by T. L Smith
Anderson’s father stays silent, and when I chance a peek at Anderson, his eyes are like liquid heat. Is he angry?
“I can see no problem,” I reply with a snarky grin that should let them know just how sarcastic that comment was.
Both sets of mothers’ eyes fall to me.
“How can you say that?” my mother asks with a shake of her head. The disappointment is apparent in her eyes. “The man you are going to marry has a massive issue he needs to deal with. Now is the time for you to show your support and be by his side.”
“No,” I say with a smile, then look at Anderson. “You slept around. You cheated on me. It’s your baby. We all know it. So grow up and be a father, and stop letting your mother handle your problems.”
The bastard has the audacity to clench his fists on the table while his mother gasps at my words.
He wants to harm me.
I know he does.
But he can’t because there are too many people around.
Asshole.
“How dare you! You are meant to be his fiancée,” his mother says, nodding to the box sitting in the middle of the table.
The sight of it causes a shiver to run through my body that feels as if someone has just walked over my grave. It’s not a good feeling, rather one that makes me want to run and never turn back, so I say while glaring at Anderson, “That’s a hard pass.”
He stands, slams his fist on the table, and leans forward. “You don’t get a say in this. You will be my wife.”
“Nope. I think not,” I say, trying hard to keep my composure.
Anderson moves, pushes his chair out, which falls backward and slams onto the floor, then he rushes around the table. Before he can reach me, his father stands and steps out so he’s in front of him, blocking his path. He places a hand on his chest, and Anderson huffs with pinched eyebrows, so much so, they are almost a monobrow, but even more intimidating are his clenched teeth.
He’s angry.
No, he’s furious.
And if it wasn’t for his father, I’m sure I would be laid out on the floor right now.
“You need to leave,” Anderson’s father says to him, then he turns to me. “You would’ve been a great asset to our family, Rylee. I’m sorry it didn’t work out. Anderson will not bother you again.” His father drops his hand from his son’s chest and holds his hand out for his wife, who clearly wants to say more but holds her tongue. She stands, and they all hurry out, leaving me sitting with my mother at the table.
“How dare you. Are you trying to be like your sister?” my mother shrieks, her hands waving around like she’s some sort of madwoman. She reaches for the ring that was left on the table and opens the box.
It’s beautiful. The pink diamond is massive, but it’s not something I would choose. However, I cannot deny how stunning it is if you’re into ostentatious shows of wealth.
“You could have had this. Had so much.” She turns to face me. “Why would you ruin it?”
“He isn’t right for me,” I tell her. “We haven’t been right for each other for a long time. Mom, he cheated. He is going to have a damn baby with someone else. What part of that makes you think he could possibly be right for me?”
My father walks in and kisses the top of my head. “I couldn’t agree more,” he says, having heard what I said. My mother pins him with her death stare as I get up.
“I have to go. Work tomorrow,” I say, leaning down and kissing my mother’s cheek, followed by my father’s.
“You can still change your mind,” my mother calls out to me.
I don’t answer.
Because that is not happening.
Hell hasn’t frozen over the last time I looked.
Chapter 14
August
To say I haven’t woken up without my cock rock fucking hard since I last had Rylee would be an understatement.
Rich girl hasn’t called.
Rich girl hasn’t visited.
And for some reason, I like that about her.
I’m sitting at the front of the house waiting for Paige to finish school. Today’s the day she’s meant to come over, and she has been hounding me to get fresh pastry, and the other ingredients so she can make quiches.
However, I am unsettled as it’s getting late and she isn’t here.
Standing back up and going inside, I reach for my phone and call her. When the phone picks up, my heart almost stops.
“August boy, what you doing, my man?”
I pull the phone away from my ear to make sure I dialed the right number, and sure enough, I know it’s correct.
“Why the fuck do you have my sister’s phone?”
“Oh, come on, August… you know why. I fuck your mother.” He cackles.
That cackle makes me want to throw something, or better yet, break his damn jaw.
“Hey, look… I need you to do something for me.”
“No,” I reply while sliding on my shoes.
“Come on, August, just like old times. I need a favor, and, well… Paige isn’t in the mood to do it right now.”
“What do you mean… isn’t in the mood?”
“Like mother, like daughter. You should know this. Are you really that blind?”
“Where is she?”
“I told you, I need you first,” he says again. I hear a giggle in the background and close my front door.
“Go to Alfred’s and collect for me. You know what to do. You haven’t forgotten.” He hangs up, and I resist the urge to throw my phone, to smash it into a million pieces.
Alfred is a local dealer who usually owes Josh a lot of money. Back then, with all the other stupid jobs I did for Josh, he would make me collect from him. Sometimes beat his clients up and take whatever they had on them.
Last time, it was his car.
I start running, arriving at Alfred’s place as quickly as I can. When I get to the front of the house, I don’t bother to knock, simply kick open the door and find Alfred by himself, sitting on the floor with his merch in front of him.
