Free The End of Tomorrow by Tara Brown Page B

like I had run off with Servario again. Which sounded exactly like something I would have done. I grabbed my phone, turning it on and sighing when I saw a text from a random number. I opened the message, losing my breath and ability to stand.
    Sorry you feel that way. You know how I feel. How I will always feel.
    I scrolled up, looking at the text I had apparently sent from Belgium. It didn't feel like something I would have sent, but the wording was perfect, exactly, for what I had been thinking all along.
    Servario, I am done with this. I am done with us. You are the wrong choice, the selfish one. I want to be with you, but as a mother I have to pick my kids. I am so sorry but from this moment on, we will be work only.
    Every single word stung as a small whimper slipped from my lips. I deleted the conversation, frightened the two messages would be seen by Coop. Something had happened in Dubai or Belgium. Something that had made me make the decision I was already planning on making but feared I wouldn't. From the moment I took the STI test, I knew I couldn't keep being Evie the hooker. I had to be Evie the agent who kicked ass and didn't need to be sexy to win over the confidence of marks or targets.
    My insides were on fire, my heart was broken, and everything felt cold. I slipped from the room, wishing I hadn’t deleted the conversation. I didn't know the random number he had sent me the message from. I couldn't text him and take it back. I was sealed in the choice I had made before he had drugged me.
    That seemed weird.
    He had to have seen me to drug me.
    Unless of course he had slipped the drugs to me in a beverage that I didn’t drink until after I had sent the text.
    I realized it didn't matter as I was on the stairs and Jules came bounding up them at me. She was the reason for the message. I was a mom not a porn star. I needed to act like one.
    “Mom, can I get a horse?”
    “What?” I gasped.
    “Uncle Fitz says all little girls need a horse. He says it’s part of growing up.”
    “I never had a horse.” I folded my arms.
    “Right, Evie.” Coop walked to the bottom of the stairs and nodded. “That's not a great example of why not to get her a horse.”
    My jaw dropped. He didn't say it like it was funny. There was no spark in his steely blue eyes. He had insulted me because he was pissed at me. “If Uncle Fitz wants to get a horse he can take care of it with you.”
    Jules jumped up and down clapping and I realized the horse was already here. The asking was an informality. She jumped and kissed my cheek before sprinting back down the stairs shouting, “Yay! We can keep it!” She ran off leaving Coop at the bottom of the stairs and me close to the top. He looked hurt; there wasn't any other way to see it.
    I had hurt him.
    Apologies and other words I knew I shouldn't speak aloud sat on the tip of my tongue, threatening to slip out and make all this more uncomfortable.
    He furrowed his brow, obviously lost in thought and hating me. It took seconds of him maybe filtering or just fighting the urge, before he spoke, “You want to give me a few minutes in the bedroom so I can move my stuff to the basement?”
    I swallowed hard and nodded. Had I texted him with a high school breakup as well?
    “You don't want to talk?” I asked softy, hoping my kids weren’t nearby. They didn't sound nearby.
    “No, Evie. I think this last week has pretty much summed it up for me. I think I see where your heart is.”
    I opened my mouth to protest but it just sat open, catching flies and all.
    “See, you don't even have an excuse, do you?”
    “I don't have an offense either though. I don't remember anything.” I treaded lightly, but I wasn’t going to play the bad guy if I had done nothing.
    “You don't recall leaving me on the beach with a dozen teenagers and running back for Servario?”
    I shook my head.
    “You don't recall not returning any of my texts?”
    Having already shook my head I decided on remaining