by A. m Madden
“Because winning the show would have meant earning the money. I guess you felt I deserved compensation for the stellar blow jobs. Maybe if I threw in a few more, you would have made it an even five hundred grand.” Not wanting to be near him, I placed the box containing the bracelet on an end table near the door.
“You’re so wrong, Brae.” His greenish-brown eyes bore into mine and the faint gray circle that rimmed the irises still mesmerized me.
“How am I wrong, Jude? Now you’ve forced me to owe you, and if you knew me at all, you should have known that would bother me. Clearly, getting to know me on a personal level wasn’t on your priority list.”
He raked his hand through his hair, walked over to his desk, and hung his jacket over the back of his chair before loosening his tie. “I’d think losing your parents’ farm would bother you more than thinking you owed me money. I just did it to help you.” He went from being hurt and upset back to the sardonic man I’d met so many weeks ago.
His patronizing tone made my chest heave with frustrated breaths. “Of course, Jude to the rescue. Now I’m indebted to you, right? Was that your plan? To have that over me? What was your motive? What I think is you chose to live with me in every sense of the word, use me, and then throw me the money right after you threw me away. How is that different than being your whore?” I jutted my chin out.
“Because . . .” He sat slumped in his chair. “You know what? Never mind.” He flipped open a file on his desk before lifting his angry eyes to focus on my face. “Obviously, nothing I say will convince you otherwise. Are you done making me out to be the bad guy?”
“Honestly, you could have saved us both the time and paid it off right after I told you, then you could have come back to the city, taken care of your company, and all of this could have been avoided.”
“I didn’t have the account number or a way to contact the bank or I would have,” he seethed through gritted teeth.
I let out a dejected, “Wow.” Our eyes locked and remorse instantly altered his livid expression. If I didn’t walk away now, I knew I’d be a mess of tears. The skin on my face prickled. I had to leave. My hand gripped the door handle, and my eyes landed on a framed children’s drawing that said, “Thank you, Mr. Soren, for our new playground.”
The tears I held back swelled at the memory of that day and how generous he had been when we stumbled onto that sad orphanage. My chest constricted in pain over the conflict I felt between wanting the good guy I knew he could be, and pushing away the one who kept breaking my heart.
The raw pain won the battle. I turned to look at Jude one last time. “When I left the island, I asked you not to contact me. Although I know how hard it is for you to adhere to your words, please try to, and don’t ever think of me again.”
“Brae . . .”
My lips rolled between my teeth. This was exhausting me. I wanted to go home. Without another glance, I opened the door and left. Salty tears blurring my vision, I hustled toward the elevators, not noticing Luca until I barreled into him.
“Hey, are you okay?” He reached out, trying to steady me.
“Yes, thank you.” As quick as I heard the ding of the elevator door, I slid in and escaped all that was Jude Soren.
Jude
The small crystal globe adorning my desk met its demise as I hurled it against the wall. Luca walked in at the exact moment it crashed to the marble floor and shattered into a million pieces.
“I liked that thing,” he said with a frown. Ignoring his comment, I sat back in my chair. That woman infuriated me like no one ever has in my life. My blood simmered in my veins as Luca sat staring at me with an arrogant smirk. “What the hell did you do to her?”
“What did I do to her?”
His eyes trained on my face, he nodded. “Yes, that is what I asked.”
“She . . .” I scrubbed my hand through my hair. “You know what, it doesn’t matter.”
“Really?” His arrogance grew, along with the smirk on his face. “She runs out crying hysterically. You throw objects against a wall. But, you’re absolutely right, it doesn’t matter.”
“I have work to do,” I said, dismissing him with a wave of my hand. Pretending to read over the Waldon file, I ignored his eyes on me.
When it was clear he had no plans to leave, I glanced up, watching as he crossed the room to help himself to a water out of my mini fridge. Looking like he didn’t have a care in the world—which, compared to me, he didn’t—he assumed his comfortable position in the chair facing my desk.
“I’m serious, Luca.”
