lost a lot of weight, but it was hard to tell just by looking at her because she still had her bountiful curves. With his other hand he dragged Victoria to her feet. The two wild cats were still fuming as they each tried to claw each other’s eyes out.

  “Stop!” That seemed to do the trick as both women froze in his arms. “You are both going to get out of this apartment and out of my life. I don’t ever want to see you again. Agreed?”

  “But, Reno?” Victoria pouted, her bottom lip quivering.

  “Stop with the crocodile tears, you selfish cow!” Lisette barked.

  “Would you two just leave me in peace?”

  “Not until I have my say. I’ll follow you everywhere you go, turn into a stalker if I have to. Everywhere you go, I’ll be there. If you want to take a piss, guess who you’ll find in your bathroom?”

  “You?” Reno asked sarcastically. He put her on her feet. “I’m not looking forward to having a tail, so say your piece then allow me some peace.”

  “That thing has to leave first.” Lisette’s fists were balled at her sides. He assumed all this pent up energy was from her confinement and she was just dying to release it.

  “Victoria, get out.”

  “But—”

  “Leave, I’ll call you later.” He flashed his best smile, and caressed her cheek. When one couldn’t win with force his only last resort was seduction. Victoria waved her fingers seductively at him and gave her best ‘come hither’ expression. When the door finally closed he turned to the other thorn in his side.

  “Yuck, please don’t tell me you have been fucking that.”

  “You have one minute, Lisette.” Reno looked around the empty apartment, wishing that he had convinced his landlady not to remove the furniture. He needed to sit down and take a load off. He walked to his bedroom. Luckily his bed was still there.

  * * * *

  “Everything is gone except the bed. Were you planning on getting lucky?”

  He didn’t laugh, or smile. He didn’t even give her a pity smile. Lisette hadn’t known exactly what to expect when she’d walked into Reno’s apartment. It had taken her weeks after leaving the hospital to get into a car, let alone drive one. She didn’t want to ask anyone to take her to Reno’s. She didn’t want him to think she had brought in reinforcements. She wanted him to understand just how much strength it had taken to come to him.

  “When did you get out?”

  “Three months ago.” She attempted to sit on the bed but his lifted palm brought her to a halt. It was like a stop sign, do not approach. It made her wonder why he was so scared to have her close to him. Was it because he was still attracted to her, or because he was repulsed by her? She didn’t want that question answered, so she kept her distance. “It was two months before I could walk without the crutches, and weeks of therapy before I could get into a car.”

  He looked up at her then. For a second she thought she saw compassion in the depths of his brown eyes. It disappeared almost as soon as it had appeared, and was replaced by an icy glare.

  “What is this about, Lisette?”

  “I would have come to see you earlier, but I was terrified of getting into cars. They had to sedate me to transport me from the hospital to home. I couldn’t trust myself behind the wheel. I worked at it every day, because I wanted to come to you. My father said he would send for you—”

  “I wouldn’t have come.” He looked outside his window.

  “I jus
t—”

  “I know what it took for you to come here. It’s the only reason I’m still sitting here, way past the sixty seconds I gave you.” He sighed and his shoulders drooped. She had never seen him look so defeated.

  “Did I do that to you?” She clenched her jaw to stop her bottom lip from trembling. She could feel the tears prickling her eyes and a wail prepare itself in her chest. She wouldn’t cry. This was about Reno, not her. “Did I make you so cynical and defeated?”

  “I always had the weight of the world on my shoulders. You never changed or impacted a second of my life.” It was like an icy slap to the face. “I’m lying. I loved you, Lisette, but one thing I can never forgive is betrayal.”

  “I never cheated on you. I just said that so that you would leave.”

  “So you lied?”

  “Yes.”

  “What’s stopping me from believing you aren’t lying now?”

  “I love you.”

  Pushing his fists on his thighs Reno stood up. He shook his head, a sardonic smile splitting his face. “That used to mean a lot coming from you. Now, they are just meaningless letters put together to form inconsequential words.”

