by Sedona Venez
That was the truth bomb I’d been waiting for.
My mind screeched to a stop, and slowly, I began to reverse-engineer all the information I knew. And the pieces to the puzzle that had been plaguing me for hours all started to fit together.
Why Core had sought me out through Tabitha—because she was my friend and his only way to get close to me. That was the answer to the riddle about why a billionaire like Core had wanted to go into business with me, a fashion designer.
Core couldn’t give a rat’s ass about me. He’d needed my business as the bait to lure Bigsby in. That simple truth cut my heart like a dagger.
I was nothing to him.
Nothing but a pawn he’d used to get him closer to his end game… Bigsby.
My blood started to boil. Rage slithered through my veins like poison.
Breathe, Sin. Breathe.
Picking up my glass of water, I drank quickly. There would be no more alcohol for a bit; I needed to keep my mind focused for this conversation.
I was mad as hell right now, but I needed to think logically, not emotionally. And when I did exactly that, more pieces clicked into place. “You purchased my company so he had to deal directly with you.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Yes,” Core replied. “Kevin did a thorough investigation, but he couldn’t find anything linking Bigsby to you. But I was sure if Bigsby was interested in you, there had to be a sinister motive, which was why I had to acquire your business fast. I had Kevin search through your background again, looking for anything that could be used as leverage.”
My heart clenched and then dropped to the pit of my stomach. His words confirmed what I’d suspected—that all I was to him was a resource to be used to suit his needs.
“Leverage?” I asked in a low voice and through clenched teeth.
He furrowed his brows as he continued to stare at me. He slightly tilted his head, and then his frown deepened.
I inhaled a deep breath and held it for a beat before speaking. “You dirty fucker.”
He spoke in a low, soothing tone. “Sin…” He leaned forward to touch my hand.
I snatched it out of reach. “Don’t. Touch. Me. McKay,” I gritted out.
His angular, rough-hewn face clenched.
“Continue…” I ordered before I steepled my fingers, cool eyes on him. “I want to hear exactly how I’ve been used for leverage.”
Core inhaled a long, ragged breath before dragging his hands over his face. His cool, controlled demeanor dropped for just a moment before it reasserted itself. “I found out that you needed money, and I had lots of it.” He sat back and cocked his head. “But I couldn’t find a way to get into your small inner circle without raising suspicion or scaring you off. That was when Kevin found out you were friends with Tabitha.”
The more Core had unveiled, the more pissed I got at myself for trusting Tabitha Thorp.
So this was all part of his big game plan… to maneuver me like a chess piece.
Everything that had occurred right before and during our relationship sank in. It was no happenstance when Tabitha had called me out of the blue, all excited about one of her business connections willing to provide financing in exchange for a small percentage of my future profits.
Core had put her up to making the business arrangement and the call. And that truth stung like a motherfucker.
My brain started working overtime. What else don’t I know about Core and Tabitha’s relationship? I knew for sure that they weren’t friends; Tabitha had told me that much. So if they weren’t friends and didn’t run in the same social or business circles… then how did they know each other?
Then a horrible thought occurred to me. In the past, Tabitha had recounted her many excursions to the McKay Club to hook up with prime hotties—her words, not mine. Tabitha unapologetically slept around.
Is Core one of her many lovers?
“Did you fuck her?” My lips mashed together.
“I did.” Core confirmed grimly.
I sucked in a sharp breath as the anger sparked inside me. “You had sex with Tabitha?” I jumped to my feet, toppling the chair behind me. “I knew it! Something about you two just didn’t feel right.” I clenched and unclenched my fists.
He stood, towering over me. “Sin!” he barked. “I slept with her years ago. Back when Tabitha and I were young. Way before I met you, we hung out in the same criminal circles. The only difference was, back then, the now-famous Tabitha worked as a mule for her seedy drug kingpin boyfriend, Ben Vargos.”
Keep it together, Sin. There’s more. I can feel it.
I held a breath before releasing it. “I’m listening,” I replied in a sharp tone.
His jaw clenched so tight; if it were glass, it would have shattered. It seemed like he had to unhinge it just to speak. “When I found out she had a shitload of debt, I recruited her to help me convince you of the value of getting an investor—specifically, me—to help you expand your business. In exchange, I agreed to pay off Tabitha’s debt to Ben and send her on a very long vacation.”
“That’s why she cleaned out her house and abruptly pulled up roots as if she never existed. You made her leave.”
“Yes.” He intensely watched me for a few moments. “It was part of our deal.”
“Deal? That’s all I am to you, isn’t it?” A bitter tang coated my mouth. “An object. An acquisition to add to your collection.” My hands were shaking with anger. Deep down, I knew that was all I meant to him, but it still hurt like hell to hear him say it.
I briefly closed my eyes, still processing what he was telling me… the truth. Despite my best efforts to calm the hell down, the warmth from my rising anger became an inferno.
I launched at him. “You lying, manipulative fucker!” I punched my fists against his chest. All of the anger and pain from being lied to and manipulated like a pawn on a chessboard erupted inside me like a volcano.
