Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
The two of them have been making the rounds, going to all the places we’d run her away from. Places she used to frequent with Ryder and was too chicken shit to visit now that he was mine. But lately, she’s everywhere and looking better than ever. Her PR team must be working overtime because all of her press has been glowing in the last few weeks, and it’s sickening.
“Don’t you think you’ve had enough?”
“Shut up! Just shut up, Dad. This is all your fault. You should’ve been paying attention to him. Those men you hired didn’t do their job, and now this is where we’re at. How did they let him get away?”
His look was so furious I recoiled as I thought he would hit me. He’s never done it before, not really, well, not since I was younger, not since I first laid eyes on Ryder, and the plan began to form. He’d lose his temper, sure, but he’d usually just throw things and yell. But now it seemed he was feeling the pressure as much as I was, which only made me worry more.
“I can’t take much more of this. Everyone is talking about her, about how great she looks. They’re saying that Ryder was by her side, that she’s the reason he canceled his tour in the middle of it, and everyone believes it.
“It’s not true; why would he do that when he has you to come home to?”
There was no mistaking the sarcasm in his voice, and I wished I was brave enough to smack him. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t made a deal with the dark side. My husband had way more money than my dad, which means that, as his wife, I was wealthier. I could easily push him out of my life; that way, I wouldn’t have to deal with this shit any longer.
But that would bring down the whole house of cards. I was locked in with nowhere to turn. It would be different if Ryder loved me, even a little bit, but I knew that I was nothing to either of these men. One was using me to satisfy his greed, and the other was only with me because he’d been drugged and threatened into submission.
I saw Ryder’s head bodyguard heading down to the workout room and made my excuses. I might as well do something to take the edge off, and the coke wasn’t working. Steve’s always been good for a quick lay, and though it was risky doing anything here, no one would bother us down there this time of day, I’m sure.
I shouldn’t reward him since he’d let Ryder escape, and giving him my body is just one of the ways I keep him under my control when it comes to keeping tabs on my husband. It’s a little game I came up with all my own. Give him piece on the side whenever he wants, and he doesn’t let my husband out of his sight or let any women who are prettier than me near him.
I’m sure he got a kick out of screwing the hot wife of an A-list celebrity right under his nose, and it served Ryder right for still being in love with that bitch. My phone dinged as I made my way to the elevator. It was some stupid tabloid update. The bitch was in Europe.
I’ll have to get someone over there to follow her since, lately, the people we have on her have been failing as well. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that she knew we were having her watched and had given them the slip.
Chapter 21
*Ryder*
She looks good; she looks way better than she did in that hospital bed. And just the simple act of looking at her filled me with more peace and joy than I can remember. It was a bitch being this close and still not being able to approach her, but it was good enough for now. It will have to be.
I watched her from afar and felt a smile in my heart when she threw her head back and laughed at something her friend said. She used to laugh like that with me, better even. Her laugh, like her cheeks, is one of those things I missed about her at night when I was lying alone beneath the stars, fighting to get the drugs out of my system and back to some semblance of humanity.
If it wasn’t for her, I’d have given up on the idea, especially in those first few days, which are always the hardest when going through detox. Add the psych shit to the mix, and it has been a different kind of hell. I just keep reminding myself that it’s for her because, in all honesty, if it was just for me, I don’t think I could do it.