This is why he always owes money, because he uses it.
His hollow eyes blink a few times and glance up to find me standing in his living room. It takes him a second to realize it’s me before he starts scooting backward on his ass, spilling product all over himself and the floor.
“You’re back.” His voice croaks as he speaks.
“Where’s the payment, Alfred? I have to go.”
He looks over to his television and nods. I rush over and open the black box sitting in front of the unit. Yanking up the lid, I see the cash.
“He set you up, you know. Why are you back with him?”
“I’m not,” I reply before heading out, box in hand, leaving him to get high all by him fucking self.
I only have one job, protecting my sister, she’s all that matters right now.
Josh is sitting out the front when I march to him. He has a cigarette in one hand and a glass of alcohol in the other. His eyes fall to the black box in my hand, then to me, and he shows me his rotten teeth in some sort of sneer.
“I knew you could do it,” he says, then nods to the money. “Take half as your payment.”
I throw the entire box at him, and he moves just in time for it to miss smashing into his useless head. Josh doesn’t live in the dumps like most drug pushers. No. The man isn’t stupid and doesn’t smoke nor use his product, but he does prefer the same drug as my mother, alcohol.
“Paige,” I yell.
The front door opens. Even though it’s a fucking mess inside, the outside has you fooled. Appearances make it look like it’s owned by someone who cares. Not someone who doesn’t give two shits about anyone or anything but himself.
When I see my mother standing there, I shake my head. “Where’s Paige?”
“August, come now… have a drink.”
I turn to stare at him. My hands are in clenched fists. He taps his side, where I know he keeps his gun. It’s what he uses to threaten thos
e who don’t listen to him, and the problem is I know he can use it.
“Fuck off. I did what you asked, now give her to me.” That’s when I see Paige. She steps up behind our mother and leans on the wall for support.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Walking straight over to her, I grab her face and check her eyes, then her arms.
“You drunk?” I ask. She nods, but the smile she gives me doesn’t reach her eyes. “Come on, you shouldn’t be around this trash.”
“Hey, I’m your mother.”
“You’re not a mother’s asshole,” I spit to her. “Paige, start walking.” I reach for her as and she steps out of the house and smells like cigarette smoke. Her father is going to whip her ass and then mine.
Has she been doing this for long?
“I wonder if I can get you to do more things for her,” Josh says, looking at Paige. “I never thought I would see the day that you care for someone other than yourself, August boy.” He pauses, thinking about something. “What about that other girl I saw you with last week? We all know who she is.”
It’s no secret. Everyone knows who they are. Their family is one of the richest in our town.
Ignoring Josh because I know all he wants is a reaction from me, I keep walking, practically dragging Paige behind me.
I need a fucking car.
About halfway home, she stops and leans over, spewing. She misses my shoes by a fraction and I jump back.
“Fuck, Paige. How the fuck am I going to explain this to your father?”
She starts shaking her head. Then continues to be physically ill. When I think she’s finished, I pick her up and throw her over my shoulder. She hangs on, barely, as I run the rest of the way home.
When I finally step inside, I place her on the couch and grab a bucket, putting it next to her, then go to my phone and call her father.
He answers straight away. “August, everything okay?”
“Paige is here,” I tell him.
“Oh, she was meant to be staying at Courtney’s tonight.” He pauses. “I’ll come get her.”
“Look…” I scratch the back of my neck. “There’s something you should know.”
“August…”
“I found her at Carina’s,” I tell him, using my mother’s name.
“Is she okay?”
“She’s drunk.”
He pauses again, and I hear him saying something to someone else, followed by silence before he talks again. “You aren’t allowed to interact with Josh, August. How did you get her?” he asks with suspicion.
He thinks I’m back with him.
I don’t blame him.
I protected him, beat people for him, and sold for him.
But it was for money.
I needed to survive, and that was my survival.
At the time, I had no other options. No one in this town would hire someone like me.
“I had to do a job to get her,” I tell him, and I don’t know why I do. “I’m not working for him. It was his condition for me being allowed to collect her.”
“Of course it was. He wants you back. His clients are all scared of you. He needs that fear… he doesn’t have that bargaining chip anymore.” He huffs. “I’m almost there.” He hangs up, and I head over to Paige and push her hair back as she starts throwing up again.
My front door opens, and Glenn walks in, straight to Paige, complete in his police uniform.
“How long has she been seeing her?” I ask Glenn.
“She hadn’t been… well, as far as I was aware,” he replies and reaches down for her. She opens her eyes and scoots back on the couch. “Paige, you’re coming home.” He helps her sit up, and when she does, she looks back at me with hard eyes.
“Don’t go to that house again,” I tell her.
“You shouldn’t have called him,” she says, as a tear falls from her eye.
“I had to.”
“Yes, he did,” Glenn says and nods to me as he strolls out with Paige in his arms.