  “I can prove it.” When his black brow lifted, Lisette knew she had his attention.

  “You can prove you were lying the first time and are telling the truth this time?” Lisette nodded feverishly. “I didn’t see you drag a lie detector in with you. So how are you going to prove how truthful you are or how much of a liar you are?”

  Lisette tried to steady the thundering beating of her heart. There was only one way to prove it. She looked past him and to the bed. Reno seemed to catch her meaning and he snorted his refusal.

  “It’s the only way.”

  “I won’t touch you, not after Michael Mathews pitched his tent between your legs.”

  “Is that the reason, or are you afraid the reason you’ve hated me all this time has been a lie.”

  “It doesn’t matter if you are still a virgin. You don’t get it, Lisette. At the end of the day you chose him over me. I promised myself that I would never be anyone’s second best. Not again.”

  “I’m not your mother or your father.” She stretched her hand out to him. She stared at him as her lonely hand was left hanging in between them. Her head begged him to take it, as her mind raced thinking of other ways to get him to bed her. She was just about to think of another way when Reno grabbed her and pulled her flush to his hard body.

  “You betrayed me!” He hissed into her ear, his hot breathe scorching her skin. “I saw you in bed with him.”

  “You were there! You left me in that hotel room with that mad man,” she spat back with the same vehemence.

  Reno spun her around. He cocked an eyebrow, silent encouragement for her to continue, a mocking smile on his lips. Lisette took a step back. She was retreating. There was nothing else she could do in the face of the hatred in his eyes. How could a man who had once looked at her like she was manna from heaven, now regard her with such spite?

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to sound like I was blaming you.” He remained silent, so she went on. “It’s not your fault that I was stupid enough to fall for Michael’s tricks. Right now, let me prove to you that I am untouched, that you are the man I have been waiting for and that I love you.”

  Instead of taking her in his arms, Reno backed off. He shook his head either in denial or in refusal of her request. Lisette didn’t know. She didn’t want to know. She had to act fast. When the hate fell from his gaze and the old weakness for her replaced it, she pounced at the opportunity. Lisette pulled her shirt off and launched herself at Reno. He fell back on the bed, and Lisette claimed his lips with her own.

  “I love you and all I want to do is make love to you.”

  * * * *

  He felt his heart squeeze. Looking at Lisette, listening to the words she was saying and how she said them clouded the anger in his heart. How could he refuse to make love to her? Everything in his body gravitated toward her; his soul and spirit were no different. Love was making him weak. He tried to grab hold of his anger, anything to strengthen him.

  Push her away, she betrayed you, his mind screamed.

  Love her, his heart cried.

  While his hands had already started taking liberties over her body—touching, caressing—they didn’t seem to be getting their fill. He stroked the curves of her ass, before letting them fill his palms and squeezing. Her groan of arousal earned her a satisfactory chuckle. When she started caressing him, he couldn’t help his own hiss of pleasure. Her touch and the heat of her body drove him into a daze.

  Lisette sat up, straddling him. “Take off your clothes. I want to love you.” She drew the words out in a seductive lilt. “I know I’m new to this, but I have an idea of how it’s supposed to go.”

  New to this, those were the words that stayed in his mind. With a quick flip, he dropped her on the bed and jumped off. His loins were on fire, but he wasn’t about to risk sudden death by deflowering the eldest Ross daughter. Reno looked over his shoulder, half expecting to see AJ burst through the bedroom door.

  “Did I lock the front door?”

  “You are concerned about home security right at this moment?” The incredulous tone of her voice was laced with a hint of irritation.

  Lisette flipped her hair back, bringing in full view her perfect breasts that had been hidden by her jet black locks. Reno felt his finger itch with need. He wanted to let his hand comb through her thick hair, to feel the silky caress between his fingers. But more than that, his hands ached to fill themselves with her luscious globes.