“So am I. You can pretend to be studying that file, but I’m on to you, Soren.”
“Really? What exactly are you on to, Benedetto?”
“That you’re not the same man who left here almost two months ago. I watched you these past few days, and you can’t fool me.” He twisted the cap of his bottle before taking a long, deliberate drink. “I know you’ve changed.”
“You don’t know shit.” I turned my attention to my computer screen and stared at the NYSE homepage, but only saw Brae’s face instead. “I don’t have time for your stupid theories,” I grumbled, not bothering to hide my frustration.
“Yes, it is just a theory, I’ll give you that. To be honest, I have no idea what the hell has happened to you. Maybe you got bit by a mosquito in the tropics and are infected with the Zika virus,” he said on a chuckle that turned into a laugh when he met my glare. “So . . .” he continued, clearing his throat in an amused sort of way, “my theory is . . . that woman got under your skin. Never having been in love . . .”
“Love? Are you fucking insane?” The words felt like acid as they passed my lips.
“Whatever. Love, lust, bubonic plague . . . whatever it is you’re suffering from. I have no idea how or why that could happen in a few short weeks, but . . .”
“Five weeks, to be exact,” I interrupted. “Thirty-five days, night and day, all day long, just her and me, with nothing to do for hours and hours.”
His eyes widened, along with his grin. “Do you know the exact amount of hours?”
Eight hundred and forty-two.
With a bored expression, I folded my arms to wait him out. I knew my friend well enough to know when he had something to say, he’d make sure he was heard. Unlike Kyle, who babbled like a woman at times, Luca was a man of few words. And there wasn’t a doubt I would be forced to wait for him to enlighten me.
Those words of wisdom came almost a full minute later when he said, “You look like shit. You act like your best friend died, which I know hasn’t happened since I’m sitting right here. Whatever it is that she did to you, you got it bad.”
Sweat poured down my back as I beat the shit out of the seventy pound Everlast victim hanging from a chain mounted to the ceiling. Not many were there at the ungodly hour of six a.m. My normal appearance would have been at least two hours later before I went to the office to begin my twelve-hour day.
Getting to the gym at the crack of dawn became my new norm these past few weeks. The early morning crowd wasn’t interested in interacting, and that suited me just fine. Those who were there ignored me. I guess when your body language said, don’t fucking talk to me, people apparently listened. The scowl on my face, the earbuds in my ear, and the way I aggressively pounded the punching bag most definitely helped to ensure they didn’t.
During the hours before the workday, or right after, meant the gym was more like a social gathering. I wasn’t interested in socializing, or flirting with the women who made working out a way of life, or talking business with the men who thought the bigger the weights they lifted, the hotter the chick they’d land.
The only thing I was interested in was taking out my frustrations while trying to forget. Only when my muscles screamed for me to stop did I step away to reach for the towel I draped around the chain-link.
“Hey, Jude. How’ve you been?” With my back to her, she was spared the eye-roll I made at the sound of her voice.
“Hey, Lanie. Good. You?” I turned, the biggest fake smile I could muster plastered on my face.
“I’m awesome. I landed that modeling job I told you about. It’s been surreal.”
“That’s great,” I said with the same amount of enthusiasm one would use when hearing they were fired.
Her ruby red lips spread into a salacious grin. The sports bra that doubled as a top stretched over her ample boobs—the same ones I’d sucked on. Her tiny spandex boyshorts molded over her pussy like a second skin. Her platinum blonde hair screamed bottle. In fact, everything about her screamed fake. Who wore false eyelashes to a gym?
Brae wouldn’t dare . . .
Fuck.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” I schooled my features to hide my boredom.
“I said I haven’t seen you around in a while. Traveling for business?”
“Um . . . yeah. I’ve been swamped.” I grabbed the bottle of water I placed on the bench against the wall, and her eyes ravished me as I took a long gulp. I followed her tongue as she swiped it across her bottom lip. It instantly reminded me of the night she dragged it up my cock, leaving red lipstick all over me like a crime scene. Even the way she glanced around the gym, as if contemplating dropping to her knees to suck me off right then and there . . . did nothing.
