Lincoln could smell another male on Gina, a human male. And the scent of sex. She'd recently had sex. Very recently, and it most definitely hadn't been with him. Fury ripped through him at the scent of another man on her and he resisted the urge to rip her away from him. "Have a seat and I'll serve you,' he said calmly, amazed he wasn't yelling at her. Was that why she'd been so late coming home? Had she gone and had sex with another man before coming here to have sex with him? Because he would bet money that was what she'd done.
"Okay, Linc." Gina stepped away from him and moved over to the table. She sat down to wait.
He cringed, resisting the urge to grab her by the throat. He took several deep breaths as he concentrated on the food he was busy preparing, forcing himself to calm down. He had to remain calm. He was hurt though, and furious that some other man had touched what was his. His. He scoffed at that. Gina wasn't his. Not anymore. He had to let her go. She wasn't his mate, and he'd been dumb thinking he could make this work with her. Gina wasn't his other half.
He resolutely dumped the food on two plates and walked back over to the table, setting one down in front of her before he sat down at the table himself, debating how to approach all of this. It wasn't the conversation he'd been planning to have with her tonight. His eyes watched the flickering of the candle, and he suddenly leaned forward and blew it out, causing her to look up at him. There was no point in trying to be romantic.
Gina had already taken a bite of her food and looked up when he blew out the candle. She eyed him for a long moment. "Is something wrong, Lincoln?"
Linc sat his fork down. Why in the world he'd thought he was going to eat, he wasn't sure. His stomach was in knots right now. "We need to talk, Gina."
She said back, placing her own fork down on her plate and wiped her mouth. "Okay?"
"This isn't working," he stated quielty, watching her face.
Shock, hurt, then anger crossed her expression, followed by a bit of guilt. "What?! I think we have a great relationship!" she exclaimed.
"I don't think you do." He leaned back in his seat, studying her. The guilt was back.
"Linc.."
"If you did, you wouldn't be having sex with another man," Linc crossed his arms over his chest to avoid doing anything stupid. "How long have you been cheating on me, Gina?"
Her eyes widened and the guilty look crossed her face again. She wasn't very good at hiding her feelings. "Why do you think I have?"
He lifted a brow at her. It was a good question and one he couldn't answer honestly. He wondered if it wasn't for his sense of smell how long it would have taken him to figure it out. "You had sex with him before you came here. You and I both know it."
Her lips parted and a look of shock crossed her face. "Linc, I'm sorry. I just... I want more than you're willing to give me. I've been wanting you to move in with me for years now, and you've refused. I was testing the waters, thinking about moving on. The sex wasn't even good with him. Too vanilla."
He stared at her. "How long?"
"Just the one time," she responded.
She was lying. That was plain as day. "How long, Gina?"
She swallowed. "A few months."
He forced himself not to react even though he wanted to reach across the table and grab her by the throat. She'd been cheating on him for months? He felt completely disgusted. "If the sex wasn't that good, why did you keep going back for more?"
She stared at him, her mouth opening and closing more than once, but she didn't answer him.
"It's over. Get your stuff and get out."
"Linc... Sex with you is so much better though."
He glared at her. "You cheated on me. Have been for months. I don't care if the sex did suck. You still cheated. Over and over again. Now get out."
She stood, staring at him for a long moment, and disappeared down the hall.
Linc clenched his jaw as he listened to her pack her things. He shook his head. She wanted more so she went to another man. And then came home to him? And he'd been sitting here waiting to offer her more. Waiting to offer her all of him. Exactly what she'd wanted. But she'd ruined it. She'd ripped out his heart and stomped on it.
She finally came back down the hall. Her gaze met his and she stared at him for a moment, then shook her head as she headed outside. It took her a few more trips and a few more hours, and finally she had all of her things. He hadn't realized she'd moved that much stuff into the house, but then it has been almost five years.
She walked up to the table, where he still sat and sat down across from him. "You did this to yourself."
He stared at her, annoyed that she was trying to justify it and dump the blame on him. "I didn't make you go sleep with another man."
She rolled her eyes. "I fell for you, Linc. I wanted to be with you. Only you. I wanted to marry you and have your kids."
"Well, you have a funny way of showing it. I was ready to offer you everything tonight," he told her. "Everything, Gina. But now I could never trust you."
She stared at him for a long moment, then sighed and pulled her key off its ring, placing it on the table. "Goodbye Linc." She stood and walked out the door, pulling it closed behind her.
Lincoln sighed, rubbing at his face. He was hurt that she'd cheated on him. Had been cheating on him for months. He shook his head, wondering if she'd cheated all through their relationship. But it was better he knew it now than after he'd told her the truth about himself. Would she have cheated on him after he'd marked her?
He debated what he would do now. He'd gotten this place for her. At the beginning of their relationship, constantly going to her place was kind of a pain and he knew she thought it weird that he never invited her over. So he'd rented the house and moved in.
Maybe it was time he moved back into his apartment at the pack house. It was time he did something else, he supposed. He has no desire to stay in this place. It just reminded him of her. He would never want to bring his mate here.
He'd had an apartment at the pack house for a while now, and he still had things there. Furniture, a bed, and some of his nicer clothes. He occasionally went there, but not often. Usually he only went if he wanted to pick Brianna's brain or workout.
He glanced around the house. His lease was month to month so he could leave whenever he wanted to. Which meant, he had until the end of the month to move his crap out. He grabbed the key Gina had left, then went to his room to pack up his clothes. He wouldn't stay here for another night. He cringed as he eyed the bed. How much time had he spent fucking her in that bed after another man had been between her legs?
He sighed. He couldn't believe she'd cheated on him. He'd fallen pretty hard for her. She was beautiful and he'd enjoyed their relationship so much, enough that he'd considered making it permanent. And she'd pretty much stabbed him in the heart.
Lincoln pulled out a bag and tossed clothes inside of it before heading into the bathroom and grabbing his things. He walked back out into the bedroom and looked around, sighing softly. He'd enjoyed playing with her so much in this room and she'd dumped it all for another guy. All because he hadn't spoken up soon enough and asked her to be his permanently. Perhaps it was his own fault, but then, he wasn't the one who had cheated.
YOU ARE READING
The Chef's Sick Mate (Book 17 of the Regal Eclipse Pack Series)
WerewolfThis book contains spoilers for the other books in the Regal Eclipse Pack Series, especially Books 14 - 16.