Me: It’s time to pay up!Then I send the devil emoji.
I lay my phone on my leg. I told my new toy ten, and it’s thirty minutes past that now. Kids actually started arriving at nine, but I wanted to make sure the house was full of people before she showed. I knew she’d arrive late. She wants to prove she’s not afraid of me and that she still holds all the cards. I like that.
“Bennett?” I call over to him.
He unwraps himself from his nightly fuck and comes over to me. I look up at him from my lounge. “Do you have the video from my father’s warehouse?” I made her steal a car with me last night. Her daddy’s car. Just more insurance. And she has no idea I’m gonna use it against her. Fuck, it’s gonna be so easy to break this girl. She’ll be in tears and begging me from her knees in no time. My cock is hard just thinking about it.
He nods. “Yes. And I sent it to Deke’s phone. It’s good to go.”
Perfect!
Kellan jumps to his feet. “I don’t understand why you want her so badly.”
“You don’t have to understand,” I say.
His jaw tightens. I feel my phone vibrate. I look down to see it’s from Becky.
B: She’s here. Kitchen.
I don’t respond.
Showtime.
“Only One King,” by Tommee Profitt, Jung Yong begins to play, and a smile spreads across my face. Game on, sweetheart.
I look at Kellan. “Our guest has arrived. Go get her. She’s in the kitchen. And Kellan? Don’t touch her,” I warn. She’s all mine.
He just stands there for a few seconds and then marches out the door, slamming it behind him. I lean back, crossing my ankles, and prop my head up with my hand behind it and wait.
Austin Lowes wants me. I saw the way she looked at me. And it’s unfortunate for her that I want her too. Just in a completely different way. And the thing about the GWS is that they always get what they want. No matter who they have to hurt, blackmail, or kill. They win.
“The moment she walked back into the kitchen with you, I about had a heart attack.” Becky shakes her head, interrupting my thoughts. “I thought maybe you guys knew each other. But when you walked away, I asked her how she knew you, and she said you had just met.” She lets out a long breath. “I should have told you no. Then you kissed her …” She begins to pace. “I should have never helped you use her.”
She has no idea about half the shit I’ve done to Austin. “I fell in love with her.” I sigh. “I know, Becky. I’m a horrible human being, and I’ve done some really shady shit in my life.”
She stops pacing and looks up at me. “And what? Austin is how you redeem yourself? You think if she sticks around that you can make it better over time?”
“No. I—”
“Did you kill Kellan?” She interrupts me.
Fuck!This is starting to sound like the conversation I had with Shelby over Jeff. “Yes,” I admit. What’s she gonna do? She can’t prove it. No one ever will.
She begins to pace again. “Were all of you involved?” she asks me, biting the tips of her nails.
“I can’t answer for the others—”
“I’m asking if Deke helped you kill him,” she shouts, interrupting me.
“No,” I answer.
She looks me in the eyes, and I will her to believe me. I’m not lying to save Deke’s ass. I didn’t tell her the truth to keep her in the lie she’s been in since she started dating him. He’ll never show her the real him. He showed her what he wants her to see, and I’m not gonna take that away from her.
Not knowing is bliss. The truth would be crippling.
She falls to her ass in the middle of the closet and pulls her knees to her chest. Obviously, my lie wasn’t believable enough. “I know why you did it.” She sobs. “I know whyhewould help you do it.” She starts rocking back and forth.
I lean my shoulder up against the door and cross my arms over my chest. Fuck, this day started out great, but it sure has taken a turn for the worst.
