The hints of sunlight peeking through the curtains woke Remy up. Yawning, Remy stretched his arms, surprised by the softness of the sheets and comforter he lay on. Not his own bed. The thought troubled Remy. Remy rubbed at his eyes, before abruptly sitting up. It took Remy a second to realize he had spent the night in Ethan’s apartment.
“Oh my God,” he whispered.
The events of last night came back to Remy in vivid color. Panicking, Remy glanced at the bed. Ethan wasn’t there, but it looked like he brought in Remy’s bag and the clothes Remy worn the night before. Ethan had laid it all out neatly for Remy, like a subtle message telling Remy to leave.
Remy reached for his satchel, and began searching for his cell phone. The time on his screen read ten minutes past noon. Had Remy slept that long, and why hadn’t Ethan woke him up?
Remy scrolled through the missed calls and text messages from Trish. Trish must be worried to death Remy hadn’t come home last night, and they were supposed to have breakfast together. Guilt rammed into Remy. Last night, Remy felt like being swept inside an uncontrollable whirlwind and he didn’t even think of Trish. What would he say to his best friend?
That in the span of one evening, Remy had comprised his morals and the job Trish helped him get, to become one of those men and women they often made fun of? The girls and guys on the sidewalks wearing the rumpled clothes they wore the night before, doing the Saturday morning walk of shame?
Remy quickly dressed. Hearing the arguing voices outside, Remy froze. Ethan’s voice clashed with a shrill and high-pitched voice that belonged to another woman.
“You should call ahead if you intended to pick Miriam up from the Hills’ home,” said Ethan’s uncommonly cold and merciless voice.
“May I remind you that I’m Miriam’s mother. Your wife and your mate, Ethan? Do shifter customs mean nothing to you? Is this what Miriam comes home to? To her useless and unreliable father, and his rent boy of the night?”
Remy’s stomach dropped at that. His hands grew calmly. Wife? That couldn’t be. Ethan was divorced.
Ethan no longer wore his ring, hadn’t he? Jesus. Remy realized in all the conversations he had with Ethan over the weeks, he’d never really bother to ask. What little he knew of Ethan’s recent wife made him nervous. Lindsay O’Connell wasn’t just Miriam’s mother. She also belonged to one of the city’s oldest and wealthiest shifter families.
Granted, Remy didn’t know much about the paranormal community, but he did know shifters took marriage and mating seriously.
In fact, he simply assumed Ethan was available and single. Remy forced himself to quickly dress, wishing to be out of the apartment as soon as possible. More importantly, was Miriam out there, stuck in the middle of her parents’ fighting match? What would the little girl think if she saw Remy emerge from her father’s room, looking disheveled and well-fucked?
“I’m a stupid bastard who doesn’t know any better,” Remy muttered angrily under his breath. “Of course a perfect guy doesn’t exist.”
Ethan and his wife continued arguing outside. “Remy isn’t a rent boy. If I catch you coming here without any warning, a restraining order is the last thing you should be worried about. My wolf doesn’t like you, Lindsay. It wouldn’t hesitate to tear you apart.”
“You wouldn’t. I’m your wife. The divorce papers aren’t final,” the woman sputtered.
If Remy had held onto any tiny hope he misunderstood the situation, hearing those words were the final blow that yanked him back to reality. Remy had just committed one of the worse things he swore he’d never do. Sleeping with a married man—worse, he hadn’t slept with any random guy. Ethan Drake cheated on his wife with his daughter’s tutor.
Considering Lindsay O’Connell was a well-known figure in both affluent human and supernatural circles, she wouldn’t let things stand as they were. She would want compensation. Vengeance. All Remy wanted to do was curl into a ball in the corner and never show his face to the world again.
Tears prickled at the corner of his eyes, but Remy hastily wiped them away. Screw this. He wouldn’t go down with a fight. The next few minutes felt like an eternity, but Remy had to come out of the room sooner or later. Taking a deep breath, Remy clutched at his belongings, exited the bedroom, and walked out into the living room to stare down two very pissed off shifters.
The End