Sherrilyn Kenyon - Upon the Midnight Clear

Aidan wished he could believe that. But he knew better. How many times had he heard that lie? And in the end, they always hurt him and laughed while they did so.

He was tired of falling for it.

"You know, if I had a nickel…" His gaze sharpened on her face. He wanted to reach out and touch her too. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not after what had happened with Heather.

"I would never hurt you, baby. You can always trust in me. I'm here for the long haul. You and me, forever. Us against the world. No matter what. You can always be yourself and know that I will love you regardless. I don't care about your career or fame. If it all ended tomorrow, I would still be here for you , with you ."

Those words had made his heart soar—they had been a symphony to his ears, which were tired of the liars around him. Most of all, he'd trusted them just as he'd trusted Heather. As an orphan, all he'd ever wanted in his life was a family of his own. Someone who wouldn't hurt him. Betray him.

Someone who would accept him for the man he was, regardless of fame and wealth or even poverty.

Unfortunately, he'd never once found that. The moment he'd started making real money and people had begun to recognize him, Heather had felt threatened by it and by the women who threw themselves at him. She'd become catty and biting. Criticizing everything he did and resenting him for wanting more.

Even now, he could hear her caustic words. " There are two kinds of people in Hollywood. Actors who want to act and those who want fame. The ones who go after fame deserve everything they get, so don't cry to me about the tabloid liars. It's what you wanted, Aidan. Everyone knows who you are. You should have been satisfied with the acting alone. But no, you had to have more. So now you got all you wanted and everything that goes with it."

Ultimately, because she couldn't cope with it all, she'd carved his heart out and handed it to him on a silver platter. Not in private like a decent human being. She had done it publicly by seeking out the same tabloids that had already eviscerated him. Even worse, she'd helped his enemies come after him and had done everything in her power to embarrass him before the world.

And this woman before him now was no exception. He had no doubt. If he let her in, she'd hurt him too. The only person in this world who cared about him was himself.

He indicated the door with a jerk of his chin. "Can't you just stay here for a couple of hours and not speak to me? Is that really too much to ask?"

"I don't like silence."

"Well, I do."

"And it's my house," she said in a deep voice, imitating him with the voice of an irate parent. "While you're under my roof, young lady, you'll do as you're told!"

Aidan wanted to be offended by her mockery. But a smile tormented the edges of his lips. "You're not funny."

"Of course I am." She winked playfully at him. "You wouldn't be smiling inside if I wasn't."

His stomach tightened as he realized that she was charming him with her actions and that only made him angry again. "Look, I really don't want to talk to you. I just want to be left alone. Get out."

She released a tired breath and shook her head. "When was the last time you talked to a friend?"

"Nineteen months ago."

Leta felt her jaw drop at his disclosure. She couldn't believe that. Even with her emotions muted and basically gone, she still confided in others. The only exception being the time she was in stasis. "What?"

"You heard me."

Yes, but hearing and believing were two entirely different things. "You're not serious."

"Oh, I'm serious all right. I called up my best friend to confide in him because I needed someone to talk to and the next thing I knew our conversation was not only in the paparazzi rags, but on blogs and in every industry magazine the bastard could find. 'Aidan O'Conner: The Truth Behind The Legend. Read how his girlfriend betrayed him and left him a drunken sot on the street, begging for change while assaulting his fans.' What killed me most, there was so little truth in what he told them. Instead, he distorted my words and embellished them until I couldn't even recognize what I'd said. Let's just say I learn from my mistakes. So no, I don't talk to friends. Ever."

Well, she could understand that. Back when she'd still had her emotions, she'd once shoved M'Adoc from behind when he'd told their brother M'Ordant that she thought he was a prig at times. She'd been humiliated and mortified that M'Adoc had repeated a private conversation and then used it to hurt someone she loved dearly. It'd made her cautious for weeks about saying anything to anyone, but eventually she'd gotten over it and moved on.

That experience was certainly minor in comparison to what Aidan had been through. Honestly, she couldn't imagine having to cope with something so intrusive or a person so slimy. M'Adoc had only told one person, not the entire world, and he had quoted her verbatim without embellishment.

That being said, it didn't mean Aidan should give up on people and trust no one at all. People needed friends in this world. "Well, one person's betrayal doesn't—"

"We'd been best friends since junior high school," he said between clenched teeth. "We're talking twenty years of friendship flushed away in three seconds because someone was willing to give him five thousand dollars." He curled his lip bitterly. "Five grand. That's all my friendship over the years was worth to him. Funny thing is, I'd have given it to him if he'd just asked."

Leta cringed in sympathy. No wonder he was so bitter. She knew such things went on, but as a rule the gods of dreams didn't betray each other like that—especially now that their emotions were gone. There had been a few over the centuries, but not many, and they had been an exception who had been hunted down and killed.

Aidan narrowed his eyes on her, "Now tell me again how you can be trusted when you just walked through my door."

She held her hands up in surrender. "You're right. You can't trust me or anyone else. Never in my life have I understood why people betray others. I don't guess I ever will."

He scoffed at her words. "Like you've never betrayed anyone."

Leta quickly countered with a simple question. "Have you?"

"Hell, no," he roared as if the very thought sickened him. "My mama taught me better."

"And so did mine." She paused before she added, "Actually, that's not true. My brother taught me better. And when we were under fire, he did his best to protect me no matter the cost to himself."

"Then you're lucky. My brother sits in jail for his attempt to take my life."

That unexpected bit hit her hard. "What?"

"You heard me." His voice broke even though she saw no emotion except anger in his expression. "Didn't you read about it in the papers? For six months, I couldn't watch TV without seeing his face staring at me from his mug shot."

Since she couldn't explain why she hadn't heard it, she simply shook her head "I don't understand. Why did he try to kill you?"

He gave a dark laugh. "Oh, killing me would have been far kinder than what he did. He wanted to take everything in this world that I'd built. He was trying to blackmail me."

"Over what?"

"Nothing more than his own willingness to lie and people's gullibility to believe it. He said he'd make up everything from I was a pedophile to acts of animal sacrifice to brutality against women and children. He even went so far as to accuse me of mocking my fans and attacking the reputations of other actors, producers, and agents. No part of my life was spared from his lies and he didn't hesitate to forge documents or to lie to the courts or the police. Thank God, McCarthy-ism is dead or I'm sure I'd have been blacklisted and imprisoned."