Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 106806 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106806 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
I should wait inside and call Oliver. He’d pick me up if I asked, but I want to get home and set all this stuff out for him. I want to surprise him. Look, I did something scary for you. See? You deserve love too. See? I’m not going anywhere.
A little sleet never hurt anyone, so I decide to walk as planned and turn to lock up.
“You blocked my number.”
I freeze at the sound of that familiar voice behind me. I make myself take a breath and turn the lock much more calmly than I feel before palming my keys.
I can already tell how close he is, even before I turn around and look into his dark eyes. Chuck looks exhausted, as if he’s been training hard and partying harder. But at least he’s not drunk. “What do you want?” I ask.
“I want to talk to you. Jesus. I fucking did everything for you, and you disappeared from my life.”
I shake my head. Intellectually, it’s easy to see how I could’ve fallen in with Chuck. How his sweet words and whirlwind love-bombing would sweep me off my feet when my self-esteem was so nonexistent. But I still hate myself for it. It’s beyond embarrassing that I fell for his shit. “You lost that fight on purpose—after convincing Nathan to bet more on it than he had. Why would I talk to you after that?”
He jams his hands into his pockets. “I have a problem, okay? I just needed a little extra cash to cover my own gambling debts, and I knew your family had money, so—”
“But they don’t. My family hasn’t had money for decades.”
His nostrils flare. “They have that fancy fucking house. And I’ve seen the car your dad drives.”
That “fancy house” is mortgaged to the max and that car was my grandfather’s prized possession, but Chuck doesn’t know that and doesn’t deserve any explanation. “I don’t have time for this. I need to get home.”
“Home? Is that what you think it is?”
I adjust my purse on my shoulder and walk away, putting distance between us as fast as possible. I’ve been learning self-defense, but I don’t want to use it.
“Time to get home and get on your knees for Oliver?”
I spin around, anger pumping hot in my veins. “Why are you being such a dick?”
“Everyone knows he bought you like a fucking whore, so you can stop pretending he’s your boyfriend.”
“I never said he was my boyfriend.” My voice is shaking. “But for the record, I would get on my knees for Oliver every day of the week before I ever let you touch me again. At least he gives a shit about me and isn’t using me because he thinks my family is rich.”
“Nah, he doesn’t need your family’s money,” he says, jogging to catch up with me. “He has plenty of his own. So much that he’d rather buy a piece of ass than have to bother with romance and shit.”
I roll my eyes and keep walking. “Whatever. Tell yourself whatever you want.”
“You’re so fucking naïve, Savannah. How do you think he knew to show up and save you that night?” He smirks. “You think he just walks around paying people’s debts?”
I have no doubt about how it looks from the outside, but I know the truth, and that’s good enough. Oliver helped me because he needed whatever it is I’m carrying in this purse. And because he hates Chuck and wanted to stick one to him.
“You were so quick to call me out for throwing that fight,” Chuck says, his steps quick behind me and his voice coming closer, “but did you ever stop to ask yourself who would pay me to do that? Did you ever ask yourself who would have enough money that I’d be willing to risk Nathan’s ass?”
I stop walking. It’s like my mind can’t handle processing his words at the same time as putting one foot in front of the other. My hand tightens around the strap of my purse. “What are you saying?”
“Rhett paid me ten grand to throw the fight. He gave me fat cash to make you the damsel in distress, trying to save her brother. But joke’s on him because I don’t want anything to do with your used-up cunt.”
He storms away, and I’m so unsteady that his ugly words don’t even sting. Oliver is the one who paid off Chuck. Oliver put my brother in danger, and Oliver crafted this whole situation to get me under his roof and doing his bidding.
I know it’s true as surely as I know the icy rain coating the sidewalk is real.
Part Thirteen
PRESENT DAY
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
ALEC
“Do you want me to call a tow for your car?” I ask Savvy when I drive her home from the rehearsal dinner. We made it through the night. Barely. But it’s over now. One more event to go, and then I plan to avoid family gatherings like the plague for as long as possible.