Thankfully, Carl’s need to vomit makes mine less suspicious.
Once we’ve emptied the contents of our stomachs, Carl ties the bag, cursing about bad barbecue.
Wanting to distance myself from the stench, I get up from my seat and give Vanessa a sugary sweet smile. “I look forward to coaching you.”
Time to Robin Hood some medical bills.
Last night, Maria forwarded me the email correspondence between her and the hospital regarding the documents she requested. They told her it could take up to 90 days to consider the request.
I forward her a patient authorization form that allows me to speak with providers on her mother’s behalf and use all my treacherous tactics to get what I want, which is priority one, because of how it’s affecting Toxic.
As expected, Maria returns the form to me in mere minutes, and I immediately put in a call to get the necessary documents and inject a heavy dose of fear into my now prey.
I zip through the automated system until I get to a live person, who probably wishes she was anywhere else on this earth than on the line with me.
After using my family’s name to threaten her job, her employer, and everything she finds holy, the document retrieval is expedited, and I’m promised an email will be sent before noon.
I’ve done this dance before. Calling out hospitals and physicians for predatory practices is easier than making my fake clients seem genuine. But the payout has never been so great.
Toxic took care of his family, and now he wants to take care of me, likely due to little droid. But hopefully, once he sees howswiftly I’ve prioritized him, he’ll have something real to base his feelings on, and for the first time in my life, someone will actually stay.
I dare not think the word ‘love’, but it’s at the edge of my mind, haunting me as I move through my work. I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to be chosen. To be wanted so badly, everyone else falls away. You’re the only option, because no one else will do.
You have to understand. I never wanted this…
I shouldn’t think these thoughts, because the ‘L’ word doesn’t happen for women like me.
I grab a protein muffin from the pantry and slide into a booth. Kilo, who’s sitting in the one across the aisle, doesn’t acknowledge my presence, but I’m okay with that.
He’ll learn.
My thumb hovers over my father’s contact in my phone. After days aboard the bus, it’s time I reached out to him.
But when I press down, the screen says CALL DECLINED.
He fucking blocked me.
My conversation with Elliot suddenly seems more relevant, but as I’m about to text my piece of shit half-brother, Prince slides into the seat across from me, his eyes alight with contempt.
Before now, I’d only seen him in pictures, which hardly did the man justice. It’s easy to see why Bianca would be so quick to follow him across the country after getting out of a relationship with my brother.
Still, he’s no match for Toxic.
“What the actual fuck are you doing here?” he snarls.
I don a wide, manufactured grin and tilt my head innocently to the side. “What do you mean?”
“I know what you did to Bianca.”
Having Prince as an ally is more important than my pride, so I decide against engaging in a verbal sparring match.
“Then you know I stopped her from making a terrible mistake by not allowing her to enter a marriage under false pretenses.”
“Don’t act like you’re some kind of savior. You’re a pretentious snob.”
“If you’re insinuating I didn’t want Bianca to join my family because of some nefarious ploy on my part, you’re dead wrong. Bianca would be the ideal person for my brother to marry. She’s a people pleaser, easy to manipulate, and comes from nothing, which means when it’s time for my father to divvy up his vast fortune, she won’t have the designs girls who’ve come from status and money might.”
His jaw tightens. “What you did was cruel!”
