TRAP (The Billionaire's Rules, Book 15) Read Free

crying, sobbing, clearly distraught.
    Now, she sighed, nodding. “Something bad happened.”
    Cullen came back and handed her the glass of water. “I should go and let you two talk. Give you some privacy.”
    Ivy hesitated, turning to him. “But if this involves your friend—“
    “Brayden’s not my friend, just a guy I know,” Cullen said. “And from what I’ve been hearing lately about him, maybe I should take him out of my contact list.”
    “It’s not all his fault,” Lanie explained, holding the glass of cold water tightly. “I made some mistakes. Big mistakes.” She shook her head, thinking about how all of her decisions had just piled up, one after the other.
    Cullen frowned, his expression tightening. “If he did something to you…”
    “No, it wasn’t like that,” Lanie said. But then she wondered why she was defending him after the things he’d said to her the last time they’d spoken. Maybe it was like that.
    Maybe he had done something to her. She felt so messed up and confused.
    She didn’t know anything anymore.
    “Tell me what happened,” Ivy said, turning toward her. “Tell me everything. Believe me, with that I’ve been through—I could never judge you.”
    “Okay,” Lanie said. She closed her eyes, dreading the embarrassment and shame of spilling the truth about the last few days. Her stomach was like a twisting ball of lead, rolling, eating up her insides.
    But she needed to get it all out there, and so she began to speak.
    Once she’d started telling the truth, it was like an avalanche that couldn’t be stopped. Getting it out was cathartic, and she could feel the ball in her stomach growing lighter as she released the truth and got the secrets out into the open.
    She told them everything, minus the gory details of the hot sex—but enough for them to know that her relationship with Brayden had been sexual in nature. And then she explained what had happened with the hackers and how Brayden had treated her so rudely when she’d gone to make sure he was okay.
    Finally, she ended by telling them about the conversation she’d had with Frida and how Brayden had forwarded the incriminating voice memo to her and now would not return her calls.
    When it was all said and the embarrassing truth had finally been told, Lanie sighed and blinked, as if able to really see for the first time. She took a long drink of water and then put the glass down on a nearby coaster.
    Ivy stroked her cheek. “Oh, honey. You’ve had it rough, haven’t you?”
    The kindness made tears leak down her cheeks, and she bit her lip and nodded. “Yeah,” she whispered. “I guess so.”
    “That stupid fuck,” Cullen muttered, pacing the length of the room.
    “Honey,” Ivy said, turning to him. “Please, we need to stay calm.”
    “Calm?” Cullen said, his jaw twitching as he stood there. “This is me being calm.” His fists clenched. “To think I sent your cousin—a member of our new family—to that goddamn wolf, so he could try and get his grubby paws on her…”
    Lanie was going to tell him that Brayden wasn’t all that bad as she’d made him sound, but then there was a steady pounding on the front door that made her jump and give a startled yell.
    Ivy startled as well. “Shit!” she said, her eyes wide. “Who’s that?”
    Cullen muttered something unintelligible and then peered out the window near the door. When he saw who it was, his entire body grew rigid. “Oh, this is perfect. Fucking perfect,” he said, and then before anyone could stop him—Cullen threw the front door open.
    Brayden Forman was standing on the front steps of the house.
    Lanie gasped. How had he found her here?
    For a moment, her heart leapt happily, hoping that he was here to apologize and make things right.
    But then she saw the look on Brayden’s face as he stared at Cullen. “You fucking set me up, asshole,” Brayden said.
    “What the hell did you just say to me?” Cullen asked.
    Ivy stood up. “Close