“I’m glad I ran into you. A few of us are going to Claw Hammer tonight to celebrate Sapphire’s birthday. Why don’t you guys meet us there. You remember her, right?”
I had to bite my tongue to stop from laughing. Instantly, I remembered the bouncy, annoying redhead who wanted Kyle’s cock.
“Yes, I remember. Well, we wouldn’t want to disappoint . . . Sapphire. Maybe, we’ll see you guys there.”
She squealed, causing me to blink. “Yay. Okay, we’ll see you later. Be sure to bring Kyle. Sapphire would love to see him.”
“Oh, no worries, Lanie. He’ll be there.” If I had to duct tape his arms and legs and carry him in, he’d be there.
Revenge.
Chapter 28
Brae
With a sigh, I took a long gulp of my drug of choice for the evening. Numbing myself, that would help me get through. Although, I preferred to do so while at home in my cozy apartment, I really wasn’t given a choice. And now that we were here, this evening seemed to be turning into an intervention.
Making the decision to move back home wasn’t made in haste. I’d been thinking about it for a while. Even though I loved my apartment, and loved living in the city, I could save three thousand a month if I moved upstate with my parents. Actually, I’d save more than that by living off the farm and mooching off my mother’s cooking.
But my friends weren’t going to let me go without an argument.
Aside from living expenses, I had a bigger debt to pay off. Yes, I could use my savings to pay a small chunk of it, but it would take the rest of my life to pay Jude back. Staying in my apartment would just delay it. Until my debt was paid, I’d be tied to him, and that was the last thing I wanted or needed right now. It was hard enough trying to get over him without having money looming over my head. Now that I knew he was behind the loan, it was damn near impossible not to think about him every day.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that he owned a piece of me. He took away what little control I had over the situation, which really pissed me off—especially since Jude knew I hated not having control. Part of me wondered if he did it to alleviate his guilt or to help me. My heart wished it was the latter, but my brain told me otherwise.
The worst part was having to tell my parents I’d been helping them. When I admitted I’d participated in a game show to try to win the money, my mother wasn’t pleased. Then she was even less pleased when I told her I was out of the country.
After I apologized profusely for lying, she thanked me for trying. Naturally, I left out what type of game show and that it involved a man. That would have sent her over the edge and I would have been living with parental guilt for years. It was bad enough living with the feelings I already had. Once she heard my version of the truth, my mother understood why I did it, but wasn’t very happy given my current situation.
When she questioned how the balance was paid, I told her I met an investor who helped me. Not a complete fabrication of the truth, and even though she couldn’t see my fingers, which were crossed behind my back, at least I was able to answer her questions.
So, here we were, in José Ponchos, which wasn’t helping my migraine since the noise level was through the roof. The bodies jammed together along the bar looked like one large orgy in motion—albeit a clothed one. “This place is getting too popular,” I grumbled over the rim of my margarita.
“Aren’t we in a great mood, Miss Mary Sunshine,” Desiree chastised with a raised brow.
Vanessa refilled my glass without invitation and lifted hers, giggling as the slushy liquid spilled over the side. “Oops. Okay, a toast. To our Brae-Brae. May she find a hot, overall-wearing farmer to milk her teets . . . tits.” She looked at us confused. “Tits or teets?”
Ignoring our tipsy friend, Cassie’s smile warmed me when our eyes met. Since the whole spark flame nonsense, she’d been almost weepy over my situation. My girls knew it all, and I held nothing back when I gave them every detail. And true to their personalities, they each responded differently.
Vanessa wanted every sordid detail involving me doing Jude. Desiree was more interested in the possibility of suing Ignite Your Spark since technically we weren’t together when Jude left. She was sure there was a loophole, and I was letting her stew over that. And Cassie, my sweet friend, was concerned for my broken heart.
She reached for my hand and squeezed. “Can I make a suggestion?”
