Holden’s POV

    I honestly hadn’t known that they would be home. It was only four in the afternoon. I was just going to go check and see if her back door had been left unlocked. I wanted to see the inside of her home. How it was decorated, what she liked. I was going to take some pictures of her interior, that was all. Not only was the door locked, but that bastard had herid out across the ind in the kitchen. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I never thought that I would get caught, let alone see them together like that.

    I hated seeing how she responded to him. I always thought Ana would be stiff in bed. That she would be a properdy in the bedroom, just waiting for it to be over with. I hadn’t even considered the possibility of her being so responsive to her lover. I couldn’t have been more wrong about my assumptions. I could tell that they cared for each other. I could see it from here, and it caused my heart to ache.

    Her legs were wrapped around him, and they were so into each other that they never even noticed me standing there watching this y out. I wanted to rip the door off its hinges and force him to stop. Ana was never supposed to be his. He had no right to touch her like that at all, but Ana clearly had other ideas about that. I felt sick when I realized he wasn’t using protection. I knew what he was doing. He wanted to get her pregnant, so they would be bound together forever.

    She might have married him, but there was no way in hell I was going to allow her to bear his child. I wanted to pound on the door, to make them stop, but I didn’t want them to know I was here. Ana is already furious with me; I didn’t want to piss her off even further. I wished I had been able to turn around and leave, but I couldn’t look away. Now I know exactly how she felt when she caught me and Gretchen together. I felt a range of emotions at this moment, primarily rage, frustration, and pain.

    Rage at the fact that she was supposed to be with me. Ana was always meant to be mine. She was only supposed to want me, not him. So I got why she still had so much pain from my actions. She cared for me so much, and I ended up hurting her so badly. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t intentional. What mattered was that someone else was pounding into my woman like she belonged to him.

    I couldn’t look away, even though seeing them together hurt me terribly. I finally understood what Ana had been telling me in the hospital, as I wish I could make them stop. I heard her cry out. She looked beautiful as she climaxed. She went over hard, and that made me want to kill him for taking what was always meant to be mine. He went over soon after. The jerk then bent over her, as her o****m slowed, and her legs stopped shaking. I knew they would see me, and I turned to leave. I never meant to knock that table over, but it was toote now. I had to get the hell out of here.

    As I went to slip through the gate, I turned back towards them. I was hoping against hope that they were so caught up in each other that they hadn’t heard the table fall. I was about two hundred feet away from them now, but when I turned to look, they were both staring back at me. I locked my gate back and headed quickly inside.

    I should have known he would notice that stupid table fall. He was her bodyguard, of course, he would be alert to the noise I made. I headed up the stairs to my bedroom. I needed to see the aftermath as I looked through my blinds. He had helped her down and was kissing the top of her head. He acted like he loved her but that just isn’t possible. It took me years to decide that what I felt for Ana wasn’t an affection for a sister, but much more than that.

    I had fought against it for so long. All because I didn’t like my parents, or hers, trying to force me into marrying her. I hade back to stop her from marrying Roger. I had already been trying to figure out a way to stop their wedding when it dropped into myp. I had recognized him from the engagement announcement. I hadn’t known what I was about to capture at the time, but I was thrilled that they were done. I was hesitant to swoop in to be the hero. But Seth talked me into it. Everything was working out perfectly, until it wasn’t.

    I had always thought that Ana was just upset about something small. Some slight that we had identally done to make her angry with us. We hadn’t given it much thought. She had always deferred to Seth and me over the years. We both thought that all we had to do was cate her, and everything would go back to normal.

    Seth was furious with me once we learned why she was so pissed off. I have been trying to make amends, but Ana keeps shooting down all my efforts. She refused to talk it out. It wasn’t fair that she just wrote me off like that. She needed to hear my side of it. But even I knew that my side of it wasn’t really a defense for my actions.

    I knew it, and so did she. I can still see them together. Would I remember what I just saw forever? That has to be why she was so furious with me. Because she couldn’t get that image out of her head. I get it now. I get why she had been so angry with me. I knew that he wasn’t going to give my actions a pass. He’s already had me arrested. I’m certain that he is going toe after me. I need to be prepared.

