Page 27 of It Kills Me
I turned to look at him head on. “Got a lot on my mind.”
“Saying you’re tired is a more believable excuse,” he said. “But I’ll accept your answer.” That cocky, knowing smile moved across his lips. “Enjoy the party. My old violin teacher is here. I should probably say hi.”
“You played violin?”
“Yep. Piano too. I was lame as shit.”
“I don’t think that’s lame.”
He looked at the painting again. “Goodnight, Scarlett.”
“Wait.”
He turned back to me, sliding his hands into his pockets as he regarded me. He kept several feet between us, like we were two strangers talking rather than two…friends. “Yes, sweetheart?”
All I knew was I wanted to talk to him, but I had no reason to. I had nothing of substance, no questions that needed to be answered. I’d brushed off his advances because of my commitment to Ryan, and that had ended up being a complete waste of my time. Axel was still off-limits, violated the rules my father had set for the business, but the attraction that had always burned there…suddenly burned hotter. “Have a good night.”
He continued to watch me, like he knew that hadn’t been what I wanted to say. He waited for more, but when nothing was forthcoming, he gave a nod and walked away. “You too.”
My father held up the diamond in the back seat of the car, examining its clarity as he rotated it left and right. Even the eyes had been carved out of the material. Every little move he made resulted in a spectrum of light. “Good job, sweetheart.” He lowered the diamond and looked at me, the pride so deep it made me melt. “I knew you wouldn’t let me down.” He pocketed the diamond then patted my hand where it rested on my thigh.
“I thought my heart was about to sprout wings and fly away.”
He smirked. “Fooled me.”
I had been utterly terrified to follow through with the plan, but when my father looked at me like that, it was all worth it. “Now what?”
“We get the last ring,” he said. “Then we’ll be done.”
“And what will we do when we have these rings?” He asked me to do this, trained me to do this, but he never told me why. Eager to prove that I had what it took to oversee the company in his stead, I’d jumped at the opportunity.
“You’ll see.”
After a long week, I went out to the bar with some friends.
My father had an assistant who handled a lot of things for him, but he didn’t trust her with the financials for the business, so that was entrusted to me. If this was a legitimate business, then perhaps it would be more straightforward, but since everything was encoded and paid in cash most of the time, it was a lot of work.
We sat at a table together, and none of us paid for a single drink because they were all sent over by admirers. Some of them were brave enough to come over, and the more we drank, the looser we became, and then it really turned into a party.
One of the guys who’d bought me a drink pulled up a chair beside me. He was tall, dark, and handsome, a very good-looking man. He had a nice smile too. But when his leg touched mine and his eyes took a peek at my goodies, I didn’t feel anything.
I knew it wasn’t because of Ryan.
It was because of someone else.
We made small talk, but it felt forced because all he wanted to do was close, and I wasn’t sure what I wanted. Screwing some hot guy felt like a good revenge plan against Ryan, but I didn’t really care about revenge anymore.
“Are you listening to me?” His deep voice broke through my reverie, and then his hand moved to my thigh. “Seemed like you drifted off there.” He didn’t just put his hand on my thigh, but his fingers were slightly up my skirt, making himself right at home when he’d just met me a couple minutes ago.
It didn’t make me warm, excited, or wet…just uncomfortable.
I flicked his hand off my thigh.
He sat back, clearly wounded by the action. “You know there are plenty of other women here who’d love to talk to me.”
“You weren’t talking,” I snapped. “You were groping.”
“Wow.” He gave a slight eye roll. “Whatever, bitch.” He got up to leave.