Auctioned Mates Revenge
Chapter 51

Stupid. Crazy. Strange. Horrible. I'd been trying to get my body to agree with these thoughts, for a few minutes since Grace knocked, but I was having no luck.

I didn't like s*x, yet I was having a sexy dream? The water pouring over my head was warm and doing nothing to calm me down. I wished it was nausea. I was familiar with that. I understood being nauseous after the mention of anything s****l, but it wasn't. The hot, uncomfortable need was still there. The dream and the ride back to the hotel from the party were still running through my mind. Anger was bubbling up as I scrubbed myself clean from the night before and the sticky remnants of the dream.

Alyssa was quiet for a change.

Nothing to say? I growled, my frustration turning my mood angry. I'm surprised.

I don't need to tell you what you already know.

I huffed and threw the washcloth to the floor of the shower and turned the shower off. I toweled off roughly before getting dressed in some loungewear and exiting my room. Matt's laughter drifted down the hall and I froze in place before marching towards the kitchen.

I expected to replace him in the kitchen with Grace, but she was alone, humming softly as steam billowed around her. She seemed happy as she cooked, flipping pancakes. Matt was outside on the balcony. His voice was muffled as he closed the door behind him. He was on the phone with someone. I wondered who it was, but the sight of Grace and Matt so far apart eased something in me.

I cursed myself. It was stupid.

"Morning, Grace."

She smiled, "Sorry if I woke you up. I thought you'd want breakfast."

I crossed the room, "I'll get the plates."

"Thanks."

I pulled a set of three plates from the cabinet.

"Renda," Grace started. I looked at her and found her not looking at me. "I don't want there to be any misunderstandings between us."

My heart clenched, bracing for what she would say.

"Mr. Wallber seems like a good man, but I have no intention of getting between you two," Grace said, she turned to look over her shoulder. "Last night was, well, a means to an end. You can trust him when he says that was all. No matter what it looked like." I looked away from her, my shoulders slumping. I knew she wasn't lying. I had been there after all.

"It's not... That's not..."

Grace set the pan aside and turned to me, looking at me.

"This... plot against Midnight and beyond isn't going to work if we can't be honest with each other." Grace met my gaze. "If you think this will be the hardest part, you're wrong."

I frowned, "What do you mean?"

Grace smiled, her eyes softening, "You and Mr. Wallber haven't slept together."

I froze, swallowing but not saying anything.

"He's being gentle with you," Grace said, "Which is good. It's great. It's obvious he cares about you."

I looked out the window to where he was standing on the balcony. Matt cared about me? He did buy me, so I supposed he did, but Grace's tone makes it seem like more than that. She knew something, but she didn't linger on the point. "Aside from that, Mr. Wallber has a reputation, a finely crafted one we need to talk about."

"What do you mean?"

"You actually think he's slept with all the women he's been reported to have slept with?"

I had been wondering about it. I knew that was probably not the case.

"What are your thoughts?"

Grace shrugged, "Well, that's what we have to ask him."

My eyes widened, "What do you mean?"

"We all have to trust each other. We all have to be on the same page for this to work. Word will spread from Midnight out about us at the casino party. If everything goes to plan, there's going to be a lot of speculation about Matt and that armor he's made out of his s*x life is going to need to be strengthened."

She looked down, "It's... understandable if you aren't comfortable with doing things like that with him, especially not to be caught. I'm just saying that we need a plan going forward because it's going to be a problem if all of a sudden, the Warhammer playboy isn't appearing on the tabloid often."

Grace turned back to the stove as Matt came in. His eyes were bright as he looked at me.

"Renda, good morning. I'm glad you're up."

"Hi..." I said a little dazed.

I had expected, of course, to have to sleep with Matt, but I had never thought about it as part of this plot to gain my revenge in the way that Grace made it seem like it was.

I had never imagined that Matt would want to help me. As his mistress, I would have to sleep with him, but she made it seem like it was more complicated than that. Thinking about it, she wasn't wrong. The women at his party had already been skeptical. Sure, I had covered for Matt then, but that was just their doubts.

What would I have to do? What good would it do?

Matt settled at the bar with a frown, "Renda, are you okay?"

I swallowed and nodded, grabbing the glasses and silverware as Grace shuffled the stack of pancakes onto the plates and passed them. Matt got up to grab juice and coffee, then we sat at the bar and started eating. I was seated in the middle with Matt closest to the hallway that led to the door. It was odd the way we passed the syrup and thanked Grace. It was nice and oddly cozy, but the meal gave me time to sort through my thoughts.

Grace was right.

Whatever Matt was doing to his image would affect how well my cover worked and how easy it would be to carry out plans in the future.

"I think we should go out today," Matt said, swirling his orange juice like it was wine. "Mordecai went home soon after we did and hasn't been seen since. I can only imagine that last night got to him."

Grace worried her lip and she glanced at me meaningfully. My eyes widened as I realized that she was deferring to me, urging me to broach the subject.

Luna, Alyssa said almost gleefully. She recognizes us as luna.

My face heated. If either of us should be luna, it should be someone with more experience. I felt like I was flailing around making plans and praying that they worked out. Why would she want me to take lead on this? It's obvious he cares about you.

Her words made me sit up a bit taller and slowly I turned to look at Matt.

"Matt."

He lowered his fork and met my gaze, giving me his full attention. My heart fluttered a bit and Alyssa preened in the back of my mind.

"We... need to talk about your... reputation."

His lips twitched, "What about it?"

"You weren't sleeping with all of those women."

"No."

"Why?"

Grace snickered and Matt grinned, his eyes twinkling, "Why wasn't I sleeping with them?"

"No, why are you making people think that you are?" I looked away, "Or... were."

Matt said nothing for a long time. I was beginning to wonder if I had asked something I shouldn't have. When I looked back at him, his eyes were focused on me. He seemed upset for some reason, but it didn't feel as though he was upset with me. "That... is a complicated question to answer," Matt said. "But the simplest answer is spite."

I frowned, "Spite?"

"Ben knows exactly why I hate him," he said, "No one else needs to."

I turned those words over in my mind. They seemed heavy, filled with more meaning than I could parse out right now. He glanced at me and his eyes narrowed as if a thought that made him furious crossed his mind.

It eased as he turned back to his pancakes, "Why do you ask, Renda? Nervous that they'll come back?"

Alyssa growled and I scowled at him.

"No, that's not the point... Grace brought up a good point when we were talking earlier."

I looked at Grace who seemed stunned that I would mention it. She looked a little nervous, glancing between me and Matt.

"What point?"

She swallowed and stared at me, but I said nothing. It was her point, she deserved to explain it, and I wasn't sure if I could explain it clearly either. She cleared her throat.

"I... just said that we should all be on the same page if this is going to work out."

Matt hummed, "I agree."

She glanced at me her eyes seemed to be asking me something, but I didn't know what it was.

"About what exactly the goal is... aside from Renda's revenge."

He chuckled, "Most immediately? Destroy Midnight."