“You’re a conniving little bitch,” she spits. “I don’t know why you think you’re going to be the one he chooses. He’s always going to come back to me.”

“Funny that.” I laugh bitterly. “But I was sure you just admitted to your friend on the phone that he was distracted by me.”

She flinches. “Because you’re feeding his need. The moment you stop doing that, he’ll come running back to me. The moment Reign fucks me again, it’ll be over for you.”

I shake my head, disgusted. “I knew what you were the moment I met you. It’s only a shame that poor man actually cares about you, because he’s blinded.”

“Reign is mine, little girl,” she growls. “Throw away your fantasies of taking me out of the picture. It will never happen. My suggestion to you is to leave. Go home and quit your job. Leave the real men for the ladies. I’m sure there’s a nice young man at home who can deal with your immature self.”

“Jealous, Grandma? Afraid he finds my young pussy nicer than your old, washed-up one?” I fire at her.

High five, Tiani.

She flinches and her face forms into an ugly scowl. “I won’t ask you again; get out of his life.”

I shake my head, glaring at her. “I could walk right out there and tell him what I heard in here, and your perfect little world would come crashing down.”

She grins, so sure of herself, and that worries me. “Do you think he’d believe you?” She throws her head back and laughs. “You’re more simple than I first thought.”

“You killed his baby,” I breathe, my voice too angry to show itself. “You’re a murderer.”

She hisses and steps forward, clenching her fists. “It wasn’t a baby, it was a bundle of cells.”

That does it for me. I lift my fist and I hit her so hard her nose cracks and begins spurting blood. She screams so loudly I actually have to cover my ears. Jesus. Blood rolls down her face in thick rivulets as she clutches her nose, wailing and screaming. My fist aches as I take a step back, knowing that was probably not the best move to make. I hear footsteps behind me, and I turn to see Reign charging around the corner. He skids to a halt when he sees Selena, and his furious gaze turns to me. “What did you do?”

“She came in here and attacked me,” Selena wails. “She said I needed to leave, that she was sick of me being in her way, and that you belonged to her.”

My mouth drops open. “You lying bitch!” I screech. “She’s telling lies, Reign.”

He looks between the both of us, clearly torn.

“She aborted your baby. I overheard her saying it on the phone and I confronted her about it,” I say, my voice weaker than I’d like. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”

His face pales and he turns to her. She’s actually got tears running down her face. I give her a disgusted look, horrified that any person could be so . . . so cruel. Then she screams, “How dare you talk about my baby? You know nothing, you whore.”

Then she lunges at me. My back slams into the door behind me, and I scream in pain as the handle pushes into my back, hitting the bone and causing a sharp yet deep pain to shoot up my spine. Her hand makes contact with my face and a resounding slapping sound fills the room. My eyes burn from the pain and quickly fill with tears. Not because I want to cry, no; because it fucking hurts.

“You don’t ever speak about my baby,” she bellows. “If you want to tell lies, tell them about anything but that. It was our child. How dare you.”

Oh. My. God.

I’m speechless, just so completely shocked that she’s acting this out so well. Reign is glaring at me, actually glaring at me. I shove her chest, sending her backwards. I look to Reign and say in a trembling tone, “I heard her say it. I would never make something like that up. You know me, Reign.”

“You’ve known me ten years,” Slutena sobs. “You know how much I loved our baby. You’ve seen what I went through, how could you ever believe it wasn’t real?”

Reign’s eyes are still on me, and they seem to be filled with betrayal and a hint of confusion. He’s looking at me as if he’s trying to see if I really am the liar she claims. Then he turns to her and gives her the same look.

“Reign,” I whisper.

“Don’t listen to her,” Slutena pleads.

“You’re asking me to believe you,” he rasps, turning back to me after a moment, “when you’ve done nothing but tell me how much you hate Selena.”

And that’s all I need. He believes her. I shake my head sadly, emotion no doubt showing on my face as I back up towards the door. “You know what? Believe what you want. I won’t stand here and try to convince you of something you clearly won’t believe. Just know this,” I growl, turning to Selena, “you might have known him for ten years, and he might even love you, but the truth of the matter is I had something with him you’ll never have. A deep friendship.” Then I turn back to Reign. “At least, I thought that’s what we had.”

I turn and leave.

There really is nothing else to say.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

I’m packing my bags, mulling over my feelings when Reign comes in. He’s alone, and I’m thankful for that. I’m feeling an enormous mix of emotions right now. On one side, I want to be hurt and angry at him, but that makes no sense. He always told me where his feelings were strongest. On the other side, I want to fix this, because this job is important to me. I need it now more than ever, but above all that . . . Reign is my friend.