Heartbreak Me (Heartbreak Duet Book 1)

by T. L Smith

  That I don’t like him, and what we have is nothing.

  So why can’t I have coffee with someone who I met through him?

  I write back, ‘yes,’ and he tells me to meet him in one hour.

  Fuck! Jumping around, I quickly get changed to make my appearance worthy, and not looking like a call girl for Atlas Hyde. Oh gosh, how many women does he have? Probably more than I want to know about.

  Fixing my makeup, I go to meet Nicholas at the local coffee shop. When I arrive, he’s easy to spot. I see his blond hair and tall frame sitting down in a booth, a paper in hand, as he flicks through the pages. Hardly anyone reads newspapers anymore, but I secretly love them.

  “Nicholas.”

  He looks up as I approach and stands, leaning over to give me a kiss on either cheek before pulling out my chair for me to sit.

  This is the kind of man I should be interested in. Nicholas is attractive in every way possible. But why when I do sit, and Nicholas looks at me, I clench my legs thinking about who was between them last night.

  “You look good.” He eyes me up and down.

  I’m not dressed up like I was every time I saw him on the island. Today, I am wearing a pair of jeans and a pink shirt with my handbag crossed over my chest, my blonde hair down and sunglasses on my face.

  “Thanks.”

  Two coffees are brought to our table, and I smile at him. “You ordered?”

  “I did. I hope that’s okay.”

  When Atlas does it, it doesn’t feel as if I have to thank him; it’s like a natural reaction for Atlas. Where this feels different.

  “Yes, it’s great. Thank you.” I smile, putting the drink to my lips and taking a small sip. “I have to talk about that money—”

  Nicholas starts shaking his head, effectively interrupting me. “No can do. It’s yours.”

  “I can’t accept your money,” I tell him. “It’s too much. Really it is.”

  “We have to tip the girls on that island. For one night it’s 50K. Trust me when I say it’s not enough for the company you provided me with for just a few hours.” My eyes bulge as I stare at him, blinking a few times. “You look shocked. How did you not know this?”

  “No. I didn’t know at all.”

  He scrunches his eyebrows together. “How didn’t you know? Did you come for free?”

  “Not really, I had a debt to pay.”

  Nicholas watches me like he’s trying to work it out, but that tilting of his head in concern is only fleeting. “A debt?”

  “Yes, to Atlas.”

  “You call him by his first name?” I bite my lip but don’t answer. “Does he allow that?” He pauses when I don’t answer again. “We all call him sir or Mr. Hyde, especially on his island. Mr. Hyde is a powerful man,” he claims categorically while looking at me. “I guess you are a prize.”

  I don’t like that he says that about me. Prize? I am a fucking woman, not someone’s object to be unwrapped and thrown to one side.

  “I would have never gone to that island if I didn’t owe a debt,” I tell him honestly. “And if I knew where I was going, I more than likely wouldn’t have gone anyway.” I place my coffee down as he nods at my words.

  “Fair enough. I’m guessing you won’t be telling me about the debt you owe?”

  “Sorry, no.” I put the coffee cup to my mouth.

  “Keep the money. I’m serious. Honestly, it’s a thank you for keeping me company and saving me money.” He smiles, it is infectious, and I smile back at him.

  “I could never.”

  “Are you still looking for work?” Nicholas asks, folding the newspaper in front of him.

  “No. I got my old job back, it seems.”

  “Oh.” He raises an eyebrow. “How did that happen?”

  “Atlas.”

  “Uh-huh.” He nods. “I see.”

  “I don’t. I don’t understand him.”

  “You are a beautiful woman. He sees that in you.”

  “Atlas sees many beautiful women.”

  “That he does, but no one like you.”

  We stay and talk a little longer. Nicholas tells me about his work and why he is in town. As we get up to leave, he asks if he can walk me back to my house. I think nothing of it, as I enjoy his company. I tell him about my running, and he jokes about the fact I could probably outrun him. When I laugh at something he says, he wraps a hand around my waist, pulling me to his side.

