Black: Part 4 (Black Series)
Read Black: Part 4 (Black Series) Online
Authors: Kelly Harper
Black
Part 4
A
Black Series
Novella
by
Kelly Harper
BLACK: PART 4 copyright 2015 by Kelly Harper
BLACK: PART 4 is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite online retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Table of Contents
Calvin
A long moment passes before I come to my senses.
He stayed at her place the other night?
Is Wade really telling me what I think he’s telling me? Is he really saying that he slept with Sofie a week ago? Is it really possible that Sofie’s been getting some side action of her own, even while she’s been working so hard to torment me? Is that how she’s been able to tease me endlessly while not giving in to her own temptations?
No. It’s not possible.
The Sofie Bennett I know and love would never do something like that. Not to me or anyone else. She’s too innocent and caring for something like that.
Besides, I know I’m the only one for her. I can see it in the way she looks at me. I can feel it in the way she touches me. There’s no doubt in my mind that Wade is just trying to get a rise out of me.
Why?
I have no idea. But he’s picked the wrong man to fuck with, this time. He might be able to fuck around with another man’s girl—or even another man’s
wife
—but not mine.
Wade still has that shit-eating grin on his face as he leans against the bar. As if he doesn’t have a single care in the world. Well, I’m about to give him something to care about. We’ll see how much of a smile he can manage, then.
A tiny smile tugs at the corner of my lips.
“You expect me to believe this bullshit?” I say. “Sofie would never let you get your pathetic excuse for a dick anywhere near her.” I look him up and down. “The only reason she even knows who you are is because she works for you… And that’s not going to last much longer.”
His face darkens and he straightens himself.
“Are you threatening me, Calvin?”
His attempts at sounding tough fall so short that I have to hold back a laugh.
“No, Wade, I’m not. You see… I don’t make threats. I just do what needs to be done.”
He studies me for a moment, as though he’s not sure what to make of me. The panicked look in his eye is more satisfying than I’d expected.
“You’re the one, aren’t you?” he says. His eyes come into focus as he starts bobbing his head. “Yeah, you must be…”
I’m the one?
“What are you talking about?”
He bobs his head even faster.
“You’re that piece of shit Sofie is always talking about… The guy who treated her like shit and then mysteriously popped back into her life.”
Keeping the surprise and confusion out of my face is a struggle.
How the fuck does he know about that? How the fuck does he know about what went on between Sofie and I?
A weight settles itself on my shoulders and my mood darkens, once again.
There’s only one way he could possibly know. Sofie must have told him. They must be closer than I’d expected.
“Don’t start thinking you know a damned thing about me.” This time I don’t bother disguising the threatening tone in my voice. “You should be very careful about whatever comes out of your mouth next.”
He lets out a sneer.
“I was right… And that means Sofie is just another one of your conquests. And here I was starting to think she was different, but I guess she’s just like all the rest of them. Just another slut…”
It looks like Wade is about to say something else, but I don’t give him the chance.
Without even thinking about it, my hand curls into a tight fist and I level it straight into his shit-eating face. He isn’t expecting the blow, and he reels backward into a row of bar stools. They crash to the ground as Wade trips and flails for balance.
The loud outburst causes everyone standing near the bar to jump in surprise, but I don’t stick around long enough to see what happens next. I need to talk to Sofie. I need to find out exactly what the fuck is going on.
Sofie
Rebecca’s eyes are fierce and intense as she stares me down.
“Well? Are you going to answer me?” she says, harshly.
I shake myself, trying to come to my senses.
“Your fiancé?” I repeat, dumbly.
The words don’t even sound like they’re coming out of my mouth. My brain is still racing to make sense of what I just heard.
Is Rebecca really saying that she and Wade are engaged? Is that really what I just heard?
Rebecca’s eyes narrow and she gives me a hard look.
“Don’t play dumb with me, it’s not like you didn’t know...”
I shake my head.
“I had no idea.”
“You
saw
us together. You saw how we were... It takes a real bitch to pretend like that didn’t happen. Typical of you Americans... So quick to spread your legs for someone else’s man.”
What in the world is she talking about? Does she expect me to believe that when I first met her at the conference she was already engaged to Wade? How could I have possibly known? It’s not like I’ve ever seen her wearing a ring—then or now.
“He never mentioned anything...”
Her eyes narrow even more. I’m not even sure how she can see through the thin slits between her eyelids, but I can feel her stare burning a hole into me.
“You are lying.”
I shake my head, quickly.
“It’s the truth,” I say, sharply. “And besides... nothing has ever happened with him.”
She lets out a mocking laugh.
“Now I
know
you’re lying,” she sneers. “I know he stayed with you the other night... he told me all about it. Don’t act like something didn’t happen…” She looks me up and down. “…It’s not like a girl like
you
could turn down a man like Wade Foster.”
My mouth drops open.
“How dare you!” I say, trying to collect myself.
