Preston reeled back, knocking into Delilah and bringing them both down.
Nathan and Carter sprang to help as I stepped over the pair. Their shouts, swears, and shrieking faded without the need for distance. My walls were firmly re-erected.
Those sirens would never get past my blockade again.
NATHAN
“So.” Carter and I dropped Preston on his couch. “You slept with Belle Adler.”
The question didn’t need to be asked. The messed-up sheets, half the stuff from his desk on the floor, and the overwhelming reek of sex told the story.
It was a good thing we sent Delilah off for ice and she told us to fuck off and call a maid instead. She didn’t need to see the state of this place.
Preston glared through narrowed eyes. Blood gushed from his nose, marking two harsh lines past his mouth reminding me of a marionette.
Not far off. If Belle’s got her hooks into him, then he’ll be dancing on her strings forever.
“How do you know her?” he spat. “She freaked when she saw you too.”
“Pretty sure she freaked when she saw your fiancée.” Carter’s voice was flat. “The question is how do you know her? You got up and ran off. Why?”
“She’s Cinderella.”
“She is?” I blurted. “The girl you wouldn’t shut up about for the last two years? The one who shut you down at the gallery?”
He nodded.
I threw myself down next to him, blown away. “I should’ve known,” I muttered. “A girl like that could only be Belle.”
“How do you know her?” His head swung to me, splattering blood on the carpet. “Tell me.”
I shrugged. “How do you think?”
His eyes flared. “Are you fucking serious? You slept with her?”
“Many, many times.”
I thought he’d give me a bloody nose to match.
“What? You’re mad?”
“Why would I be mad?” he scoffed. “I fucked her drunken hookups out of her head. We laughed about her forgetting the names of everyone who came before me.” His smirk was red with blood. “You couldn’t have left her with anything worth remembering.”
Preston Du Pont-Desai could be a right bastard and if anyone was going to get that side out of him, it would be Belle. Every man that met Belle Adler wanted to own her, worship her, be the one who doused the smoldering pain in her eyes. I understood his reaction to lash out better than anyone ever could.
But I was a right bastard too.
It’s what made us friends.
“She didn’t lose it at the sight of me because she forgot me, brother. She remembers every single minute of being mine, and that’s why you’re bleeding on the carpet and Belle is off running every minute of our dirty, screaming fucks through her head.”
The punch came too quick for me to block it.
His fist slammed into my jaw, snapping my head around, and dumping me on the floor. I spat out a mouthful of blood and let it ride. I deserved the hit. Like I said, no one knew the drug Belle put men under better than me.
“You’re quiet,” Preston spat at Carter. “Did you sleep with Belle too?”
“If I wanted to talk to you about Belle Adler, I would have,” he returned. “I don’t give a fuck about that girl or what you two did with her, and neither should you. Both of you get over it and forget about her. She’s not worth it.”
I loved the guy, but Carter Knight truly was an icy son of a bitch.
One who’s been keeping secrets. I was just as surprised to hear Belle say his name.
“I’m not forgetting her,” Preston said. “She didn’t give me a chance to explain. Once I get her to listen to me—”
“You’ll what?” Carter broke in. “Convince her to live happily ever after as your mistress? We’re going to the cove in three days, and at the end of summer, you’re putting a ring on Delilah’s finger. You know what will happen if you don’t.”
I smeared blood on my sleeve, wiping my mouth. “He’s right. You can’t chase this Cinderella from the ball. Forget about her.”
“You want me to forget her so you can move in,” he flung. “You’re not putting a ring on her damn finger either.”
Anger flared hot and quick. “You managed to fuck Belle without hearing her rant on marriage and relationships? I doubt it. Trust me, even if I wanted to marry her, Belle will have nothing to do with me. From the look she gave Carter, I’m betting it’s the same for him.”