  “Zander.”

  My head turns fast at that voice.

  “Sorry?” I ask, looking from Nicholas to Atlas who is waiting at his car in front of my house.

  “Zander, why are you hanging around my things?”

  Nicholas drops his hands from my shoulders and smirks at Atlas. “You shouldn’t call this beautiful woman… your things,” Nicholas says before he turns and offers me a smile. “I should go. Thank you for coffee, I enjoy your company immensely, and I hope to do it again soon.” He looks to the car. “Atlas,” he says with a sly grin, and turns, walking off. I watch Nicholas leave, and when I look back at Atlas, his eyes are wide open, set in a glare, his body tense as he stares at me.

  “You couldn’t wait. Really?” Atlas shakes his head as he spits the words from his mouth like pure venom.

  “Wait for what?” I ask him.

  Atlas’s eyebrows pull down as he locks his stare firmly on me. “You are just like her… more than you realize. More than I realized.” He turns for his car.

  “Atlas! What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “You are a whore.”

  My head snaps back, expelling an audible yet cut off breath while becoming momentarily speechless. Once his words sink in, I say, “You did not just call me that.” I hold up one hand. “You so did not just call me that.”

  “Do you deny it?”

  “Dickhead! One coffee with a man I met because of you, does not make me a damn whore.”

  “Coffee? That’s what you like to call it?”

  I won’t play his games, so I turn away and head to my door.

  “I’ll see you on Monday,” I tell him while opening it.

  “No, you will not.”

  I turn back to look at him. “I could be rash right now and fire you,” he says, slipping on his sunglasses and looking in the direction Nicholas walked. “But I’ve decided keeping you around will be fun. You will see Sydney on Monday and report to her.” He gets in his car and drives off, leaving me wondering why the fuck he’s so angry. Surely it can’t be because of Nicholas. I met the man because of him.

  Atlas was true to his word. He wasn’t in the office on Monday or all week for that matter. I managed to hire back all the staff I lost, and I have guaranteed their jobs at Sydney’s request. She came in once to check with me, then left, and I haven’t seen her all week.

  When Friday rolls around, I want answers. Like for one, why hasn’t my sister called if Atlas let her go as he promised. She cannot be that heartless, surely? She would know what I have had to do for her. What I have had to go through. The least I should get is a simple thank you.

  Walking out to my car after work to meet Tina for dinner, I spot Sydney with a bunch of paperwork in her hands as she comes up to the warehouse.

  “Sydney.”

  She stops, huffs, and looks up at me. “Yes.”

  “My sister…” I trail off the question right there.

  “Yes?” She asks, her eyes drilling into me.

  “Where is she?” I am hoping for some kind of damn truth.

  “Where does your sister go? I have no idea. Shouldn’t you be asking her yourself, not me?”

  “Atlas let her go?”

  She drops her head to the side. “Did he not tell you that was what he was doing?”

  “Yes, but…” I look away, then back to her.

  “Ohh, I get it. She hasn’t even bothered to find you, has she?”

  “No.”

  “Some sister you have there.” Sydney walks off and into the warehouse. She has set
up her own office, but she doesn’t bother anyone and is hardly there anyway. She’s actually good to work with because she keeps her nose out of everything.

  I’m already dressed to meet Tina, so I go straight to the restaurant. When I get there, I spot Tina at the bar with a drink in her hand sitting on a stool waiting for me.

  “Hey.” I smile, taking the seat next to her.

  Tina’s face lights up, and she pulls me to her for a hug. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you.” I chuckle at her words. “How is Atlas? Treating you right?” She winks. “Tell me… have you slept with him yet?” I blush at her words. “Oh, gosh, you have. So, it’s serious?”

  Most of the men I have been with have been serious, and even then, I wait to sleep with them. But Atlas, somehow, he’s different and has managed to crawl between my defenses.

  “No, it’s not.”

  “Are you letting your freak flag fly?” she says with a smirk.

  “Freak flag?” I mumble, hiding my laugh.