What the hell gives her the right to accuse me of something like that? A
girl
like
me
? Who does this bitch think she is?
Fine. If this is how it’s going to be, then I’m more than happy to play along…
I hold my head up high and look her square in the eye.
“Well, I guess you know everything. So it won’t be a surprise when I tell you that Wade
did
stay at my place the other night…”
Rebecca gives me a blank stare for a moment, as though she can’t believe what she just heard me say. Her features harden before she responds.
“So, you admit it, then? You let him stay the night with you.”
“That’s right,” I begin. “Wade did come stay at my place that night. He was drunk and looking to hookup. And I let him in…”
Rebecca’s eyes flare and she looks like she’s about to say something sharp, but her face sags before she gets anything out. The words die on the end of her lips, leaving me with a small pulse of satisfaction. Maybe if she hadn’t been such a bitch to me I wouldn’t have had to be so harsh with her. It serves her right to have to think that I might have actually slept with Wade…
But the look in her eye is too pained and I almost instantly regret putting her through that. But before I can even get the words out to tell her the truth, a movement at my side distracts me.
I look up to see Calvin staring at me. His eyes are wide with shock and there’s no doubt in my mind that he heard exactly what I’d just said.
“So it’s true?” he says. His voice is hard and angry. “You really
did
sleep with him...”
Oh shit! Was he standing there this whole time? Did he hear everything?
Of course he did. The betrayed look in his eye tells me that much.
“Calvin, no, I can explain...”
Panicked thoughts flood through my head. I stutter, every thought in my head trying its hardest to come out at the same time. But everything just gets jumbled and ends up not making any sense at all.
“Don’t bother,” he says, cutting me off with a sharp wave of his hand. He eyes me up and down and shakes his head. “I knew I was a fool... I’m done here.”
Without giving me another look he turns and storms away.
Shit. Shit. Shit
.
What have I done?
Calvin
I storm out of the restaurant. My mind reels, unable to make sense of anything that I just heard, unable to comprehend how Sofie could do something like that to me.
I’ve been such a fool. Because of her.
I’d let myself get suckered into something that I’d known I should have stayed far away from. I never should have agreed to our arrangement. I should have known that she was just going to use it as an opportunity to get back at me. She wanted to make me suffer for everything that happened before, even after I explained it all to her, even after I told her that she’d been wrong about me and wrong about everything she’d thought had happened all those years ago.
I’d let myself get blinded by the hope that we could go back to the way things used to be. I’d been willing to pay any price to make that happen. And now I’m finding out just how steep that price is going to be.
I’m standing at the curb, waiting for a cab when Sofie’s voice calls out from somewhere behind me.
“Calvin, wait!”
Dammit. I should have had a driver waiting for me.
Her footsteps echo over the sounds of the city as she comes to a stop next to me. I keep my eyes locked forward, refusing to so much as acknowledge her presence. Anger boils through my veins and I’m worried that I might say something I’ll never be able to take back.
She lingers for a moment, not saying anything. She’s probably waiting for me to demand an explanation—she’s probably waiting for me to say
anything
.
Well, she can keep waiting. I don’t want to hear whatever she has to say. I just want to get as far away from here, and as far away from Sofie Bennett, as possible.
Why are these cabs taking so damned long?
“Calvin, it’s not what you’re thinking,” she says, finally. “I can only imagine how it sounded in there, but I
swear
nothing happened…”
The anger boils over and I can’t stop myself.
I round on her.
“Don’t play me for some kind of fool, Sofie. Wade told me what happened, and then you confirmed it.” I give her a hard stare. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing else that needs to be said. We’re done. I was stupid to try and make things right in the first place. I should have known that there’s no way we can go back to what we had… it’s been too long. We’re not the same people we used to be.”
Her green eyes are wide and terrified as she shakes her head.
“Don’t say that. I know you don’t mean it…” Her face turns red and she looks like she’s about to burst into tears, but she doesn’t break eye contact with me for even a moment. “It’s true. Wade
did
stay at my place the other night. But I swear to you…
nothing
happened
. I could
never
do that to you.”
I’m waiting for her to add some kind of remark about how I had done it to her—a snide reminder of how we’d gotten into this situation in the first place—but it never comes.
“Why the fuck was he even at your place?” I say, allowing more of the anger to pour out of me. “Why the fuck does he even know where you live?”
Her face tightens and she winces. There’s a pause before she responds—I’m sure she’s trying to come up with some kind of excuse that will explain her actions.
Finally, she lets out a held breath. Her shoulders slump as she tries to explain.
“I should have been more up front with you…” She begins. “I went on a date with Wade—”
“—You did
what?
”
Rage fills me to the point that it’s nearly impossible to hold it back any longer. What the fuck kind of explanation is this supposed to be? Should I feel better about her sleeping with him because she went on a fucking
date
with him first?
“It was a long time ago!” She’s practically yelling at me. I doubt I would have even heard her, otherwise. “It was before you and I decided to try and work things out…”