Page 56 of My Bully's Crush: Vol1
To go up against them would be a losing battle.So I can only hope that this fool is right, and it’s just a coincidence that Saunders showed up in the midst of all this chaos.“I hope you’re right.Keep me informed of everything to do with this, and I’ll need to see the contract before he signs it.”
I hung up before the headache that was brewing could get any worse.I checked my phone to see if Janie had done what I’d asked and was pissed off to see that she hadn’t.I was about to call her and give her a piece of my mind when the phone rang in my hand.
I didn’t check the number, as I haven’t had to in many years.Only those I want to be in touch with have my numbers, so there was no harm—or so I thought.
“You thought it was okay to dispose of her as if she was nothing because she has faith?Now you’re going to learn that that thing you serve will always lose.Buckle up; you’re going down.”Before I could get a word in edgewise, the person hung up, and the phone pinged with an incoming message.
‘We know what you’ve done.No matter what you do now, we will expose you to the world.It all depends on your next move where.Elena Gianni is concerned about how much we expose.And tell your ex that changing his identity won’t spare him from what’s coming.Your sins against children will not go on punished.’I felt my blood run cold in my veins.“How….?”They knew this person knew, but how?Who had betrayed me?
Next, a picture came through that put even more fear in me than the words had.I threw the phone across the room, and it smashed against the wall, but I knew that that would in no way prevent the inevitable.
What is happening?How was this person getting all of this information?I’ve had my tech team search time and time again, but no one could find a breach, and yet there must be one somewhere because this MengeLiNi person knew way too much.Enough to destroy all of us in a way that we’d never be able to survive.
Chapter 34
*Ryder*
It’s a good thing the deal with Saunders is a lie, or I’d be in deep shit.My first time at bat, and I’m about to fail this acting thing already.I could barely keep the snare off my face as I watched this witch approach me with that lying smile on her face.Standing still for the few seconds it took for her to kiss my cheek almost took me out, and it was all I could do not to wipe it off.
I couldn’t resist stepping out of the way, though when she tried clinging to me, it felt too much like cheating.If this isn’t some Hollywood bullshit, I don’t know what is.I’m married to her, but it feels like I would be cheating on Elena by letting her get too close.Just the bare touch of her hand on my arm felt like a violation.Like she, the woman I’d so foolishly married, had no right, whereas my ex did.
I saw the hurt look she gave me when I pulled away and stepped out of reach and had to turn my face away so that she didn’t see the scorn in my eyes.When I was high on whatever it was that she’d been feeding me, I’d have apologized and tried to ease the sting of guilt.Now I feel like a complete fool for every time I ever regretted not loving her.Every time I felt guilty because she was trying so hard.
Both she and Matt, my so-called spiritual advisor, had had me pretty fooled into believing that they gave a damn about my soul, about saving me from myself and the path of destruction I’d been headed down.Now I know they were both full of shit and had been using me, both of them, along with Mary, Scott, and whoever else was involved in this ugliness, to serve their own selfish purposes.
Thinking about that shit right now wasn’t the best thing.This was one of the main things Saunders and his men had warned me about, but it was harder than I thought it would be.Each time I looked at her, I was reminded of how much I’d lost and her part in deceiving me, and I’m not gonna lie, I want to break her neck.Then I want to go find the others involved and do the same or worse to them,
Not because of what they’d done to me but what they’d put my Elena through.Five years she’d endured this hell for five years, the first three or so doing and saying nothing.That hurt more than anything else, the fact that they’d stolen her voice.The fact that I’d hurt her so deeply that she’d gone into hiding.But now I’m supposed to be close to this one and not say a damn thing, and it’s killing me inside, and I’ve only been here less than ten minutes.
I damn near bit holes in my tongue to keep from lashing out at her, but it only took the reminder that I was enduring this for Elena’s sake to keep my mouth shut.A reminder of all that I owed her, not them, but me.I was the one she trusted, the one she loved, and no matter what the rest of them had done, I was the one who owed the greatest debt.
So, I took a deep breath and prepared myself to face the fire of my own making.At least I didn’t have to put on too much of an act since she already knew I didn’t like her even when high, but even breathing in the same air space as her was pushing it a bit for me.If I disliked her before, knowing what I know now after talking to Saunders and his men, added to the things that I’ve remembered on my own, has multiplied my hatred tenfold.
Before, I hated her for not being the one I wanted.And when I couldn’t remember clearly how we came to be, I hated her all the more.I hated not knowing why I’d chosen her, why she was the one by my side, and I guess some part of me always suspected that there was something off about the whole situation.
Even at my highest, when I could barely remember my own name or what day it was, I never forgot what I felt for Elena.And even as jaded as I was and still am, I knew that the love I had for Elena was the only pure thing in my life.I knew that I would’ve done anything in my limited power to hold onto her and what we had because it was my life; she was my life.
Once I realized that she’d used my name to bully Elena online, whatever pity I felt for her over the fact that she’d been used by her dad and Mary, along with the church, pretty much disappeared.I didn’t want to think it of her, maybe because she’d shown me a different face, but I’m convinced that she was as much to blame as they were.
Had it not been for her obsession with me, none of this would’ve happened.I’d probably be married to the woman of my heart by now, with a kid on the way.Instead, I find myself saddled with the likes of her while my woman is out there being dated by assholes, none of whom are worthy to walk in her shadow.
I’m sure the world sees me in the same light as I see them.I haven’t always been the best partner, even before all this, but there was one thing we were both sure of, and that’s our love for each other.With the drugs out of my system and my mind coming back to normal, I’d remembered it all, remembered the ease we’d had with each other, something I’d never experienced with anyone else because she was the person I loved and trusted most in this world.
I remembered that the only good times I ever had, even with all the success, were with her.She was the thing that kept me grounded even in the midst of a storm.She was the one who’d fought for me even when I didn’t find myself worthy of being saved.
As long as I live, I’ll never forgive myself for doing this to her, for putting her through all this, but I’m going to give it one hell of a try.And this waiting to go to her is going to be one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
I was snapped back to reality by Janie reaching out for my hand, which I snatched away again, not willing to go that far for the charade I was being made to play.And when I looked at her this time, it was she who took a step back even though the half smile remained on her face.
“Ryder, you’re back; where have you been?Why didn’t you call?Scott just called, but he didn’t tell me much….”She broke off when she saw the two men who had followed me in but were standing back out of the way.“Who are they?”
“They’re with me.”
“Yeah, but who….?”
“My house, I don’t have to explain, but since you asked, this is Tyler; he’s my voice coach, and Zak, my acting coach.”
“Acting?What?Is this what Scott was talking about?The something big?You’re going into acting?”She looked the two men over, but since she was not too bright, I didn’t expect her to notice the militant stance or the fact that neither of them fit the ideal of either of those professions.