  Tina winks as the bartender happens to walk over at that exact moment.

  “Two more gin and tonics,” Tina orders for us. “Our table should be ready soon. They are busy tonight.” I look over my shoulder and see just that; the place is packed. It’s a popular restaurant in our part of town, which is about twenty or so minutes from the city. But we like living out here.

  “So, tell me all about Atlas.”

  “Not much to tell, really.” I shrug. “We had sex.”

  “That’s it? You just went ‘wham, bam, thank you, ma’am’ and off you went?”

  “More like off he went.”

  Tina cringes at my words. “Maybe he has commitment issues. All the pretty ones do.”

  The bartender coughs at Tina’s comment, then hands us our drinks.

  “Oh, you’re pretty too. I bet you have commitment issues, handsome.” He nods, then walks off. “See, the pretty ones are the fucked-up ones. And yours is deadly pretty. You know the type… they will singe you with their prettiness.”

  “Is that even a saying?”

  “Fucked if I know, but I am making it one.”

  “Okay, then.” I smile.

  “So, he gave you your job back. Are you going to be bringing that up anytime soon? What happened to the evil bitch and her cohort husband?” I told Tina that Atlas acquired the business and gave me my job back, plus a pay rise. She was as surprised as I was and didn’t ask too many questions at the time. I guess now is the time for the questions.

  “I don’t know, and I’m not really sure I care. They not only fucked me over, but everyone who worked there.”

  “I told you they were bad. I bet it was a gambling debt because you know, Atlas owns that casino in the city.”

  “Probably.” She is right. But that’s not my business to divulge. As long as I have my job, I am happy.

  “No man does that for just any woman. So don’t worry about the sex if you’re shit at it.” I hit her arm and shake my head. “He obviously likes your pussy to give you your job, and everyone else’s, back.”

  “Maybe.”

  “No. No maybes about it.” She picks up her drink and takes a sip. “So, any news on Lucy?”

  All Tina knows is I haven’t seen her in a long while, and Atlas was in my life because of her.

  “No, still hasn’t reached out or anything.”

  “You need to stop enabling her. I know you have tried, but when she is in a pickle, you always recuse her.”

  Because I’m all she has.

  Or, so I thought.

  “I heard she got married. Met her husband, actually,” I tell her, thinking about Benji.

  Tina’s eyes pop wide as she openly glares at me. “Well, holy fuck.”

  “Yep.”

  “What a cunt.”

  I chuckle at her words.

  Our names are called, as they now have a table for us. The food is amazing, and by the time we leave, I’m well on my way to being tipsy and happy. Very happy, actually. Friends have that effect on you if they’re good ones.

  “Theadora…” my name is called.

  Tina’s hand clutches my forearm as I look in the direction of where my name just came from.

  When I see my sister, I freeze.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Theadora

  Lucy stands in front of me, one hand touching her other as she gazes at me. She looks good, not like I was expecting after being held captive. Her hair is dark and shiny, her makeup is flawless, and her clothes are designer.

  “Lucy,” I say in disbelief.

  Just then, Benji steps up next to her, gripping her waist as she leans into him, touching his chest with one hand.

  “You have some nerve,” I tell her. Lucy has the cheek to look down. “No fucking ‘Thank you for saving my ass’? Not even a visit?” My voice is rising the angrier I get. I step up to Lucy and attempt to pull at her arm, trying to walk away so I can talk to her in private. Benji grips her tightly, though, holding her to him, so I swing around and say, “You better let her arm go right now, or I will dick punch you so fucking hard you won’t be able to walk for a fucking week.”

  Benji let’s go immediately and looks at his wife. She nods as I pull her away.

  “Thea,” she says, but my legs won’t stop walking until we are far enough away that I can scream and yell at her all I want.

  When we get to my car, I turn around to face her. Lucy’s wearing a black dress that clings to her as she stands straight with no remorse on her face whatsoever.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” I yell at her. “Where the fuck have you been?”

  She shrugs. Fucking shrugs. “With Benji.”

  “Your husband?” I ask.

