From Substitute To Queen novel Chapter 110

Chapter 110

“Within forty-eight hours for basic movements and contacts. Deeper investigation will take longer.”

“Do it.”

Darrell’s POV

The cigarette trembled between my fingers as I sat in my car in the hotel parking lot. I’d been chain-smoking for the past hour, but nothing could burn away the images playing on repeat in my mind.

Sable’s laugh. The way she looked at him. The trust in her eyes when she handed him her drink. The easy affection in every touch.

Had our entire relationship been a lie? Had she been performing for me while saving her real self for someone worthy of it?

The jealousy was eating me from the inside out, but it was more than that. It was the crushing realization that I’d held something precious and beautiful in my hands, and I’d been too stupid, too selfish, too blind to see its value until it was gone.

Another drag of my cigarette. Another image of Caelan’s hand on her face.

Then I picked up the phone and typed four words.

“I agree to cooperate.”

I hit send.

The hotel key card slipped from my fingers twice before I managed to get the door open. The scotch I’d consumed in the hotel bar burned in my chest, but it did nothing to numb the ache that had taken up permanent residence there.

What I found waiting in my room made me stop dead in the doorway.

Camila was stretched across my bed. Black lace barely covered her curves, and her eyes held a hunger that should have been flattering.

“What are you doing here?”

She sat up slowly, deliberately arching her back. “You’ve been traveling so much for business lately. I missed you, so I thought I’d surprise you.”

“Get out.” I turned away.

But she was already moving, crossing the room with feline grace. Her hands settled on my chest, and despite everything, despite the sick feeling in my stomach, my body responded.

“You don’t mean that,” she whispered, her lips brushing against my jaw.

She kiss me. And maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the crushing loneliness, maybe it was just the need to feel something other than the hollow ache in my chest-but I kissed her back.

My hands found her hair, tangling in the golden strands as I pushed her back against the wall. She gasped against my mouth.

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11:40 Fri, 22 Aug M

Chapter 110

When I lifted Camila and carried her to the bed, I kept my eyes tightly shut. When I buried myself in her heat, I let myself imagine I was with someone else.

I woke to find Camila watching me, and the sight filled me with instant disgust.

Good morning, handsome, Camila purred, trailing her fingers down my chest.

I caught her wrist, stopping the movement. “Don’t.”

Her face shifted, hurt replacing satisfaction. “Relly, what’s wrong?”

“I want you to stop trying to seduce me. My heart belongs to Sable. Only Sable.”

Camila’s laugh was sharp, cutting. “Only Sable? But last night you seemed to enjoy me plenty.”

“Men can separate sex from love.” Each word was deliberately cruel, designed to hurt her the way I was hurting. “And besides, the whole time I was with you, I was thinking about Sable. Why do you think I wanted you so many times?”

Her face went white. “You bastard.”

“What did you expect?” I got out of bed, not bothering to cover myself. “You’ve always known what I am, haven’t you? If I wasn’t a bastard, would I have cheated on Sable before I broke up with her? Would I have lost her in the first place?”

The truth hung between us like a weapon. Camila stared at me with growing horror and rage.

“You’re shameless,” she whispered. “Absolutely shameless.”

I looked at myself in the hotel mirror-stubbled, hollow-eyed, a shadow of the man I used to be. “Yeah. I am.”