*Chapter Eighteen
––––––––
Skye
I don’t know what to do.I’m paralyzed with indecision.For the first time in my life, I have more money than I know what to do with.I could leave this apartment and live in a five-star hotel for a year while looking for my dream house.
Kelsie never has to worry a single day in her life about money.I can give her that peace of mind.She can finish school, go to university, and become a doctor.I could buy her a car, her own apartment even.
As for my mother, I’ve paid her debt to the mafia guy; now I’ll just buy her groceries every week, and I’ll pay for her car and her salon appointments.A holiday once a year.I’ll send her money every month to do as she pleases, but it’s going to take a very, very long time before I forgive her.And the truth is, she won’t care whether or not I forgive her. She’s just not that kind of a mother.
How is it possible with ten million dollars in my bank account, I feel the emptiest, the loneliest I ever felt in my whole life?
Lily brought over champagne, chocolate, and flowers to congratulate me on losing my virginity and getting paid for it in the complete opposite way she thought would happen.I showed her how excited I was, how happy I am, and that I couldn’t wait to making plans, but as soon as she left to meet a client, I wanted to cry.
Ugh, what is wrong with me?I have everything.Everything.And yet I have nothing.
They let me go.
No, I’m not pining over them.Why would I do such a stupid thing?They may have lied to me, pushed me over only to catch me, kidnapped me, and changed the shape inside my body so even now, this minute, I can still feel them move inside me.Filling me up.Taking me to both heaven and pain at the same time.
My body is never going to forget them.How could it when they stretched me only to suit them, their touch, their cocks, their hands, their mouths?And my heart won’t forget them.
Wait, my heart?I don’t even know them.Well, I do; they’re crazy psychos who dragged me into their game, turned my life upside down, took my virginity, and paid me for it too.Any relationship expert will immediately say those are the worst grounds to start any kind of relationship on.Three red flags with eight packs.
My heart lurches and whispers loudly in my ear that it doesn’t care what relationship experts think or say.
It’s such a mess.I don’t know whether I’m delusional or heartbroken—it’s hard to tell the difference.I just want to hide and never come out again.
A rap on my door startles me.I have no clue who it could be.
“Ms.Jennings,” a man’s voice, strained and watery, says, as if he’s under great duress.
“My name is Pete Fischer.You may know me as The Sledge Hammer.”
I search around for a weapon and immediately take a knife from my kitchen counter.
“Ms.Jennings.I’m here to offer you my deepest apologies.If I had known who you were dating...”
What?I’m dating?Who am I dating?
“Please, Ms.Jennings, please accept my apologies.I’m on my knees before you, and I beg you to forgive me before they kill me.”
They?
Them?
Without another thought for my safety, or theirs, I jerk my door open.The first three men I see are Alex, Kai, and Eason.They’re smiling at me like idiots, and I’m sure I’m still a little mad at them.
Last I saw them was thirteen hours ago, and I swear my body wants to bow before them.It’s only then that something catches my attention, and I drop my gaze to the floor.
Oh, my god.
On his knees is a big, bulky man.There’s not a single scratch on him to indicate they must have roughed him up enough to make him this subdued, but there he was, forced into submission.Did I forget they’re all villains?
“Tell the beautiful princess how sorry you are for intruding on her life uninvited and then sending her pictures of severed limbs as a means to threaten her,” Eason says.
I’m too stunned to hear The Sledge Hammer’s apology, which seems to go on forever.