    My corporate attorney suggested a personal attorney to me. I’m not going to be going back to jail again. Her husband is much smarter than I gave him credit for. When my sister told me who he was, I was furious. He could have just said that at the beginning. Then I would have known who I was actually dealing with. He wasn’t broke, and I had to tread more carefully because of it. He was ending his call, and I wouldn’t put it past him to be calling the police.

    I was trying to figure out if I needed to stay home or go to my penthouse when he waved at me. As if he already knew I was watching him. I snapped the blinds closed and headed downstairs to grab my keys. I’m not going to stay here. I already knew that he wasn’t scared to engage with me. He’s probably still smirking at me, threatening to buy hispany and fire him. I hated that the most. I hated that he knew who I was, but I hadpletely underestimated him.

    He wasn’t any better than me, in any way. In fact, we were pretty much equal in wealth. He just didn’t unt it like I did. I needed a release, and I needed a drink. I headed to the restaurant located in the lobby of the building where I used to live. Thankfully, I still have clothes here as well. I needed to drink, and maybe find a willing woman to help ease this ache. It’s been less than a month and a half since I had s*x, but this is the longest dry spell I’ve had since I was sixteen.

    I wished that I’d seen more of Ana, but she had been basically covered. It was clear that they had barely made it inside their house before they couldn’t hold back any longer. I scoffed and motioned for another drink. I had downed the first one, as if it were water.

    “You’re going to need to slow down, buddy. Maybe get some food in you,” the bartender advised.

    I ced a food order, just to get him to shut up. I didn’t need his judgmental gaze on me. He passed me the second drink, and this time I sipped it. I just wanted to numb the pain.

    “I’m surprised to see you here,” my sister’s voice came from behind me.

    “What are you doing here?” I asked. Surprised that she had managed to get away from our parents. They had taken her car keys away. She was trapped at the house, so someone must havee to get her. I see Gretchen walking up, and groan. Of everyone in the city, they were thest two people I wanted to see.

    “Easy, big guy, we were just checking on you. You seem upset,” Gretchen cooed at me.

    “Don’t touch me, Gretchen. This was all your fault. You and Tiffany wanted to be with us so badly that you were both willing to hurt an innocent person. What is wrong with you? Why would you do that?” I asked. I honestly wanted to know.

    “Stop whining, you didn’t want her, Holden. If you did, you wouldn’t have had s*x with me. You knew she wasing over; we all did. You know how excited she always got. If we knew that she wasing early, you should’ve known too. She was like a golden retriever around you. So stop trying to me this on us. She wasn’t good enough for you. Her taking off like that after your foot slipped showed that she wasn’t strong enough to be with you,” Gretchen answered.

    “Look, Holden, you slept around a lot. She wasn’t going to allow that to happen once you got married. She’s a good girl. Your marriage would have just ended in divorce. Our families would have been torn apart if that had happened. I did what needed to be done. Seth would have been the only one standing by your side, as he was doing the same thing you were. We both know that Reid Caldwell would have ruined us. So, I took one for the team,” Tiffany said with a shrug.

    “Is that your ‘official‘ statement. Because you told me that she was fat and didn’t fit in before. So you’re trying to act diplomatic, and throw me under the bus, instead of Ana now, right?” I asked.

    “My attorney needed the narrative to change. That’s what we came up with. He assured me that the earlier charges would be thrown out of court. But just in case, I wanted a night out, as I need to rx. I was hoping that you could let us hang out at your ce tonight. I no longer have my credit card. Daddy won’t give it back, “Tiffany said with a pout.

    I looked behind them and saw two men sitting at a table looking over at us. “No, you can’t use my home to have s*x. Go get a motel room. I’m not going to be a part of whatever this is,” I replied before throwing a hundred on the bar. “You can have the meal. I’m no longer hungry.”

    “Are youing to court tomorrow. I need support.” Tiffany called over as I headed to the exit.

    “If I do, it won’t be for you,” I replied over my shoulder, as I continued to walk away.