Beautiful Surrender (The Surrender Series Book Three) Read Online Free PDF Page A

you.”
    “You’re
right, Kristen. It was selfish. I’m sorry I didn’t see it that way before. I
was trying to do what I thought was best. Hopefully you see that, even if you
disagree with my actions.” He gently rested his hand on my shoulder.
    Despite
enjoying the sensation, I shrugged it off. “I don’t trust you now though. You
lied to me. You fucked Ariel Diamond. You cheated on me. At least Marty never
did that.” I tried shoving him away but he was like a wall. Instead it was me
that fell backward. He grabbed me before I could fall on my ass.
    “Hang
on, Kristen. Listen to me,” he growled, raising the hairs on the back of my
neck. “That is all a mistake. The text you saw from Ariel wasn’t what it looked
like.”
    “How
gullible do you think I am? What else could it mean? It was pretty clear: she
liked riding your cock,” I spat. The words tasted like battery acid coming off
my tongue. I regained my footing and pushed out of his arms. He stepped forward
and pulled my waist to him demonstrating his persistence. I knew I wouldn’t win
a battle of wills with him so I let it pass.
    “She
meant my surfboard. The new product my company launched—which is why I went to
Brazil. It’s called the Shuttlecock .” He articulated his words carefully
but assertively.
    What.
The. Fuck.
    The
room spun. “You’re lying,” I said uncertainly.
    “No.”
His voice softened and his eyes carried the tenderness they had earlier. “I’m
not lying. I’m sorry you saw that, but Ariel was just being flippant in that
text like she usually is. It’s her personality. You saw how she was when you
met her. I’m sure she had no idea you’d be seeing that message. Even she’s not
that much of a trouble-maker.”
    A wave
of embarrassment washed over me. I’d run out of the restaurant upset over a
misunderstanding. Realization that my actions must’ve seemed absolutely
childish to him made me pissed off. At him.
    “‘Shuttlecock?’
You have to be kidding me. That’s the stupidest name I’ve ever heard.”
    He
allowed himself a smile. “You thought ‘Pier Pleasure’ was pretty clever.”
    “That
at least makes sense. Shuttlecock makes no sense.”
    He took
a deep breath and sighed. “You’re right, it’s dumb. But it’s edgy and it’s
selling well. As you can see, people love making cock jokes.”
    I took
a step back and folded my arms across my chest. I eyed him sternly. “So you
didn’t have sex with Ariel?”
    “No.
God no. I haven’t even seen her since the time we ran into her on St. Lucia. I
told you we’re just friends and have been for years. I’d never cheat on you
Kristen. Now that would be stupid. Unbelievably stupid.”
    My arms
tightened. “I don’t know if I can believe you.”
    “It’s
true. There’s not much I can do to prove it so you’re just going to have to
trust me.”
    “I’ve
trusted you all this time. But now with the whole security team thing, you
going psycho,  Giselle, and everything else, I don’t know what to think.
What else are you hiding from me?”
    “Ask me
anything. I’ll tell you.”
    I
clenched my jaw. “But I don’t even know what to ask, Vincent. You can’t do
that—put the blame on me for not asking the right questions.”
    “No,
Kitten. That’s not how I meant it.”
    After
lying to me, he was still calling me Kitten? Give me a break. “Don’t call me
that. You’ve lost that privilege.”
    He
exhaled heavily and gestured to the living room. “Okay, let’s sit down on the
couch, cool off, and talk.”
    Because
my feet were getting tired, I begrudgingly obeyed. Once we were seated, I ran
through in my mind what I had just learned, deciding what to ask. There were so
many pieces missing that needed filling in. I decided to start with the first
question on my mind. “So what happened with Giselle?”
    He
shifted in his seat beside me. “She was in a relationship with someone she met
in college for two years. Jim. No one knew she was