Damon had disappeared into the oversize bathroom, and now she heard water running. “I’m getting naked,” he yelled out to her. “Don’t keep me waiting.”

She called back, “I’ll be right there, baby—just want to check my messages first.” Because the moment they’d walked in, she’d seen her cell phone blinking. And it had reminded her of…everything.

The horrible lie, the threat to Damon’s job.

And she wasn’t sure exactly what she was going to do, but she wasn’t going to let anything ruin this, what the two of them had. She was going to work this out somehow. She was going to convince Jenkins that no matter what Claire Starr did, Damon was too valuable to let go. And she would figure out a way to tell Damon the truth.

Standing in the bedroom, listening to the tub filling and anxious to get to her man, she quickly retrieved the missed call.

“Hey, girlfriend, it’s just me.” Kelly. What a relief! No Jenkins. “I just called to see how your big week with Damon Andros went, but I guess you’re not back yet—I wasn’t sure exactly when you were coming home. Anyway, I can’t wait to hear all about it, and I hope I find out you came to your senses and fucked that man’s brains out.”

Brenna flipped the phone shut, smiling to herself and rolling her eyes. Kelly was going to be thrilled. Not that Brenna was going to tell her everything. Some things were so private that she could share them only with Damon. But still, her friend was going to be very pleased to hear how things had worked out.

“I’m waiting,” Damon called playfully from the bathroom.

“On my way,” she replied, starting toward him—when her cell phone rang, still in her hand. “In a minute,” she added. “Let me grab this call and I’ll be right there—promise.” Then she flipped the phone back open and put it to her ear. “Hello?”

“Hello, Brenna.”

Shit. This time it was Jenkins.

Her heart pounded as she walked briskly out through the dining area, across the living room to the windows that looked out on the Las Vegas lights. “Hi,” she said, sounding terse.

“I know it’s late, but I just got some news I thought would interest you.”

Oh God. “What?”

“Claire Starr is going to file suit first thing tomorrow morning. Which means Damon’s out. As soon as he gets back here tomorrow, I’m going to call him into the office and give him the bad news. So I hope you learned the ropes this week.”

Brenna let out a sigh. She’d really hoped to broach this in the office, without having the Claire Starr thing feeling like the definite threat it did now, but…well, she’d just take a different approach. She’d get into the heart of the matter—Damon being indispensable—later, but for now, she’d just speak in terms Jenkins could understand without a longwinded discussion. “Listen, I’ve learned a lot, but not enough yet. So I think it would be unwise to fire Damon right now. I’m coming home tomorrow, too, so before you call him, please wait. I’ll come straight to the office and we’ll talk about this, okay?”

“No,” he said. That simple.

“What?”

“Brenna, I understand your trepidation about having the job dropped in your lap this quickly, but I just can’t have Damon associated with Blue Night any longer. We’re being sued because of him. Firing him is the only way to send a clear message that Blue Night doesn’t turn a blind eye to sexual blackmail. So repeat after me: Damon is fired, and I’m taking his place.”

Brenna let out an exasperated sigh. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Damon is fired, and I’m taking his place. I’ve been in on the plan from the beginning, remember? But I still—”

“No buts, Brenna. It’s late and I’m tired, and I’m gonna have a media circus to deal with tomorrow. So we’ll talk when you get back. After Damon’s been let go. Good night.”

The line went dead. And Brenna flipped the phone shut, still peering out on the neon display twenty floors below.

And it was just when she realized that the water had stopped running at some point that she turned—to find Damon standing naked behind her.

But instead of focusing on his nudity, her attention was drawn to his eyes—which told her he’d just heard her terrible secret. Her horrendous betrayal. Because she’d been stupid enough to actually talk with Jenkins about this while Damon was in the next room.

“Oh God,” she said, her body deflating as she stepped instinctively toward him. “Damon, this wasn’t my idea, I swear.” She shook her head. “And I didn’t want to do things this way. At all. You have to believe me.”

“No,” he said quietly, anger blazing from his eyes. “I don’t.”

She suddenly felt as if she couldn’t breathe. “I promise you, I didn’t want to take your job, and I was planning—I’m still planning—to go to Jenkins tomorrow and tell him firing you would be a terrible mistake.”

“Be quiet, Brenna,” he said, sounding too calm, only his eyes relaying his emotions, “and leave.”

She drew in her breath. This couldn’t be happening. “Damon, please. Let me explain. Let me make you understand.”

“You can’t.” He pointed toward the door of the suite, his voice turning harsher. “Now get the fuck out of my room.”

Brenna’s heart physically hurt—her eyes, too, as tears began rolling down her cheeks. She reached out to touch him, but he pulled away. “Please, Damon,” she begged. “Please. Give me a chance.”

“I already did. And you used it to steal my fucking job, to fucking lie to me.” He shook his head. “You had me fooled, that’s for damn sure. Here I thought you were so sweet, so…so fucking genuine.” He laughed without mirth at what he probably thought was irony.

She held her hands out in front of her, helpless, beseeching. “Everything was real. Everything between us. I swear, Damon.”

But again, he just pointed to the door. “I don’t need any more lying, deceitful bitches in my life, Brenna. Get out. I mean it. I don’t want to hear another word from your lying mouth.”

Brenna didn’t know what to do. She feared her chest would burst. Her eyes ached, her nose was running from crying, and her legs had grown weak. And Damon wouldn’t listen to reason, wouldn’t even let her try to make him understand.

“Now!” he yelled, making her flinch.

So, like a frightened puppy with its tail between its legs, she scurried toward the foyer, picking up her purse on the way, stopping only to look back at him when she’d reached the double doors.

“Get out,” he said one more time, low, menacing, as if he couldn’t believe she was still there, still trying to hang on to him.

She had no choice but to open the door and walk out, letting it shut behind her. Leaving behind the man she loved, the man who, miraculously, had loved her, too—until he’d found out about her lie.

She’d known from the start that this was a bad idea. But she couldn’t have imagined how much she’d have to lose when it was over. And she felt as if she’d just lost…everything.