Read Online Trust by J. C. Valentine - Free Book Online

you.”
    Grabbing her arms, Felix pushed her back to prevent her from leaving. His hands tore through his hair, setting it on end, and he squeezed his eyes shut, releasing a frustrated growl. “I wanted this to be a surprise. I still want it to be a surprise. I’m doing the best I can. Can you just trust me on this?”
    No . She wanted to, more than anything, but the door on that option closed the moment he brought another woman into their home. “That ship sailed already,” she told him regretfully. “You promised me that you would always be truthful with me, and you broke that promise.” Gathering the papers, she moved for the door and this time, Felix let her. “I can’t trust you anymore.”
    After that showdown, Poppy knew she wouldn’t last the rest of the day in the same office as Felix. She found Piper behind the desk in her offic e. The moment Piper looked up and caught sight of the expression on her face she jumped out of her chair and rounded the desk to embrace her. “Oh, sweetie, what’s wrong?”
    Poppy swallowed thickly and patted her back. She refused to shed any more tears, dammit. It was a wonder she had any left in the first place. “I need to leave early,” she told her, trying to avoid having to explain herself. She wasn’t ready for the whole world to know that her life was falling apart. She felt like an utter idiot, even if none of it was her fault.
    I’m so backwards. Felix is the one who should feel like an idiot, not me.
    Who ever said love was easy hadn’t accounted for when it went sour. The hardest part about it wasn’t giving it away. It was letting go.
    Poppy held out the stack of papers she had been working on. “Can you make sure these get back to Felix’s office for me?”
    Piper’s brows pinched together, her curiosity making her eyes shine, but she accepted the offering without question. “Sure, I’ll take them to him right after I finish putting together Tate’s schedule for next week.” She put a hand on Poppy’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”
    Poppy gave her a tight smile. “I’m okay.”
    Piper didn’t look convinced, but she nodded anyway. Poppy walked out of the office with her head held high. Even with her stomach in knots and her heart shredded, it was important to her that no one knew what a mess she was right now.
    That was hard to do when the first person she laid eyes on was Felix. He stood at Vera’s desk, speaking too low for her to hear his words, but she didn’t need to. When he looked up, his eyes grabbed hers and she could see the hurt visible in them. It was so raw, so plain that it gave her pause.
    What if she were wrong?
    But as she boarded the elevator, he wasn’t making any moves to stop her.
    ***
    Fucking hell, he’d screwed up everything. Every damn thing.
    Felix flexed his fingers. He needed to punch something. The frustration had been building all week. All he wanted to do was talk to her, tell her everything, make things right between them, but when he got the chance, he went and screwed it all up.
    Poppy asked him point blank what his excuse was, and he chose not to tell her. He wanted to, and when it came down to it, he had to try. It was important to him—all that time—to keep it a secret, so he had to give it one last try. If only she would have given him one more chance, he would have proven to her that he was worth waiting for. She could trust him.
    “Shit, who died?” Jon walked up and handed off a manila envelope to the receptionist. Felix chose not to answer him, but that didn’t deter Jon. Clasping his shoulder, he gave it a supportive squeeze. “You know what sucks about having a relationship with someone, especially when that someone is your friend? When you see a break in the track and you try to warn them, but they don’t listen. As much as you would like to, you can’t run their lives for them. Instead, you are forced to stand aside and watch as their train charges down the track, knowing it’s going to