Chapter 66 Chapter 66

Chapter 66 Chapter 66
Three months later…

Reno stood in the center of the hollowed-out crawl space that had served as his sanctuary and his prison for the past year and a half. The apartment was stripped bare, reduced to an echo chamber of his own weary thoughts. He realized with a sharp, localized ache in his chest that he didn't have many memories worth keeping here. There was only one that mattered—the night Lisette had spent in his arms, a bridge of whispered secrets and shared consolations that had made him believe, however briefly, that they were invincible.

He watched with a heavy sigh as the movers hoisted the last of the boxes. Most were filled with the weight of expectations—the textbooks his father had generously provided to ensure he successfully completed his degree. The others held the fragments of a fractured life: clothes that still smelled faintly of salt air and mementos from the Hawaii trip that had been meant to heal him but had only served as a temporary distraction. Once again, his entire existence was packed into cardboard, labeled and ready to be ferried to a different corner of the city.

Dennis had offered him a room in the penthouse, a gesture meant to forge a family from broken parts. But Reno felt like a placeholder, a warm body meant to fill the vacuum DJ had left behind when he fled to Paris. Ironically, Reno was the only one who held the map to his brother’s whereabouts, a secret that had become the foundation of a new, long-distance trust between them. It was a silent bond of dependency and, despite the miles, a complicated love.

“Sweetheart!”

The sound of Victoria’s shrill voice sliced through his contemplation like a rusted blade. Reno shivered, a visceral reaction he still hadn't managed to suppress. He didn't know why he continued to tolerate her presence; perhaps she was a penance he felt he owed himself for his own failures. He had already decided to leave her behind in the dust of this apartment, a ghost of a relationship that had never really lived.

“Sweetheart, you still haven’t told me where we are moving to.” Her arms, lean and cool like a snake’s coils, wound around his torso.

“We?” Reno didn't just step out of the embrace; he recoiled from it, turning to face her with a gaze as cold as the Atlantic. “There is no ‘we,’ Victoria. I thought I made that clear—ours was a physical arrangement, nothing more.”

“But all my stuff is already in the car,” she whined, her bottom lip jutting out in a practiced, manipulative pout.

Reno had never found that particular brand of emotional blackmail charming. He had seen it look cute on his little sister, and maybe, once, on Lisette—but Lisette’s character demanded more than theatrics. She was a woman of substance who used words and actions to command the world around her, never stooping to such transparent ploys.

Lisette. The name was a permanent resident in his mind, hiding in the crevices of his thoughts with the sole purpose of torturing him. Every time he allowed himself to remember her, his heart performed the same agonizing ritual: a hard, bumpy jerk of phantom happiness followed immediately by a searing, white-hot pain. She had betrayed him in the most intimate way possible, and the logic of his grief told him he could never, ever forgive her.

“Take your stuff back home, Bitch-toria.”

The voice didn't come from his imagination. It didn't come from a dream. It echoed through the empty apartment with a sharp, familiar authority that made the hair on Reno’s neck stand up.

He froze, his gaze locked on Victoria’s overly painted face. He was terrified to turn around; he didn't think his heart could survive the disappointment if this was just another auditory hallucination born of exhaustion. But the sudden, ugly scowl on Victoria’s face and her sharp swivel toward the door told Reno he wasn't imagining anything.

Reno immediately schooled his features into a mask of indifference. He didn't want her to see the earthquake happening inside him. He stepped around Victoria and began walking toward the exit, determined to ignore Lisette entirely. He knew his own limits; one look into those brown eyes and he would be hers again in an instant. He couldn't afford that kind of weakness.

“I came here to talk to you.” Lisette didn't just speak; she stepped directly into his path, her chin tilted up with a fierce, unwavering determination.

Reno’s eyes betrayed his resolve. He couldn't stop himself from drinking her in. She looked... whole. The ghastly, rigid contraption that had braced her spine was gone. The violent purple and blue bruises that had once marred her olive skin had faded into memory, and she was standing—really standing—on her own two feet.

“I’m glad you’ve healed,” he said, his voice sounding like it was being dragged over gravel. “But we don’t have anything to talk about. Victoria, let’s go.”