I can’t believe I actually thought Core could be the one…
This man had inspired me to do and want things sexually that no other lover could.
This man who I’d thought did sweet, genuine things for me without me even asking…
This man I had been falling for…
Was this all part of his grand plan?
To trick me into trusting him? Falling for him? Wanting him? Maybe even… loving him?
My stomach twisted with pain because he was just like every man I’d encountered over the years, selfish… a liar… a manipulator.
A man who would use people—me—for whatever he needed without giving a shit.
Who the hell is the real Core McKay? Because everything I thought I knew about him—and liked about him—was all an illusion. Smoke and mirrors.
My voice was harsh when I whispered, “I let you into my body… my life… and you used me like a whore.” I wanted to wrap my hands around his thick neck and squeeze the living shit out of him. I pummeled his body with all my might.
“Sin!” He easily grabbed my hands. “Stop!” he pleaded in a gentle but warning voice that didn’t have the desired effect. Instead of calming me down, it just added fuel to my fire.
“Let. Me. Go. Now!” I yelled.
“I will if you just calm the fuck down.” His voice was softer, calmer, and in direct contrast to mine.
I took some deep, cleansing breaths. “Let go,” I ordered.
He released me, slightly stepping back. The uncomfortable tension between us didn’t vanish.
I moved back to maintain the distance between us. All the trust that I’d had in him was gone… and there was no coming back from this shit. I knew that, and from the look of remorse in his eyes, he did, too.
“Core, you used me as fucking bait, like my life and business meant nothing.” I cocked an eyebrow, putting a hand on my hip. “Really?”
“Sin, I needed closure.” His voice was hard and decisive.
I threw my hands in the air. “Oh, to hell with you and your fucking closure.” I sto
rmed away from him, nearer to the railing. Being close him was making me claustrophobic. “You fucked me… literally and figuratively.”
“I am who I am, Sin.” His usually vibrant gray eyes seemed dulled by regret and intense thought. “I can’t change that.” He sighed. “Could I have done things differently?” he asked in a coarse voice, and deep brackets formed around his mouth as he frowned. “Fuck yes, but I did what I did because Bigsby needed to be destroyed.”
“At my expense,” I whispered.
I shook my head. For the first time, I really saw the man behind the veil. He was a broken man who’d waited his whole life to get revenge on his mother’s killer. Core didn’t give a shit who he had to use to get it.
Then another horrible thought occurred to me. “You were the one who caused all of my retailers to pull out of their deals.”
He studied me for a long moment, and when he spoke, his tone was quieter, apologetic. “Yes.”
I flinched as if he’d physically slapped me.
No. No. No. This shit can’t be happening. I’m such a damn idiot. I allowed myself to do what I’d promised myself I’d never do again… trust a man.
“And was Lily Sanchez a part of your plan, too?” I inquired, looking for more traitors in his web of deceit.
Lily Sanchez was a buyer who’d pushed her bosses to carry my Sin Michaels collection in their Fifth Avenue luxury goods department stores. But when the stores had mysteriously backed away from my deal, Lily had seemed just as puzzled as I was.
“No,” he replied sharply. “Lily was insignificant in the food chain of New York City power. I went above her head and called in some favors. She didn’t know why her bosses had decided to pull out of your deal because I’d ensured that everyone involved in killing your deal kept their mouths shut… or else…”
All the information was painful to hear, but I had to know.
“Or else?” I asked.
He didn’t blink. “I’d destroy them.”
I studied Core, a scowl etched over his features, his nostrils flaring.
He is a monster.
And if by chance I’d forgotten Core was a powerful predator, it was abundantly clear at that exact moment.
Clearly, Core was a ruthless man of action.
What would he have done to me if I’d refused his proposal as my business investor?
Would he have destroyed my reputation? My business? My life? All three?
Now knowing everything about him… the answer was a resounding, All of the above.
After moments of uncomfortable silence, I asked, “And how exactly did you kill my deals?”
“Sin, that’s not important. I just did.” His voice turned commanding.
Wrong answer.
I didn’t give a shit if he was the baddest motherfucker in New York. Because in this moment, I felt like the baddest bitch around, and I wasn’t backing down from him. Not one damn inch.
“You don’t get to decide anymore what’s important for me to know. I do, McKay.” I moved closer to him. “Now how did you destroy my retail deals?”
His face tightened. “I called all my connections at the retailers and had them end the agreements.”
Exactly how powerful is Core that he could so easily destroy deals I’d worked months to get?
I straightened my spine and glared at him. “I want to know, Core. I want to know all the dirty details. What types of connections would do such a despicable thing?”
“Let’s not play games, Sin. You know I’m not some fucking Boy Scout.” He walked over to me, tracing a finger across my cheek.
His touch incensed me. I stepped back.
His hand fell away.
Irritation glinted in his eyes as he continued in a low voice. “My connections are shadowy, wealthy, deadly, and ruthless. I’ve built alliances while doing things like blackmail, coercion, and extortion, and that made me one of the wealthiest and most feared men in New York City.”
