Orlando (Blackmail #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

on his face.
    “What do you want, Orlando?” I speak my words soft as a whisper.
    His empty hand lifts and pushes against the door. I stumble backwards, losing my grip on the frame.
    “We’re going to figure this out,” he says as he stalks past me.
    Figure what out? He’s freaking still married, for god’s sake. I kick at the door to shut it. I’m not an angry person. I hate what anger makes a person say and do. It is one emotion the world could use less of, and here I am experiencing the one thing I hate to freaking feel.
    “Orlando, you need to go,” I say as I turn towards him.
    He drops his shoes to the floor, and his green eyes glare at me as I move towards my chair. It looks like I’m not the only one feeling a little anger right now.
    “You haven’t spoken a word to me, not even when I was directing. What’s going on with you?” He follows my lead and sits in the other chair.
    Should I tell him the truth? Should I admit everything, from past to present? Falling in love with your best friend is never something I would suggest doing. In fact, I would go above and beyond to advise others not to follow my lead. It is tragic to your heart.
    “I don’t know what you want me to say,” I say as I get comfortable in my chair. Well, as comfortable as a person can get, when her body is itching to be near the person sitting close to her. My anger dissipates by the second. Talk about mind altering. A man should never be able to control a woman’s emotions like this.
    “You can start by telling me the damn truth. Tell me what the hell is wrong. Friday, you’re not one to hide what you’re thinking.”
    I want it noted that a person should never know another person this well. People are allowed their secrets, the things they don’t want to share, their thoughts.
    “What do you want to hear? Huh,” I say, growing frustrated. This is something I’m not used to, as well. I’m a simple person. “You want to hear that I’ve been in love with you since we were kids? You want to hear that I hate how you married someone else? You want to hear how your divorce saddens me, but makes me happy at the same time? You want to hear how I can’t stand being near you and not touch you,” I cry out, as my fingers dig into the arms of my chair.
    Orlando says nothing. His face is blank. He crosses and uncrosses his legs as he searches for something to say. My heart pounds against my chest cavity as I wait for him to respond. I don’t know what I want him to say back to me. In all honesty, I’m confused myself.
    “Bucket,” he whispers as he slides from the chair onto his knees in front of me. His head lowers to my lap, his arms reach behind me, and he hugs me close. The sound of my nickname, coming out in a whisper from his lips, breaks me, and tears stream down my face. His grip tightens as he looks back up at me with his own watery eyes and croaks, “I don’t understand why you never told me any of this.”
    Sure, I want to make a fool of myself by getting rejected because he fell in love with someone else. I would never break up any relationship. My morals, on top of Orlando’s morals, are good reasons why I kept my mouth shut. Orlando may be one of the hottest men alive, but he is very conservative when it comes to relationships. He is as strict in his beliefs, as I am in mine.
    “We never acted on our attraction. We moved to California to pursue careers, and next thing you know, you’re dating Neri, and then, a few years later, you were married. I don’t know what else you want me to say,” I respond, my words cracked by my dry, itchy throat.
    Orlando stretches upward, his knees holding him as he looks straight in my eyes, without his arms loosening their hold on me.
    “I knew there was an attraction. I knew there was love. But what I didn’t know was that you were in love with me, Friday,” he mumbles as his lips brush against mine. “I didn’t know, I swear, I didn’t.”
    My eyes slam shut as my