As we headed back up to my office, the lunch I’d ordered arrived. Ten minutes after that stupid ass encounter with Eli, Lena and I sat side by side on my office couch with our lunch spread on the low-sitting table. In all that time, Lena hadn’t uttered another word.
I paused and looked at her. “Say it.”
“What was that all about?” she demanded, folding her arms over her chest.
Sitting back, I crossed my ankle over my knee and rested my arms across the back of the couch.
“I assume you’re referring to what happened downstairs with Eli?”
“You think?” Her eyes bulged. “Why did you attack him like that?”
“It was hardly an attack.” If I had really attacked him, he would’ve been a hell of a lot bloodier and more bruised. “His ego’s more damaged than anything.”
“He’s your client, isn’t he? You don’t go around beating up your athletes,” she said.
“Not until today.”
“How are you so calm?” She stood and began pacing in front of my desk. “Minutes ago, you were so angry.”
“Was?” I stood as well. “I’m still pissed and considering going back down and beating his ass for disrespecting you. I’m showing restraint right now.”
She shook her head. “Why?”
“Because,” I said with no follow up. Hell, I didn’t understand it all myself. One second I heard Eli’s laughter as he peered down at Lena, and I knew she felt embarrassed. The next breath, I had my hand wrapped around his throat.
“He doesn’t get away with embarrassing you. Not in my presence. No one does. I don’t give a shit who they are or what they are to me.”
Her lips fell open, but nothing came out. After a minute, she shook her head.
“Y-You shouldn’t let me get in the way of your business,” she said before retaking her seat.
I watched as she kept her eyes on the table in front of her. She plated some rice and curry chicken and took a spring roll before halfheartedly eating.
“Are you still hiding from the world?” I asked.
She stilled but didn’t look at me. “No, not quite.”
I waited for her to speak.
She snorted. “I still don’t know who put that video online.” That’s when she turned to me. “I assume it was one of the women I was with that night.”
“Your so-called friends.”
A humorless laugh escaped her lips. “I wouldn’t even give them that much credit. I barely knew them.”
“Then why were you with them?”
“Who knows?” She sat her plate down and blew out a breath before rubbing her hands up and down the lengths of her thighs as she stood up. “My ex introduced me to them. I only knew them for a few months. That night, I was pissed at him over something. I don’t even remember anymore.”
There was a far off look in her eyes as if she were reliving that night.
“We went out, had a few drinks. Then I got a text. It was of him in bed with another woman. That was what set me off.” She paused and finally looked directly at me. “That wasn’t the first time I’d received a video like that in all the years we were together. Do you want to know the whole truth?”
“I wouldn’t want you to lie to me.”
She smirked. “At first, I thought it was the video that set me off. That was just the final straw. It was the years of being jerked around by him. The fights, the backhanded compliments, and little put downs whenever something good for me happened. He said he did it so I wouldn’t get a big head.”
She stopped and shook her head. “That’s not all on him. It was me, too. I kept going back. I would argue with him for hours at a time. I would team up with my supposed friends and hunt down the girl he would cheat on me with. I’d made demands of the venues I performed in because he wanted it. He always had to have the most expensive champagne in my waiting room. I don’t even fucking like champagne.
