The Cruelest Stranger Read online Winter Renshaw

Categories Genre: Alpha Male, Contemporary, Romance Tags Authors:
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Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 72765 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
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When I emerge, the bastard is gone.

Thank God.

But when I return to my table … so is my date.

16

Bennett

I swipe my keycard against the lock on the penthouse elevator and wait for the doors to part.

I’m not sorry for what I did tonight—for warning that sad bastard in the tired Prada suit that the woman he was enjoying his lovely evening with was nothing more than an angel-faced hustler.

At first he didn’t want to believe me … until I introduced myself—last name first, of course. I’m not afraid to namedrop myself when the situation calls for it. I was tasteful about the entire thing though, kept my voice down, shared my concerns with him ‘bro to bro.’

When I was finished, the sorry sap couldn’t get out of there fast enough. He shot up, swiped his jacket off the hook, tossed a wrinkled hundred onto the table, and booked it out of there.

I got the hell out of Dodge too.

No point in sticking around for a teary encore of her last Oscar-winning performance by the ladies’ room.

God, she’s good.

Truly.

She almost had me convinced that she was authentic Saturday night. The conversation flowed. She held her own. Couldn’t take her eyes off me.

I’m convinced the sole reason she pulled the brakes on her little operation was because she knew after I’d read her email, the jig would be up, there would be no lucrative payday, and her efforts would’ve been in vain.

I toss my jacket over the back of a chair and drop my keys and wallet on the counter before heading into a darkened living room lit by the night sky filtering in through the naked windows.

It was pure chance tonight that I spotted her inside Fino.

I was walking back from my cardiologist appointment when I happened to glance over and spot my little Anonymous Stranger sipping red wine and laughing with a tall, dark, and extremely rich-looking gentleman who had nothing but kaleidoscope eyes for our sweet Astaire.

He reminded me so much of myself a few days ago—minus the kaleidoscope eyes, of course, and I had to do my due diligence and warn the poor guy.

Checking the time, I head back to my room, change out of the day’s clothes and into sweats and a t-shirt, and settle into my bed.

Tomorrow I’m interviewing nannies for Honor—something I never thought I’d be doing in a million years. Margaux was supposed to send me all of their resumes along with a schedule before she left for the day, so I grab my phone and pull up my work email.

Sure enough, she sent everything at 4:58 PM—two minutes to spare. I’m about to select her message when I notice something above it—an email hot off the presses and sent a mere three minutes ago.

Smirking, I feed my curiosity.

TO: Bennett.Schoenbach@SchoenbachCorp

FROM: AnonStranger@Rockmail

SUBJECT: RE: re: re: re: Condolences

Bennett,

If you want to be miserable—fine. That’s your prerogative. But it doesn’t give you the right to go around destroying everyone else’s happiness. I’m not sure why you think I’m some kind of scammer or that I would have any reason to lie to you. I’ve never asked you for a thing. I’ve only ever shown you kindness, compassion, and sympathy. Perhaps those are foreign to you. Perhaps you’re so miserly and habitually dejected that those things are a language you couldn’t possibly begin to understand.

The things I did … sending you those emails … came from a good place, even if you refuse to believe that. And running into you last weekend was purely coincidental—not that you can say the same about tonight.

Maybe I should have spoken up last Saturday—and believe me, I wanted to many times—but I was enjoying my time with you. You made me laugh, you made me feel alive again for the first time since losing Trevor, and I was clinging onto that feeling until you put your hand on my knee—then I realized that I couldn’t possibly let it go any further, couldn’t bring myself to add insult to injury by going home with you, because you were going to read my email sooner or later.

So I saw myself out of that situation because it was the right thing to do, and clearly, it was for the best because you are the WORST kind of human being.

You are beyond irredeemable.

Please, if for some insane reason you happen upon me again, do us both a favor and walk the other way. I promise to do the same.

Best wishes—

Astaire

Sitting up in bed, I click on the lamp beside me and fire off a response.

TO: AnonStranger@Rockmail

FROM: Bennett.Schoenbach@SchoenbachCorp

SUBJECT: RE: re: re: re: re: Condolences

Astaire,

Best wishes? Seriously? What kind of uninspiring mind fuckery is that? I thought you were a professional manipulator? Surely you can come up with something more original than best-fucking-wishes.

But I digress.

On the extremely off-chance that you aren’t a gold-digging con-woman, then you owe me an enormous apology as well as an even bigger thank-you.


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