Complicated Read Online Free PDF

nothing
ambiguous about it.”
    Greg’s mouth twisted, and he pushed a hand
through his dark hair in obvious frustration. “She was upset. It’s not personal.”
    “It felt personal to me,” Victoria snapped.
“I’m the one who’s fucking her dad!”
    She couldn’t read Greg’s expression. He
stared at her, something tense and reluctant in his eyes.
    He looked so handsome and affluent and
mature—nothing like the boys she used to date—and she had a horrible suspicion
about what he was going to say to her now.
    She didn’t want to hear it, didn’t want to
hear him tell her they had to end their affair because his daughter couldn’t
accept it.
    But she also didn’t want the heavy weight in
her stomach, the sign that sex with Greg had brought more than pleasure and
excitement after all.
    With a choked sound in her throat, she
turned on her heel and moved into the main room of her apartment. She headed
over to her desk and pretended to sort a pile of books, although she couldn’t
even read the titles printed on their spines.
    Her eyes burned and her throat ached. And
she didn’t understand how her casual fling had turned into this mess in less
than two hours.
    “Victoria,” Greg said, following her into
the room and standing behind her when she didn’t turn around. “Let’s at least
talk about it.”
    “What’s to talk about?” Her voice was shriller
than she’d intended, and it only got shriller as she added, “I didn’t even know
you had a daughter.”
    She’d probably heard he had a daughter—years
ago when the name Greg Stone meant nothing to her—but she’d never made the
connection in the last three months. If he was vigilant about his own privacy,
he must have been even more vigilant about his daughter’s.
    “I wasn’t hiding her from you,” he said
softly. “I keep her out of the press on purpose, and we just never talked about
that kind of thing.”
    “I know.” Swallowing hard, she controlled
her expression and turned around. “I’m not blaming you or anything. It was just
really upsetting. I’m the kind of person who always avoids confrontation.  She…she hated me. I’ve always been a normal, harmless person. I’m not used to
people hating me.”
    She’d always been quiet, smart, and a little
aloof. But mostly harmless—keeping her opinions to herself. She didn’t like conflict,
and meeting Greg’s daughter had totally thrown her off-balance.
    “She doesn’t hate you,” Greg insisted,
holding her by the shoulders. “I’m serious. She’s upset. She found out on her
own and thinks I’ve been hiding it from her. I guess I have. But how exactly
was I supposed to tell her…” His voice trailed off, and he shook his head.
“She’s angrier with me than with you. Ever since her mom died, I’m all she’s
had.”
    “How did she even find out?” She’d assumed Greg
wouldn’t have told his daughter intentionally.
    You didn’t tell your daughter that you were
having meaningless sex with a woman twelve years younger than you.
    “I guess she has a friend who works the
front desk at the hotel.” Greg closed his eyes and tugged at his hair. “Last
night.”
    “Oh.”
    “It will take her a little time to adjust.
But I’ve talked to her, and I’ll talk to her again. She’s not a child anymore,
and she has to know I’ve not lived like a monk since her mom died.”
    Victoria groaned in mortification and turned
around again to face the pile of books on her desk.
    She could imagine very vividly how Greg’s
daughter must feel. What she must think of Victoria. How she must resent her.
Victoria would have felt the same if she’d been in the girl’s situation.
    Victoria couldn’t believe she’d turned into
this woman.
    “I’m not going to come in between you and
your daughter,” she said, her voice oddly hoarse.
    “You won’t. We would have needed to work
this out anyway—no matter who I happened to be with.” He took a step forward
until he was pressed