The squeal of pure, petty delight that erupted from Victoria made Reno cringed internally. He immediately felt a wave of self-loathing. “On second thought,” he snapped, looking between the two women, “you should stay, or go home. I’ve had my fill of overbearing, treacherous women to last me two lifetimes.”

“I didn’t cheat on you,” Lisette announced, the words ringing out like a bell in the empty room.

“What exactly would you call it then?” Reno was startled by the sheer, unbridled rage that laced his tone. He watched Lisette flinch, stepping back as if he had physically struck her. He watched her swallow hard, gathering the fragments of her courage for one more push.

“Can we please talk in private?”

“Why? Don't you want the whole world to hear how you traded me for that mouse, Michael?”

“Please!” she pleaded, her voice breaking.

Reno refused to let his heart succumb to that sound. He forced his hands deep into his pockets to keep from reaching out to her. It was a curse—even now, even after the lies, his first instinct was to protect her, even from the man he had become. He stared over her head, his jaw clenched so tight it ached, trying to turn his soul into a block of ice.

“I lied. He threatened me, and I had to lie.” Lisette lunged forward, her fingers bunching the fabric of his T-shirt. He refused to look down at her, standing as still as a statue while she pulled at him, rising onto her tiptoes to try and force his gaze to meet hers. “Look at me, Reno. Please. I’m not lying now.”

“Oh, please, Ross! You had your chance,” Victoria interjected, her voice dripping with artificial triumph. “Reno and I are moving in together. We’re getting married.”

The blatant, desperate lie from Victoria acted like a catalyst, thawing Reno’s frozen state. He turned to face the blonde, a dark, mocking smirk playing on his lips. Women never ceased to amaze him with the lengths they would go to best one another.

“Get out of here, Victoria.”

Lisette didn't wait. She moved around him, a blur of motion.

A thought flickered in Reno’s mind—he could just leave. His truck was at the curb. He could be gone in ten seconds, leaving these two to tear each other apart. He was halfway to the door when a sound like a thunderclap ripped through the room. He spun around to find Lisette already on top of Victoria, a whirlwind of suppressed fury. It was hard to believe this was the same woman who had been confined to a hospital bed only months ago.

He thought about leaving again, but his landlady had been kind; he couldn't let her property become a crime scene. With a groan of surrendered frustration, Reno hooked his arm around

Lisette’s waist and hoisted her off the screeching Victoria. He was struck by how light she felt; she had clearly lost weight, though her bountiful curves remained as distracting as ever. With his free hand, he dragged a disheveled Victoria to her feet. Both women were fuming, their eyes wild with the intent to maim.

“Stop!” he roared.

The command worked. Both women froze in his grasp. “You are both going to get out of this apartment and out of my life. I don’t ever want to see either of you again. Is that understood?”

“But Reno?” Victoria pouted, her eyes welling with crocodile tears.

“Stop with the performance, you selfish cow!” Lisette barked, still vibrating with adrenaline.

“Would you two just leave me in peace?” Reno asked the ceiling.

“Not until I’ve had my say,” Lisette countered, her eyes burning into his. “I’ll follow you everywhere. I’ll turn into a stalker if I have to. Everywhere you go, I’ll be there. You want to take a piss? Guess who you’ll find in the bathroom?”

“You?” Reno asked sarcastically, finally setting her back on her feet. “I’m not looking forward to having a tail. So, say your piece and give me some damn peace.”

“That thing has to leave first.” Lisette’s fists were balled at her sides, her energy seemingly born from months of forced stillness.

“Victoria, get out.”

“But—”

“Leave. I’ll call you later.” He forced a seductive smile, a last-ditch effort at manipulation, and caressed Victoria’s cheek. Seduction was his only weapon when force failed. Victoria waved her fingers at him with a ‘come hither’ look and finally exited. As soon as the door clicked shut, he turned to the other thorn in his side.

“Yuck. Please tell me you haven't been fucking that.”

“You have exactly one minute, Lisette.” Reno looked around the barren apartment, wishing he hadn't told the landlady to take the chairs. He needed to sit down before his legs gave out. He turned and walked toward his bedroom; luckily, his mattress was the one thing the movers hadn't touched yet.