  “Put on your shirt.”

  “What? Why? People don’t make love with their clothes on.”

  “Exactly.” He swallowed hard. With a deep breath he tried to calm down the pulsing in his head—not the one on his shoulders. “We aren’t making love. Where exactly does your brother think you are?”

  “Here, with you, making love.”

  “What?” Reno wasn’t quite sure the word had left his mouth yet, especially since his lungs had frozen, trapping all breath in his chest. “He what?”

  “I told him. I don’t hide anything from my brother.”

  “May I suggest that you start? There are some things brothers don’t need or want to know.” Reno back peddled until his back hit the wall. He leaned against it, watching Lisette as her baffled expression was locked on him. “Why now?”

  “I want this, Reno. I almost died, life doesn’t wait for anyone.”

  “Fear of death, that’s what brought you here today?”

  “No, it’s the fear of not having our ‘someday’.” She climbed off the bed and approached him, but Reno held out his hand, asking her not to come any closer. “It’s always been, ‘someday Reno and I will make love’, ‘someday we will move in together’, ‘someday we will start our lives together’. You are my forever and I don’t see why forever can’t start now.”

  “Forever doesn’t begin with the loss of your virginity. It’s starts with that first honest moment, the purity of love.”

  “I want that with you.”

  “And truth, honesty and trust. Lisette, to be intimate you have to be vulnerable. Do you understand that? You have to trust me and I have to trust you, not only with my body but with my heart.”

  “Did you have that with Bitch-toria?”

  “Really?” It was typical of her to lash out when she felt like she was being cornered. To him, it was a clear sign she wasn’t really ready for the kind of commitment she was now offering him. “I don’t love Victoria. You aren’t ready for this.”

  She ran to him, her body blocking him from the door. Reno couldn’t help but smile in amusement. If he wanted to, he could easily lift her and move her from his way. But her enchanting hair was still flowing around her perfect face, her luscious breast calling to be touched. He was a red-blooded male, and didn’t know how long his self control would last.

  “Love me. I trust you.�
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  Reno didn’t know if it was the desperate edge in her plea, or it was his own need for satisfaction, but he suddenly didn’t need to be convinced. He took Lisette by the waist, lifting her off her feet and wrapping her legs around his waist. His fingers kneaded into her soft back. All he could feel was her body flush against his, her fingers grabbing hold of his hair and her lips caressing his.

  “I knew you couldn’t resist me.” The smirk evident in the slow drawl of her voice.

  “God only knows how much I love you.”

  “Show me.” Her husky voice slid across his skin like rough velvet, and he shivered at the demand in it.

  Reno wasn’t used to the raw, vulnerability gnawing at him. He felt as if his skin had been ripped off his body, exposing him to sensations beyond his control. He wrapped her hair around his wrist and pulled her head back. Her hooded brown eyes had turned dark with lust. Her eyes shot to the bed. He took the hint but he wasn’t ready to lose every shred of self control. He needed to remain on his feet, focus on making sure they didn’t tumble on the ground. Reno needed to rein in the animalistic desire that demanded he take her without a sliver of kindness.

  Reno balanced her against the wall. Lisette let out a squeal of surprise when he balanced her with his thigh. He grabbed the back collar of his T-shirt and pulled it off his body. His hard masculine body covered her tiny one. Goosebumps rose on his skin as he saw the look of appreciation in her eyes. He had only gone to the gym while he chased his dream of being in the NFL. When that dream had died he hadn’t seen the need. But the hungry look in Lisette’s eyes had just given him a new reason to hit the weight room.

  “I love your tattoos.”

  “I love your beautiful soft skin.”

  “Take me to bed.”

  “Not yet, I need to control my hunger for you. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “That’s inevitable.”

  “But it doesn’t mean I can’t make it easier on you.”

  A warm brandy feeling filled his belly when she nipped at his jaw. “Make me yours.”