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. She certainly knows you. Oh, for crying out loud! She saw me once at my parents club.We have dinner there occasionally.That doesn t mean I ve been brainwashed into being some materialistic bimbo.Good things happen at thatclub all the time.Charity fundraisers.Wedding receptions.Are you seriously condemning me becausesomeone saw me at a restaurant I went to? People were starting to stare, but Rodriguez was barely aware of anything outside Brittany and hisrage.Questions were pounding in his temples, along with a bitch of a headache. What s with all thesecrecy, Brittany? Why is it so important to you that no one knows we re together? Why did it have to besuch a big secret? Why don t I know where you live and why haven t you introduced me to your parents? Because they would freak out! she shouted at him, jerking her arm away.She stalked to the punchbowl and he rushed after her.She snatched up the bowl and turned to face him over it. I told you howprotective they are.They would lose it if they knew What? he cut her off. That you were fucking a goddamn Mexican.I m not gonna be any woman sgoddamn cabana boy, I don t care how fucking good you are in bed! His voice rose of its own accord untilhe was bellowing the last few words.He saw Brittany s fingers tighten on the punch bowl.That was the only warning he had before gallonsof pink liquid splashed across his face and chest.She threw the bowl to the ground where it landed with a muted thunk against the now-pink-splatteredcarpet, and then turned and ran from the room.Rodriguez was rooted to the spot, dripping wet.Why did they always have to get wet? What was itwith this demon?His reality slowly expanded, widening out from the tight spiral his rage had pulled him into.He stood134 www.samhainpublishing.com The Sexorcistin the middle of a rehearsal dinner after-party.So much for secrecy.The room was stunningly silent and every single eye was locked on him withvarying degrees of shock, disappointment, and pity.The weight of those eyes made his vision flash red all over again. What? he snarled beforestomping out the door.When he got to the parking lot, he squinted through the rain, but Brittany was already gone.www.samhainpublishing.com 135 Chapter Twenty-Seven Love HurtsThe rhythmic swish-thwap of the windshield wipers was oddly soothing.Brittany focused on thesteady sound.If she concentrated hard enough, she could almost keep herself from thinking about anythingelse.Like the fact that Rodriguez didn t love her.Or trust her.Or even like her very much.He had looked at her with such burning contempt, as if she disgusted him.As if she were just as badas the women who just wanted to use him as a convenient trophy.How could he think that of her?A sob hitched in her throat and Brittany forced back the thoughts of Rodriguez.The road, the wipers,the rain.Things.She needed to think about objects.Objects wouldn t hurt her.They couldn t break herheart.The front gate of her parents estate loomed in front of her.She hadn t made a conscious decision tocome here.Brittany gave a bitter laugh that turned into a whimper on the way out.Where else could she go?She d run away to grab her great new life with both hands, only to realize it had all been an illusion.Justsome pretty picture she d dreamed up.The man she d actually convinced herself was in love with herthought she was just some spoiled rich bitch.She d never be able to keep her job now that Rodriguez hadannounced to half the consultants that she d flagrantly violated the intra-office dating policy.And she d be lucky if Lucy ever spoke to her again after the spectacle she d made in the middle of herrehearsal dinner.So much for friends and her fledgling career as an event planner.She d tried to live a real life only to discover it came with real pain, the kind that couldn t be fixedwith a pill or a surgery.She d lived with a busted heart for most of her life, but it had never felt like this.She d wanted adventure, life instead of survival, but she wasn t sure she could handle it if this was what itwould feel like.She pulled into the garage and cut the engine.The realization finally hit that she was going to have toface her parents.She d been awful to them.She d left them to worry for days.She knew without a shadowof a doubt they would welcome her back with open arms, but that only made her guilt that much sharper.She trudged up the stairs and toward the sitting room where her parents often spent evenings.Wouldthey even be home? What if they d gone to some party? Out painting the town without a care in the world.What if they weren t worried about her at all? Could they be relieved she was gone?Then she walked in the room and saw them there, her mother ignoring the book in her lap and her The Sexorcistfather tapping away at the laptop at his writing desk.Relief made her knees weak and her chest feel tight. I m sorry. She sniffled wetly.Both of their heads snapped up at the sound of her voice.Her mother gasped, her hand flying to herthroat. Brittany. Her mother looked awful, her eyes sunken and shadowed, and guilt stabbed into Brittany s stomachagain.She d caused that.Her father stood, holding the back of his chair and staring at her steadily, like shemight be a mirage. I m so sorry, she said again. You were right.You were right to think I couldn t make it on myown.I belong here.Where I m safe.I should never have yelled at you for trying to protect me from the realworld.You were right.The real world sucks. Brittany, her mother said again, with a soft catch in her voice.She couldn t stop now.She had to get her confession out.Clear the slate. I snuck out and got a jobbehind your back.It was only supposed to be a temp job, working as a secretary for a unique consultingfirm, but it was so much more than that.I was important and helpful.For the first time in my life, I had apurpose.I was working at Karmic Consultants.I was planning a wedding.And then I met someone and heseemed so perfect.Everything seemed so perfect, but I was just ignoring the bad things.Like I alwaysignore the bad things. Her jaw quivered, but she kept talking.There was still more she needed to say. When I was sick, I needed to pretend everything was going to be okay, even when I didn t really believeit.I wasn t strong, like you guys and the doctors always told me I was.I was wrapped up in some stupidfairy tale where the princess gets a brand new heart and Prince Charming to go along with it.But the worlddoesn t work like that.I kept pretending he was my happily ever after, but he& Who is he? her father demanded. You just tell your father his name and he ll take care of it, her mother added. There s nothing to take care of, Brittany said, defeat weighing heavily on her. He s just a lesson Ilearned
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