TRAP (The Billionaire's Rules, Book 15) (2 page)

Her throat felt like it was closing and she was suddenly dizzy.

A voice was speaking and Lanie knew that person.

That person was her.

It was her own voice being played back to her through the voice memo.

“I was a virgin and Brayden fucked me.”

There were some sniffles and rustling sounds.

“He promised he wouldn’t ever fuck me—but then he did anyway.”

More sniffling, rustling, deep sighing.

“And the truth is, he never cared even a little about me. I thought we were friends, you know? Somehow…even though there was no reason to believe that, I still did.”

And then the memo ended.

Lanie sat down heavily on the toilet seat and dropped the phone from her numb fingers. It hit the tile floor and when she picked it up again. The face of it was cracked.

Crap.

I broke my phone on top of everything.

Lanie found herself smiling, and then starting to giggle, and then she began to cry again.

This time the tears didn’t stop for a long, long while.

* * *

B
y the time
Lanie arrived at her cousin’s home, she was feeling like a zombie. She’d taken a cab over, and in the time it had taken her to complete the ride, she’d texted Brayden four or five times, begging him to call her so she could explain what had happened.

He didn’t respond.

Finally, she was at the front door of Cullen and Ivy’s insanely gorgeous home, and then Ivy was stepping out and hugging her tightly. “What happened?” Ivy cooed into her ear. “Are you okay?”

“No,” Lanie replied. “I’m not okay. Not even a little.”

The hug felt so nurturing that Lanie was almost able to forget about all of the history between them, all of her jealousy about Ivy getting everything she’d ever wanted.

And here I am, still the loser
, Lanie thought.

But right now, none of that mattered. What mattered was that she was with someone who knew her and who cared and could be trusted.

“Come inside,” Ivy said, grabbing her by the hand and leading her into the modern, tasteful home that she shared with Cullen, who was standing nearby, dressed in an impeccable blue suit, drinking from a small espresso mug.

“Do you need a drink, Lanie?” he asked, his eyes concerned.

“I’m…maybe some water,” she admitted. Her mouth and throat were parched. “I think I’ve cried all the water out of my body,” she said, sitting on one of the plush couches, and Ivy sat down beside her.

Ivy’s eyes were soft.

Lanie was struck by how incredibly elegant and beautiful her cousin looked—but more than that—she possessed a confidence and self-assurance that Lanie had never seen in the past.

It’s because she’s found her true home. She knows who she is.

But I’m lost.

I’m so lost.

“Something happened with your new job?” Ivy asked, as Cullen went and poured Lanie a glass of water.

Lanie hadn’t told Ivy much when she’d called a little while ago, just asked to come over, crying, sobbing, clearly distraught.

Now, she sighed, nodding. “Something bad happened.”

Cullen came back and handed her the glass of water. “I should go and let you two talk. Give you some privacy.”

Ivy hesitated, turning to him. “But if this involves your friend—“

“Brayden’s not my friend, just a guy I know,” Cullen said. “And from what I’ve been hearing lately about him, maybe I should take him out of my contact list.”

“It’s not all his fault,” Lanie explained, holding the glass of cold water tightly. “I made some mistakes. Big mistakes.” She shook her head, thinking about how all of her decisions had just piled up, one after the other.

Cullen frowned, his expression tightening. “If he did something to you…”

“No, it wasn’t like that,” Lanie said. But then she wondered why she was defending him after the things he’d said to her the last time they’d spoken. Maybe it
was
like that.

Maybe he had done something to her. She felt so messed up and confused.

She didn’t know anything anymore.

“Tell me what happened,” Ivy said, turning toward her. “Tell me everything. Believe me, with that I’ve been through—I could never judge you.”

“Okay,” Lanie said. She closed her eyes, dreading the embarrassment and shame of spilling the truth about the last few days. Her stomach was like a twisting ball of lead, rolling, eating up her insides.

But she needed to get it all out there, and so she began to speak.

Once she’d started telling the truth, it was like an avalanche that couldn’t be stopped. Getting it out was cathartic, and she could feel the ball in her stomach growing lighter as she released the truth and got the secrets out into the open.

She told them everything, minus the gory details of the hot sex—but enough for them to know that her relationship with Brayden had been sexual in nature. And then she explained what had happened with the hackers and how Brayden had treated her so rudely when she’d gone to make sure he was okay.

Finally, she ended by telling them about the conversation she’d had with Frida and how Brayden had forwarded the incriminating voice memo to her and now would not return her calls.

When it was all said and the embarrassing truth had finally been told, Lanie sighed and blinked, as if able to really see for the first time. She took a long drink of water and then put the glass down on a nearby coaster.

Ivy stroked her cheek. “Oh, honey. You’ve had it rough, haven’t you?”

The kindness made tears leak down her cheeks, and she bit her lip and nodded. “Yeah,” she whispered. “I guess so.”

“That stupid fuck,” Cullen muttered, pacing the length of the room.

“Honey,” Ivy said, turning to him. “Please, we need to stay calm.”

“Calm?” Cullen said, his jaw twitching as he stood there. “This is me being calm.” His fists clenched. “To think I sent your cousin—a member of our new family—to that goddamn wolf, so he could try and get his grubby paws on her…”

Lanie was going to tell him that Brayden wasn’t all that bad as she’d made him sound, but then there was a steady pounding on the front door that made her jump and give a startled yell.

Ivy startled as well. “Shit!” she said, her eyes wide. “Who’s that?”

Cullen muttered something unintelligible and then peered out the window near the door. When he saw who it was, his entire body grew rigid. “Oh, this is perfect. Fucking perfect,” he said, and then before anyone could stop him—Cullen threw the front door open.

Brayden Forman was standing on the front steps of the house.

Lanie gasped. How had he found her here?

