The Man I Thought I Knew Read online

  He knocked again. “Open the door.”

  “Nope.” I drank from my beer.

  He knocked again, this time louder. “Sweetheart, please.”

  “Oh, hell no.” I got off the couch and walked to the door.

  Charlie immediately stepped to the side because he knew shit was about to go down.

  I opened the door to him on the doorstep, in jeans and a shirt. Handsome as ever, but those qualities were replaced by an ugliness that came from deep within. “Don’t ever call me that again.” I splashed the beer in his face, making a mess all over his clothes. “And leave me the fuck alone.” I slammed the door in his face.

  Charlie stood there, eyes wide and in shock at what I’d just done.

  Dax didn’t give up. He knocked again.

  “Just ignore him.” I put the empty beer bottle on the counter.

  This time, Dax just let himself inside, his face clean because he’d wiped it on the front of his shirt. “Carson, let me explain—”

  “Just because you’re a billionaire doesn’t give you the right to barge in here.” I turned to him, my hand on my hip. “Maybe we’re just fucking commoners to you—”

  “I just want to talk to you.” He held up both hands. “Come on. Please.”

  Charlie started to head to the living room.

  “You stay right there.” I pointed at him. “Dax was just leaving.” I turned back to him. “Get out of our apartment. Now.”

  Charlie stilled, but it was obvious he didn’t want to be a part of this. He slid his hands into his sweatpants and tried to direct his stare on something other than the two of us.

  “I’m not leaving.” Dax stood in front of me, his clothes soaked in the beer I’d thrown at him. His hair was damp too. His eyes were intense and full of remorse, and his devastatingly good looks could persuade anyone to do anything.

  “Would you like me to escort you out myself?” I asked, full of threat. “Because I can.”

  He didn’t take that threat seriously, based on his stoic expression.

  “She’s not kidding, man,” Charlie said. “She’s taken a lot of classes…”

  I stayed still and gave Dax a chance to leave on his own.

  He inhaled a deep breath. “I was going to tell you on Friday.”

  “I don’t give a shit when you were going to tell me, Dax. That’s not the problem—”

  “I know I shouldn’t have lied at all. But it’s impossible for me to meet a woman who wants me and not my money. The second they know who I am, they treat me differently. They either get greedy or weird. I just wanted to connect with someone on a real level without my wealth being a focal point.”

  Charlie shifted his gaze to me, slightly less angry.

  “My wife only wanted me for my money, and I didn’t see it. She used me, manipulated me, and I just…didn’t want to go through that again. I’m not a bad guy, Carson. I just needed some privacy for a while.”

  Charlie watched me, empathy in his gaze.

  I wasn’t so sympathetic. “So, you wanted to get to know me without risking anything?”

  “I…I guess.”

  “Well, I’m the one who risked everything by trusting someone, which is fucking hard for me. So, while you protected yourself, I put myself out there completely. How do you think that makes me feel?”

  He inhaled quietly, the softness entering his eyes. “Yeah…that was an asshole thing to do.”

  “Yeah, it fucking was, Dax. I have no idea who you are.”

  “I’m the same person,” he said calmly. “The only thing that’s changed is the size of my wallet.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “I don’t know where you live. I don’t know what your life is like. I like the version of you that I met. I highly doubt I’m going to like the billionaire playboy who’s got twenty cars at his penthouse.”

  “I’m not a playboy—”

  “How would I know?” I countered. “Because I don’t know you at all.”

  “Then get to know me again,” he said, practically pleading. “I really like you, Carson—”

  “I don’t like you—because I don’t know you. You’re literally a stranger to me.”

  “Come on, that’s not true.”

  “I was in a relationship where the asshole lied to my face. You lied to me every single day.”

  “I didn’t—”

  “You took me to a fake apartment. You know how creepy that is?”

  He was quiet, having no defense.

  “You took me to fancy places and made me feel bad you were paying because I didn’t know you could afford to buy the damn restaurant—in cash.”

  He bowed his head.

  “I left my phone at your apartment, and you said you had gone to help a friend—which was obviously a lie.”

  Now, he really looked guilty.

  “Lies. Lies. Lies.” I held up both hands. “I’m done with lies. If I’m going to be in a relationship with someone again, it’s going to be based on honesty. I can’t be with someone who respects me so little.”

  “I do respect you—”

  “People who respect you don’t lie to your face. They don’t ask for an exclusive relationship without giving you the full story. They don’t ask to fuck you without a condom.”

  He kept his eyes down, full of shame.

  “If we were just fucking around without an emotional attachment, I wouldn’t have cared. But you’re the one who wanted to step it up, to ask for more, to tell me I was the one who needed to get my shit together.” I walked toward him, pointing at his face. “How dare you treat me that way and make me feel like shit when you were the one with your walls up? You’re such an asshole, Dax.”

  He closed his eyes and sighed. “I-I didn’t handle it well. I just didn’t expect to like you so much. I didn’t expect that this would go somewhere.”

  “When it did, you could have told me, and none of this would have happened.”

  “I know, but the longer I waited, the more afraid I became that you wouldn’t forgive me.”

  “So, stepping into your office to interview you was the best choice?” I asked sarcastically.

  “I didn’t think it was going to be you—”

  “I know,” I snapped. “Because you specifically asked for Vivica.”

  He closed his eyes again.

  I knew that was the final nail in his coffin.

  “You asked for Vivica deliberately, to keep this lie going. And that is fucking disgusting.”

  He was silent.

  “Get out of my apartment, Dax. And fuck off on your way out.”

  Also by E. L. Todd

  Two-Faced.

  That's exactly what he is.

  A liar.

  I've already been ripped into a million pieces before, and I don't have the strength to do it again. Thankfully, he didn't have much of me to begin with. I was smart about it, not giving my heart away as easily as my body.

  But he's still there...everywhere.

  My friends tell me to forgive and forget, to give him another chance.

  Sure, I can forgive.

  But never forget.

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