TORMENTED_ Jani Kay - Jani Kay Page 0,26

off his audience, especially the women.

My gaze skimmed his body. His broad shoulders fit into his dark precision-cut suit exactly the way I remembered, except this time it didn’t make my heart go all pitter-patter like it used to.

As if he sensed my presence, he turned and stared straight at me, a lopsided grin on his handsome face. A few months ago, it would have melted my heart. I would have felt special and privileged to be the one he chose to spend the rest of his life with. That was before I knew what a cheating, lying bastard he was.

Isn’t it funny how it’s always the most charming guys who have skeletons in their closets? The men who worm their way into your heart with sweet whispers, avalanches of flowers and romantic moonlight serenades who then morph into an asshole before your eyes.

I found out the hard way that fairytale romances didn’t exist.

I’d worshipped my fiancé, given him everything I could, only to discover it wasn’t enough. He needed the adoration and pussies of other women to feel validated. It was a pattern I’d recognized in so many powerful men who had the world at their feet, yet couldn’t overcome their insecurities. They always needed more. More than any one person could ever give.

I counted myself as one of the lucky ones. It could have been a lot worse. I could have been married to the man. Our wedding date had come and gone months ago.

“Are you okay?” My date leaned over, his warm breath skimming over my chilled skin.

Harrison was everything Nolan wasn’t. Direct. Private. With nothing to hide. He didn’t pretend or feign emotions, and he never said words because he thought they were what I wanted to hear. Behind his gruff and impenetrable exterior was a damaged man who made no excuses for who he was. I could live with that, because in a way it was more honest than all the false masks worn by someone like Senator Nolan Parker.

I hate fake.

My back stiffened and I looked away toward the young waiter who offered me a refill of champagne, ignoring Nolan.

“Eva?” Harrison’s voice snapped me back to the moment.

I nodded. “Yeah, I guess I’m okay.” I placed my hand on Harrison’s thigh. I couldn’t hide the disgust and contempt from my voice. “Please don’t leave me alone with Nolan tonight.”

The soft chuckle that rose from his chest was reassuring. “I’m not letting that asshole anywhere near you. So relax and enjoy the evening. Pretend he isn’t here.”

It’s going to be a long fucking night.

If only I could pretend. Nolan had other plans. Bearing down on us, he made a beeline for our table. He wasn’t going to let anyone ignore him, least of all his ex-fiancé.

A heavy sigh escaped my lips. Here it comes. The sappy sweet shit that’s supposed to make me forgive him.

“Ah, you’re late, my darling.” Hungry eyes undressed me, and his salacious grin made my stomach churn.

I’m not your fucking darling.

Harrison’s chair scraped back as he rose to face Nolan, eye to eye. His hand was back on my shoulder as he stood between my ex and me. I reached up and laced my fingers through Harrison’s, needing the reassurance that he’d ward off unwelcome advances and send a clear message to Nolan.

I’m here with somebody else. What we had is over. You blew your chances a long time ago.

Still eye-fucking me and seemingly oblivious to the signal I was sending, Nolan continued in his smooth-as-silk voice, the voice that had convinced thousands of Americans that he could be trusted and had their best interests at heart.

“But I can forgive you, because I understand why. You look . . . spectacular.”

Everyone at our table had stopped talking. They watched us with bemused expressions. Underneath a thin veneer of superiority, upper-class society loved a good scandal as much as anyone else.

“Good evening, Senator,” I said stiffly, as if I hardly knew him. I didn’t want to remember that his dick had been inside me, that we had planned to have a family together. That once I’d believed I was the luckiest woman alive to be loved by what I believed to be a magnificent man.

How things change.

“Senator,” Harrison said, a clear warning in his voice. I couldn’t help the small smile that twitched at the corners of my mouth at how protective he’d become. Was Harrison even aware that he’d puffed out his chest, making his six-foot-plus frame even more imposing and