For a moment, her heart leapt happily, hoping that he was here to apologize and make things right.

But then she saw the look on Brayden’s face as he stared at Cullen. “You fucking set me up, asshole,” Brayden said.

“What the hell did you just say to me?” Cullen asked.

Ivy stood up. “Close the door, Cullen. Don’t even talk to him!”

“I said, you set me up,” Brayden continued, ignoring Ivy. And then his eyes flicked over to Lanie and he looked almost comically surprised momentarily.

He seemed to recover himself, though, as his gaze moved back to Cullen.

“I don’t know who the hell you think you are, showing up unannounced at my home after what you’ve done,” Cullen growled. He seemed to get larger as he stood in the entrance.

“I’m the guy you fucked over,” Brayden said. “You set a trap for me—a honey pot,” he said, pointing over towards Lanie.

“A what? A honey pot? Are you insane?” Cullen asked, almost laughing, but clearly getting even more enraged.

“You sent the girl to me,” Brayden said. “Is that supposed to be a coincidence? You send that girl to interview for a job with me and next thing I know my company’s hacked and my entire life is up in smoke?”

Now I’m just that girl
, Lanie thought.
I’m not even Lanie anymore—he can’t even bear to say my name.

Meanwhile, Cullen had raised a hand and pointed at the other man. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about Forman, but if you don’t get off my property—“

“Then what, you’ll strangle me with your cool tie?” Brayden said. He pointed past Cullen at Lanie. “You happy with yourself? How much did they pay you to suck my cock and get access to my database—“

Suddenly, Cullen was tackling Brayden, the two of them sailing out of view.

Lanie and Ivy both shrieked at the same time.

“Help!” Ivy cried. “Oh my God, they’re fighting! Stop them!”

Lanie ran past her and out the door of the house. She came up short for a moment, not sure what to do next.

Cullen and Brayden were rolling on the ground, and then Brayden scrambled to his feet. Both of them looked strange in their expensively tailored suits, fighting on the front lawn of Cullen’s gorgeous home.

Brayden threw a punch, but Cullen ducked under it. Then Ivy’s husband threw his own punch, which landed square on Brayden’s jaw.

Brayden’s head snapped to the side.

Cullen straightened up and threw two more punches, each one of them landed squarely on the other man’s face.

“Stop, please!” Lanie cried.

Brayden sneered at Cullen through a bloody lip. “Is that the best you got, you rich, uptight motherfucker?”

“Oh, I have plenty more for you,” Cullen said, and punched him again.

Brayden stumbled back and smiled. He dropped his hands. “That’s it?”

“Fine, have another.” Cullen swung even harder and clocked Brayden on the jaw again.

Brayden’s head swung back and he stumbled, his eyes momentarily glassy.

“Stop! No!” Lanie cried, grabbing Cullen’s arm. “Don’t. He’s hurt. Don’t hurt him anymore.”

Cullen turned and looked at her, his chest rising and falling, his shoulders rigid. “I should kill him for what he did to you.”

“He’s had enough.” She swallowed a sob.

Brayden was still standing there, his face battered, his lips bloody and swollen, jaw bruised, a mouse rising under one eye. “That’s the best you got,” he said, spitting blood onto the walkway. I knew it. You’ll never break me,” he said.

“I wasn’t trying to break you, asshole,” Cullen said. “Did it ever occur to you that I have no damn reason to set a honeypot to trap you? Whoever wanted to get to you just had to wait until you fucked up, which knowing you, took about all of five seconds from the last time you screwed up.”

Brayden’s eyes seemed to clear momentarily as he took in Cullen’s words. “Listen, I never led her on—“

“You dumb shit,” Cullen said. “You left yourself open for this and then you go looking to blame an innocent girl who clearly cares about you. And you blame me—I don’t even give a shit about you enough to know your business and your stupidity. But if you ever threaten me or my wife or my family, I will
end you
.” And then Cullen straightened his suit coat, turned on his heel and started back inside. “Lanie, you coming with us?”

She hesitated, looking at Brayden. “Are you all right?” she asked him softly.

He nodded grimly, touching his lip and wincing a little. “I guess the uptight jerk can punch a little bit after all. Busted me up pretty good.”

“You need to go to the emergency room,” she said.

“I’ll be fine.” He sighed and turned around. “I’m going, don’t worry.”

Lanie looked back and saw Ivy and Cullen standing in the doorway to the house. Ivy’s face was a mask of worry. “Lanie, why don’t you come back inside now?” she called.

Brayden kept shuffling out of the yard, and suddenly Lanie realized that it wasn’t simply her concern for Brayden’s health and the fact that he’d been hurt by his fight with Cullen—it was that she didn’t want to leave things this way between them.

If this was the last time she was ever going to see him—watching him shuffling off bruised and beaten and broken...she couldn’t let this be the last memory she had of him.

Lanie smiled at her cousin. “I need to go and talk to him. You understand?”

Ivy nodded, sighing. “Yeah. I think I do.” She glanced at Cullen and he nodded, shrugging.

“Let us know if you need us,” Cullen told her. “And be careful,” he told her. And then he shut the door.

Lanie let out a deep sigh. She turned back and saw that Brayden had disappeared from view again, and she went after him.

Catching up to him a little way down the street, Lanie called his name. He didn’t turn around at first.

“Brayden, wait.”

He finally stopped but still didn’t turn to face her. “Just leave me alone,” he said.

“I need to talk to you,” she said.

“There’s nothing left to say. I got my ass kicked and my company’s ruined. The job of putting me in my place is done.”

“Just look at me,” she said. “We should at least be able to talk to one another, even if this is the last time we ever speak.”

When he turned around, she was startled by the feeling that went directly to her belly and chest. A feeling of wanting to just throw her arms around him, and feel his arms wrapping around her in return.