After a long moment, I said, “So in essence, you’re their puppet master, pulling the strings and making everyone, including me, dance for your sheer amusement.”
His face hardened.
Oh… did I hit a nerve, McKay? Good.
I wanted him to fucking hurt just as much as—no, more than—I was hurting right now.
I’m a vengeful bitch.
“Sin—”
I cut him off. “Did Bigsby tell you why he wanted my business so badly?” My lips flattened.
“Yes,” he snapped. “When he found out I was a stakeholder in Sin Michaels Corporation, he requested a meeting with me. During which he told me he knew you were set to manufacture in Thailand, and your first run to the United States would be in weeks.”
“And?” I inclined my head for him to continue.
Core cleared his throat. “He wanted a small area within your cargo shipment to put his merchandise—women. If I agreed, he’d ensure there were no issues at Port Authority when your shipment arrived in New York.”
My heart clenched before speeding up.
What. The. Fuck?
My business and sex trafficking?
“And let me get this straight,” I croaked. “You agreed to get my company entangled in sex trafficking?” The thought of it made me angry all over again.
He studied me in silence. His nostrils flared. “Yes, and—”
“You fucker!” I screamed before swallowing several times and then sucking in a slow breath that didn’t help. I began to pace, aware that he was watching me.
Now Bigsby’s interest in my business made more sense. No one would ever suspect a naive designer was part of a sex trafficking ring. Frankly, Bigsby’s plan was brilliant.
My heart started to pound in my chest at the thought of women, men, and children being robbed of both their lives and freedom by sexually depraved predators.
It’s disgusting.
I glared at Core, and I didn’t like the man I saw.
Who is this man? And why the fuck did I let him into my life?
Did he ever care about me?
Or was it acting?
Dammit! How did I let this shit between Core and me even happen?
“Let me finish,” he requested in a rigid voice. “I had no intention of trafficking women. That’s not my shit. You should know that. You know me.”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t… but please, continue.”
“Sin, I just wanted to know exactly what he had planned for your business.”
I shouted back, “Oh, go fuck yourself, Core!”
I started to storm away, and he grabbed me from behind, pressing me against his body. I stiffened and then tried to pull myself away, but the heavily muscled arms that encircled me refused to budge.
“Let me go.”
“Only if you calm down,” he said, his mouth brushing against my ear.
My skin prickled. I struggled hard to get free.
His arms tightened. “Sin, just let me finish what I have to say to you.” His voice was soft, lighter than I would have expected from him, but firm.
“Okay. Whatever… just get off me,” I croaked.
His touch repulsed me. I had given him everything, and he still made a mess of things.
His hold loosened.
I scrambled away from him before swinging around to face him. “I hate that you did this to me.” I pointed at him. “You used me like I meant nothing.”
My face felt like it was on fire.
Core was a horrible mistake.
And I had done everything with him that I’d sworn I would never do with another man. I had opened up and shared a piece of me, all because he’d weakened my defenses, made me believe that he cared about me and that I could trust and be trusted.
All of it was a damn lie.
“Sin, what was I supposed to do when I found out Bigsby had killed my mother? Let him walk away?” he replied in a cool, level voice. I could tell he was trying to get a handle on his anger.
“I never said that
,” I protested.
There was no doubt in my mind that Bigsby deserved to pay for his crime. But using me to do it? That shit was inexcusable.
“Good,” he barked. “Because that wasn’t fucking happening. My mother deserved better than to remain some unsolved crime sent away to the cold case unit that the police officers didn’t give a shit about anymore.”
I saw the raw pain and fury in his eyes and understood the emotions. It was what I’d felt when Dad died. I blamed the police for not searching day and night for the person who had run him off the road, killing him. I remembered calling the cops for months, pleading with them not to close his case and for them to keep looking for his killer. But they didn’t.
“And what do I deserve, Core?” I pointed at him. “To be treated like some stepping-stone? An expendable object to be used just to get what you want… justice?”
I recognized this topic was a slippery slope for both of us. He’d lost a mother, and I’d lost a father. Each death and loss had torn us apart.
But how many lives had to be destroyed in the process of him getting his mother’s killer? My life? Core’s life? Just how far was he willing to go? From everything he’d done… very far.
The moments of silence drifted to minutes, and his eyes narrowed. “There are always sacrifices in war.” His voice dropped to a growl.
His words were like a dagger to my heart.
“So I’m the damn sacrificial lamb?” My words were clipped.
The silence stretched.
I waited for something…
Anything…
That could erase this vile I want to firebomb his damn car and then go to his penthouse and destroy all his shit feeling that took up residence in my soul. I despised that he was the cause of these foreign, dark, heavy, sordid emotions.
This isn’t me. I never look for drama, but dammit, why does drama always come looking for me?
“Sin.” He blew out a hard breath before sliding his hands over his face. “You and I shouldn’t have gone this far. I didn’t want this.” He chewed on his lip for a moment in consideration and seemed to be carefully choosing his words. “But I’ve come to understand there’s a big difference between what I want and what I need.”