“Of course.” I looked down into my cocktail. If I saw sadness of any kind, I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t bawl right there in José Ponchos. “Sweetie, move in with me for a while. You can save some money and pay him what you would be paying for rent. Take some time, then go home. There’s no rush now that the banks aren’t hounding.”
“There’s an even bigger rush for me to leave this city where I can run into him at any moment.” Three sets of mascaraed eyes stared at me. “I fell in love with him.” I stunned them silent, and quickly moved on. “But thank you, Cassie. I appreciate it. The quicker I get home, the quicker I can get the farm up and running to how it was in its heyday. Besides, it’s a hell of a lot more gratifying than waitressing at Sunbeam Diner.”
“Those retro uniforms are adorable,” Vanessa quipped. “You’d get a lot of propositions, no doubt.” The three of us stared at her. Unperturbed, she shrugged, and said, “We need more.” Taking the empty pitcher with her, she beelined toward the bar.
“Just one day in my life I’d love to be as carefree as Vanessa,” I voiced my thoughts.
“Anyway . . .” Des said on a sigh, “Cassie’s right, Brae. Rushing upstate now seems rash. You need time to decompress before you take on the stress of running a farm.”
“I just had three weeks to decompress.” I wanted to add that during that time I’d done nothing but reminisce, stew, and cry over him. I literally flip-flopped between missing him desperately to hating myself for wasting the energy.
Vanessa came back way too soon to have waited in that huge bar line. Holding a fresh pitcher of margaritas in one hand and dragging Shelly behind her with the other, she grinned, and said, “Look who I found.”
“Brae!” Coming to my side of the table, she pulled me out of my chair into a gripping hug. “I feel so guilty. I’m so sorry. I really am. I—”
“Shell, it’s fine.” I patted her back, reversing the roles and consoling her. “I knew going in what the risk was. No one forced it on me. It’s totally fine.”
“I know, but still. All that aggravation and torment.”
Torment.
Was it? I couldn’t say it was until the last hour. Even in the beginning when he drove me nuts and teased me relentlessly, it was never a torment to be with him.
&
nbsp; “Water under the bridge.” I smiled as genuinely as I could. “Join us?”
She nodded, the guilt she felt was written all over her face. Determined to steer the conversation to safer topics, I mentioned the drink specials, sat back, and listened as my friends chattered and laughed around me. With each funny story and glass we consumed, I was able to forget who Jude Soren was for the time being.
Jude
With the excuse of needing to get drunk, it didn’t take long to convince Kyle and Luca to go to the bar Lanie invited us to. But five minutes in, revenge was no longer that important to me. The place was nothing less than a meat market, filled with scantily clad women on the prowl and successful single men watching the hunt.
Lanie, Sapphire, and . . . I won’t even pretend to remember her name, surrounded us seconds after we entered the bar and led us to their table. The only way they could have spotted us that quick in a crowd that size was if one of them was playing lookout.
Kyle’s ass was barely planted on the seat when Sapphire wrapped herself around him. “Dance with me,” she shrieked loud enough to be heard over the blaring music. The color of her ruby red hair was the exact shade of her cocktail. She placed it on the table and yanked on his arm.
“Oh, I want to dance, too.” Lanie turned toward me and I shook my head before she could ask her question.
“Maybe later, I need a drink first.”
Luca and I left to get the much-needed alcohol. The look on Kyle’s face as Sapphire mauled him on the dance floor helped to at least soothe my bad mood for a few minutes. Unfortunately, that quickly wore off and I was back to scowling.
“How about we ditch him?” Luca suggested after we ordered our drinks.
“Brilliant. Right after this Belvedere.” I lifted the short tumbler and downed it in one gulp. Luca followed suit with his whisky before slapping a fifty on the bar. “One more,” he said to the bartender, who eyed me up before doing the same to Luca. When he delivered our second round and leaned over the bar to check out the bottom half of my body, I met Luca’s eyes and we hightailed it back to the table, downing our drinks along the way.
