Free The Ultimate Betrayal by Kimberla Lawson Roby Page B

Cran-Apple juice from the refrigerator, and dropped down on one of the barstools. Hours had passed, yet she still couldn’t get over the fact that she’d actually slept with Levi. She’d driven to a stranger’s home to see him and slept with him like it was nothing. She’d allowed her flesh to manipulate her common sense, and she was ashamed of herself. Phillip deserved so much better than this, and if he ever found out about it, it would kill him.
    But this, at least, was the one thing she wasn’t worried about, because Levi wasn’t the kind of man who played childish games. He’d reminded her of that when he’d emailed her two days ago. He would never tell Phillip or anyone else about the two of them sleeping together, and Alicia, of course, wouldn’t tell anyone, either.
    Alicia watched a few segments of CNN but found herself feeling more depressed. A few moments ago, she’d even gone as far as deciding that she hadn’t slept with Levi after all and that this whole fiasco was nothing more than some horrible delusion. But she knew she was kidding herself and that not only had she made love with Levi, she’d done so willingly. This was the part that troubled her the most. Had Levi forced her to have sex with him or she’d just so happened to run into him by accident and one thing had led to another, she could place more of the blame on him. But, sadly, this wasn’t the case. Alicia had done exactly what she’d wanted to do and hadn’t done much at all to prevent it.
    When she heard her phone ring, she rushed upstairs. She knew it was Levi, and she couldn’t wait to end whatever he thought they had and be done with him for good. But when she picked up her phone and saw that it was Phillip, her stomach churned. She wasn’t in the best shape to talk to him right now, but since she hadn’t called him before bedtime last night the way he’d asked, she figured she’d better answer.
    “Hello?”
    “Hey, baby. Good morning.”
    “Hey. How are you?”
    “Couldn’t be better. But you on the other hand sound like you just woke up.”
    “No, I’ve been up for a while.”
    “Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine.”
    “You also didn’t sound like yourself when I talked to you yesterday.”
    Alicia had been sure she’d sounded normal, but apparently not normal enough.
    “I’m good. Really.”
    “You must have read well into the middle of the night,” he said.
    “Close to it, but why do you say that?”
    “Because you never called me back.”
    Alicia hated all the lying she was having to do to Phillip. “I know, baby, but it got late, and I was so exhausted.”
    “How much more do you have to do?”
    “Maybe a little less than half,” she said, then quickly remembered that yesterday she’d told him a similar amount. “I added a whole new chapter and did a ton of rewrites, so that slowed my reading down quite a bit.”
    “The life of a writer. I’m sure you’re drained.”
    “I am. I really hope to be finished reading by this evening, though.”
    “Are you sure you’re okay?” he said.
    “Please don’t worry about me. I’m a little tired, but other than that I’m fine.”
    “Okay, well if there’s something I can do for you just tell me.”
    “I really don’t need anything, but thank you for asking.”
    “Of course. Well…I guess I’d better get dressed. We have two different staff meetings at the church today, and then I need to go visit two of our members at the hospital. But you call me when you take a break.”
    “I will, and you have good day, okay?”
    “I love you, baby,” he said.
    “I love you more.”
    “Bye.”
    Alicia removed the phone from her ear and held it close to her chest. She rocked back and forth as tears flowed down her face. “Oh my God, baby, I am so, so sorry. I am so, so sorry I did this to you again.”
    She wiped her eyes, stood up, and went back down to the kitchen. This time she took her phone with her, and it was less than ten minutes before Levi