  She glances down at the ring on her finger.

  “Yeah, nice of you to fucking tell me that, by the way.”

  Dark eyes glance up at me, completely opposite to my light ones. “Would you have even cared?”

  My mouth opens wide, and I ask in a shaky, disbelieving voice, “Are you serious right now?”

  “You stopped caring what I do a while ago,” she points out.

  “What? Because I stopped enabling you, I stopped caring, is that what you’re saying?”

  “You don’t enable me.”

  “I have always supported you, even when you fuck shit up.”

  “You didn’t have a problem doing that with Atlas. You came to the rescue for him.”

  I point my finger at her chest and push it into her. “You! I did it for you! You ungrateful bitch.”

  She rolls her eyes at me. “So, are you telling me you didn’t fuck him?” She raises an eyebrow.

  I notice Benji walking over toward us and turn to him. “You! You can fuck off.”

  He looks to Lucy who shrugs and starts to walk away from me. I grab her, but she pushes me away, so I snatch her by her long dark hair, pulling her back to me. Benji walks over and touches my arm. I turn fast and punch him right between the legs. Lucy screams, but I don’t let go of her hair.

  “A thank you is all I ask for, you ungrateful fucking bitch, a simple thank you. You know those two words you have never given me in your life. Like ever. Even after I looked after you, bailed you out of everything you did wrong. A simple fucking thank you.” I pull her hair, so she’s in my face. “I’m the only family you have left.”

  “I love him, and you took him,” she screams. “He was mine,” she says, trying to get me to let go, but my hands are locked on her hair.

  “Who?” I ask, confused, as I look to Benji while he stands there with his fists clenched and his eyes narrowed in on me. “Benji?” I ask, looking back at Lucy. “I would never,” I say, shaking my head.

  She pulls at my hand until I let go and steps up close to my face. “Atlas! You took him, and he was mine,” she screams.

  “You’re married,” I say. I don’t understand what she is talking about right now.

  “I wanted him first.” Lucy’s bottom lip puckers out, and just
when I am about to say something, the wind gets knocked out of me, and I get pushed backward until I land on the ground.

  Looking up, I see Benji with his chin high, and his breathing heavy. He flexes his fingers, then they form tight fists. “You fucking bitch,” he says, stepping up closer while I’m still on the ground. “Who the fuck do you think you are?” Benji kicks me, and this time I know I don’t deserve that. No fucking way, even after punching him in the balls.

  “Oh no, you didn’t,” I hear Tina screaming. “I’m calling the cops.” She has her phone to her ear.

  Benji pauses as Lucy steps up and touches his shoulder, calming him down. Once she thinks he’s calm enough, she looks down at me. “You deserved that, Thea. You don’t get to have everything with a flutter of your lashes. This man, you can’t have.” She leans up and kisses his cheek, and I watch as his body visibly relaxes at her touch.

  Tina drops down next to me, her hands touching me to make sure I am all right before she looks up at Lucy. “I would fucking hate to be related to you, you selfish cunt,” Tina says.

  Lucy wrinkles her nose and turns, pulling Benji away with her and they walk off. I’m unable to move as I sit on the ground with my ribs aching as I try to catch my breath.

  “You’re bleeding,” Tina says.

  I look down at my hand and see I have cut it on something when I fell. “It’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not. Stop forgiving her. Lucy does not care about you… At. All. And that is clear as she walked away without seeing if you’re okay.”

  She’s right, I know it. Problem is, she’s still my sister.

  “Okay, we need to get you to the hospital. Can you walk?” I go to stand but scream out in pain when it hurts. “Don’t even try that again, I’m calling for an ambulance.”

  Tina does as she says and waits with me until the EMTs arrive. Once they have assessed me, Tina rides in the ambulance as well while she nervously bounces her leg.

  When we finally arrive at the hospital, the doctor comes in and checks me over from head to toes.

  “A guy named Nicholas called. He wanted to know what happened and what hospital you’re at.” Tina hands me my cell, and I see multiple text messages from him.