A tear trickled down my cheek, and others rapidly followed.I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out.My shoulders sagged in defeat, glancing at her with so much hate coursing through me.
“You and him—you belong in hell.”
“Get.Out.”
I choked back a sob and dragged myself out of her office.
Bad things didn’t come in threes.They came in twos.First, the burn from the morning, and now losing my job.
The greedy old banker would soon come calling about the payments I had been making to him to keep altering the records for the debt my late mother owed to the bank.If I don’t pay him this month, I might as well forget about the estate.
The Dupont family estate had been in my family’s line for as long as I could remember.Call it a twisted ancestral heirloom.It belonged to my mother, her mother, and the other women before her.It had been passed down through generations of the first daughters.
We might not have been at risk of losing it if my mother hadn’t loved too recklessly.I grew up with luxury because my mother provided everything I wanted without breaking a sweat.She ran her successful chain of businesses and made it her focus after my father died when I was a baby.
Maybe if she had learned that some of us weren’t destined to find love, she wouldn’t have fallen prey to my stepdad, who tricked her into marrying him and carted away everything she owned with another woman.
The only thing we had left was the estate.
My mother tried her best to keep things afloat after such a huge loss, but after her depression pushed her to commit suicide a few years back, the bank came calling.I had to clear up what was left of my mother’s debt or risk losing the estate.
It was bad enough that I had to go through such soul-shattering grief.I had to work my ass off constantly to keep the payments rolling in.
I had suffered and bled to keep the estate, and now, I was going to lose it because of Ned fucking Cullen.I knew how much the estate meant to my mother, and it had come to mean so much to me, too.The estate was all I had left of my mother.I couldn’t give it up.
I left the building through the blur of my tears and snot.
When I took to the streets, I contemplated calling my best friend Maria.But all she’d tell me was not to whine about taking up shifts and to strip like her.The wintry air of the bustling streets bit at my skin.The thick layers of my coat couldn’t diminish its effects.My eyes blurred with tears as I made my way through the city, clutching the straps of my bag absentmindedly.
A shoulder roughly bumped into mine, snapping me back to reality.
My gaze swung up, harsh and burning, only to collide with a dark-gray cashmere coat.My throat closed as my eyes trailed up the stubbled, angular jaw to firm, sensual lips.
And then, brooding dark eyes sucked me in.
“You should pay more attention to your surroundings, Red.”
A handkerchief descended on my nose when I parted my lips to speak.My eyes widened as a thick smell flooded my nostrils.I tried to make muffled sounds, but as I moved back, my back crashed into a hard surface.
The smell clouded my senses swiftly, and my body turned heavy.
My eyelids shut, and the world around me turned black.
****
The crackling and poppingof the fire stirred me awake, eliciting a soft moan.Smoke, leather, and something along the line of sandalwood invaded my nostrils.I turned on my side, feeling a handful of fabric in my hands.A frown dented my face as I pried my eyes open.
Confusion swept through me like tidal waves as I took in my surroundings.Warm tones of ash, black, and brown unraveled before me.There was a fireplace opposite the king-sized bed I was sprawled on.The flames crackled more fiercely, illuminating the vast space in a warm amber glow.It had to be the largest room I had ever been in, with its luxurious and grand decor reminiscent of a modern cabin.
To my left was a wide, floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked an array of lush green trees covered in dense fog and mist.If I hadn’t pinched myself and felt pain, I’d have thought I was trapped on an island that was cut off from the rest of the world.This place was strange ...and beautiful and attractive.It was like something nestled in the woods, deep within some rainforest.
I sighed, rubbing my nape.My palm trailed downward only to conveniently dip into my cleavage, which was all over the place.My tits were almost spilling out of the scandalous, silky, dark nightwear I was in.
“I’d kill to wake up to this sight for the rest of my life.”
The deep, husky voice filled the room like smoke, curled around my neck, and suffocated me until all I could do was scream.
I panted, wanting to shrink into the headboard behind me.
