Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
He stood there, glaring at me with the sea of tables around us. “Can we return to the table, or should I take you home?” It was a simple sentence to anyone who heard it, but I knew the implications of the choice. If I ruined his meeting with his client, there would be consequences.
He was already pissed off, so there might be retribution when we got home, regardless of my decision, but if the rest of the evening went well, it might soothe his ire. “I’m fine.”
16
THEO
I gripped the bar with the stack of weights on each end then curled my arms, working my biceps and making the veins pop with every rep. I stared in the mirror, headphones over my ears, my skin slick with sweat.
I did my set then racked the bar, taking a thirty-second break before I did another set. The second my hands left the bar, I noticed my butler standing there, waving one hand to get my attention.
I pulled the headphones off, and the loud music was replaced by silence.
“Sir, I’m sorry to bother you.”
“This is the one time of day I don’t want to be interrupted.” Blood was pumping and the muscles were going. There was no stopping and starting, other than the allotted breaks between sets.
“Scarlett is downstairs. She said it’s urgent.”
I tossed the headphones on the bench. “Is she okay?”
“She didn’t say. She just said she needs to speak to you as soon as possible. That whatever you’re doing can wait.”
That got my heart going for a different reason. I left my things behind, didn’t bother to pull on a shirt because it would just be soiled by the sweat, and made my way downstairs to the study.
She was pacing back and forth, unable to stay still.
“I’m here.”
She flipped around to look at me, having no reaction to my sweaty chest and the plumpness of my muscles. Her attraction to me had been obvious on our dates, but once that situation had passed, she was immune to my appearance. Now, her eyes were full of panic. “I was working at the restaurant tonight, and Bolton and Astrid were there.”
I hadn’t heard her name in a while. Axel didn’t mention her anymore, and I did my best not to think about her. Hearing that she was still with him despite his infidelity disappointed me on so many levels. “Why are you telling me this?” Now, I wanted to talk about her less. Didn’t want this conversation to move forward. “She’s not a part of my life anymore, Scarlett.”
“I’m telling you this because she looked like he’d shoved her face into a blender.”
All the nuisance I felt for the situation evaporated, and something more sinister replaced it. I felt my eyes narrow in my stiff face. Felt my blood continue to pump, even though I’d put the weights down.
“She asked me not to say anything. Not after your last conversation.”
“She didn’t tell me any of this.”
“She said she tried, but you massacred her. And by the time you were done ripping her apart, she felt so hopeless that she didn’t want to bother you with it.”
A heavy breath left my lungs, and a semitruck of guilt crashed into me. When the manager of the restaurant had called me, I was already aflame with anger and resentment. I went in there fully loaded with my list of grievances. The conversation had never been about her, only me, because I’d hijacked the damn thing.
“It’s been going on a while,” she said, bringing her voice down. “When she tried to leave him, he lost it. She’s basically a prisoner in the house. His men watch her day and night. He quit her job for her, and now she’s just…there. You should see her face, Theo. If her face looks like that, imagine what the rest of her looks like.”
I couldn’t. My eyes dropped down as a tidal wave of shame struck me. “She came to my restaurant because it was the only way to talk to me without him knowing.” It was just a few blocks from the gallery. She must have pretended to have lunch there because she couldn’t call for help and couldn’t come to my residence either. She came to me for help, and I bulldozed her like an old building scheduled to be destroyed. “Fuck.”
Scarlett watched me, her eyes flicking back and forth.
“I assumed she wanted me back. But when I replay the conversation, she never actually said that. She started crying, and I made her feel like shit for it.” I’d watched her go into the bathroom to mediate the damage, and I just left. I was drinking and smoking and fucking to forget her, and she was a goddamn punching bag.
“He’s vile. He came into the bathroom when we were talking. Was about to grab me when I warned him what would happen if he tried. And I was just a stranger in the bathroom, trying to comfort his wife.”