Chapter 15
Rylee
“When was the last time you saw him?” Rhianna asks as we drive to our parents’ house the following weekend. It’s been a week since I sat there in front of Anderson and his parents and even longer since I’ve seen August.
One man I couldn’t care less for, the other, well, he visits me in my dreams.
“That night when you saw us,” I tell her, pulling into the driveway.
“Well, Noah told me something interesting about him.” She closes the door, and we walk to the front.
“What?”
“You know all that furniture in his house? Noah said you had seen it.” I nod, and we wait before opening the front door. “He makes it all. Noah said he’s now making it for some of his top clients after he made a desk for Noah’s office as a thank you.” I don’t say anything, just nod. “He’s good. Noah said the desk he made is probably one of the best he’s ever seen.”
Our mother opens the door and says, “Why are you waiting out here?”
“Ry was telling me all about work. You know, that fun place she goes to every day.” Rhianna walks past our mother, whose eyes fall on me.
“Where is Noah?” our mother asks, her eyes staying on me, but she’s asking Rhianna.
“Working,” she says and calls me. “Ry, come on, what are you doing?”
“Anderson is here,” my mother says quietly.
I sigh. Really?
Oh my God, what part of no does she not understand.
I go to step back only to hear my sister yell, “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Our mother immediately leaves me and hurries to Rhi. I follow and see Rhianna’s arms crossed over each other, pushing her breasts up as she stares at him.
Anderson stands, and his eyes fall to me. “I want to talk to you.” His voice is kind, and I know better than to fall for that bullshit.
“Nope, not happening,” Rhianna states.
“Rhianna, stay out of it,” our mother chides.
Rhianna’s mouth opens in astonishment.
“Maybe you should take your own advice. I heard what you did last week.” Rhianna points at her, then turns back to Anderson. “You… you need to leave. Stop being so damn desperate. She’s moved on, for God’s sake. She doesn’t want your cheating ass anymore.”
I cringe at her words because she just told him I’ve moved on.
When I check, I can tell that’s all he heard as well. His eyes narrow and he goes to take a step toward me, but Rhi blocks his path and sets herself so he can’t get to me.
“Leave, Anderson,” she says again.
“Maybe today is not a good time,” our mother finally says. “We can organize another time.”
Anderson starts to leave, but before he does, as he walks past me, he reaches for my arm, catches it, and leans in. “We need to talk.”
I pull my arm free. “No, we don’t.” I step back so he can’t reach for me again.
His eyes fly to my sister, then back to me, before he spins on his heels and leaves.
After he’s gone, I turn to my mother. “If you do that again, I won’t be back,” I tell her.
“How could you do that? Do you not care at all about Rylee’s feelings?” Rhianna says, coming to my defense as always. “She doesn’t love him. So why would you want her to be with someone who cheats on her?”
“Sometimes love is a sacrifice.” She straightens her shoulders.
“No, you meant to say love is money,” Rhianna chimes in.
Our father strolls in with Beckham next to him. I forgot how much they look alike with their dark hair and gray eyes.
“What’s going on?” our father asks. We both stand there waiting for Mom to say something, but she simply offers a smile, says nothing as she walks to the kitchen. Our father follows, leaving us standing there with Beckham.
“What happened?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Rhi says at the same time I say, “Anderson was he
re.”
Rhi’s eyes go wide.
I shrug.
“And let me guess, she let him in,” he says, nodding in the direction our mother went.
“Yep.”
“You should go,” he says.
Rhi nods in agreement.
“She shouldn’t have done that, and if you keep letting her get away with that shit, she will continue to do it.” Rhianna places a hand on my shoulder. “Go… visit a friend.” She winks.
“What friend?” Beckham asks.
This time, I don’t tell him. “No one.” He scrunches up his nose and shakes his head before he heads off.
“How are you going to get home?” I ask Rhi because I drove here.
“I’ll just text my booty call,” she replies. “He’ll come to get me. Don’t worry. Make your escape and go see your booty call.”
“Yeah, that’s a no,” I declare, stepping toward the door.
When I turn back, Rhi is on her phone, texting Noah.
“How have we completely changed positions? I would never leave an event with Mom or Dad. You, on the other hand, I covered for millions of times.”
Rhi puts her phone in her purse and heads over to kiss my cheek. “You’ve stopped drinking the poison and finally seen the light.” She pushes me out the door and shuts it firmly behind me.
I blink a few times at the shut door, then spin on my heel and get the hell out of there.
I don’t call August or even go to his place. Even though I would love to have another taste of him. Instead, I go to the bar. A few of my work colleagues are having drinks, and usually, I turn them down. Being the owner’s daughter of the business that, one day, will be mine—which I might add isn’t forced because I love what I do—I’ve never interacted outside of business with any of the employees because my father never does.
I spot Shandy first. She is also an accountant. She takes on the small-scale business clientele while only a few of us handle the larger accounts, my father and I handling the biggest. She turns, and her fiery red hair swings when she does. Shandy is one of the only people in the office who’s my age.
