Broken Cheaters by Lacey Silks Read Free Book Online Page A

doctors did when they knew more than you, but she didn’t say anything for a bit.
    “Have you told your fiancé about your affair?” she asked.
    “Not yet. He hasn’t been home in over a week. I asked him to meet me here so that I could tell him the truth in a public place. I didn’t want him to make a scene. But he didn’t even show up. I think at this point, I should just pack up my stuff and leave.”
    “I’m so sorry.” She touched my hand from across the table.
    “I think it’s for the best.”
    I hadn’t felt hope in years and I could only attribute its new presence in my chest to a man I barely knew, yet felt as connected to as if we’d been together for years.
    “The guy from the club. What’s his name?” she asked, as if reading my mind.
    “Axel. He’s... amazing.”
    I shook my head. He was on my mind each minute of the day and night. What was I expecting from him, anyway? I was a nobody, and he was… everything.
    Jesus, I don’t even know him that well, and I’m acting like a fifteen-year-old girl.
    “I feel so guilty because I can’t stop thinking about him.”
    “Does he feel the same way?” she asked.
    “I’m not sure if I can repeat in public how he feels about my fiancé or about me. But he says he’ll support any decision I make. Yes, he wants me to leave him. He wants us to have a chance.”
    “Do you have a place to stay after you leave him?”
    “I do. Am I making a mistake? Because it sure doesn’t feel like one.”
    Hopefully the new apartment I was about to move into would be ready after this weekend. At least that’s what Mr. Sanders, my new landlord, had promised.
    “From what you’ve told me, I don’t think you are, Trish. You should follow your instincts, but make sure you’re safe. Some people don’t take rejection well. And when you tell your fiancé it’s over, it would be smart to have someone there with you.”
    “Tell who it’s over?” Brad’s voice boomed toward us. I met his angry gaze above Julia’s head.
    “Brad! You’re here.” My body went rigid. How much had he heard? I could only imagine what would happen if he didn’t take the news well. Maybe it was better that Julia was here. Maybe I shouldn’t go to my apartment – which he had keys to – but just forget that the new one was unfurnished and leave. At this point, I preferred to sleep on the floor so long as I’d never see Brad again.
    “I should leave you two alone,” Julia whispered from across the table.
    Please, don’t leave me alone with him! Was that fear real? For the past year that I’d known Brad, I hadn’t allowed myself to admit just how much this man scared me. I deserved to live in fear, and Brad was as bad as they got. He’d never hit me, but the threats he spat were definitely real. The sanctions he’d made for me to stay at home and work, see him when he wanted, serve him as he asked, fuck him at any hour of the day, were small payments for my sins.
    “I think it’s best you stayed, Julia.” Brad shoved his ass into the seat beside Julia, squeezing her against the window. And why was he looking at her that way?
    “You two know each other?” I asked.
    “We’re old high school friends. I’ve been trying to get her to put out for years, but have yet to succeed.”
    I lowered my head. He was trying to embarrass me again. “Brad, please.”
    “Are you lecturing me, Trish? Because for a whore who fucks in clubs, you have no right to chastise me.”
    He knew what I’d done. Was that why he’d stayed away? Was it possible that I’d gotten to Brad Watson? I didn’t think so.
    “I think you should leave.” Julia spoke toward him, but her voice was much quieter than earlier. Brad had that effect on people.
    “Trish, leave,” he barked, ignoring Julia.
    What would he do if I left? The fear I saw in Julia’s eyes from across the table made the hairs on my arms stand tall. How deep was their history? Was she as fearful of him as I was?
    “I… I