Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 168121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 841(@200wpm)___ 672(@250wpm)___ 560(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 168121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 841(@200wpm)___ 672(@250wpm)___ 560(@300wpm)
Besides, Jay had proven he could slip back into drug use under the right circumstances. She couldn’t trust him.
His eyebrows pulled together, and his gaze bobbed over her face, unfocused. “I didn’t take anything.”
Anger burned through her cheeks. “Okay, then you were sober while you fucked Ella’s mouth. That makes it all better.”
He curled to a sitting position, awkward and sluggish, and his eyes landed on his erection as if seeing it for the first time. He gripped it, stroked. “Ah, God, Charlee. I need…I need to fuck you. Come here, baby.” He reached for her.
Heart sprinting, she jumped from the bed and backed toward the door. His betrayal was unlike anything she’d ever felt. It was a riptide, slamming into her over and over, pulling her under. Her knees buckled and a sob crawled through her throat.
She gripped a cabinet and swallowed helplessly, unable to gather enough air. “I trusted you. I loved you so goddamned much. I…I—” She slapped a hand over her mouth, gulped harsh breaths, her voice reaching high-pitched hysterics.
He stared at her, but she was certain he wasn’t hearing, wasn’t seeing. He fell upon his back and resumed his self-pleasure.
“You broke my heart,” she whispered from the emptiness inside her. Opening the door with measured and determined movements, she stepped into the hall.
83
Charlee clicked the door behind her, the pain wrenching her chest, cutting off her air. Just a few more minutes and she could finally break down.
“Will you call Laz?” She stared at the button on Tony’s shirt, not wanting to see the pity sagging those steel gray eyes. “He’ll know how to deal with whatever drug is in his system. Make sure he doesn’t…overdose.” She cleared her throat. “Get him back to his room safely. I won’t be joining him.”
“Of course.”
Nathan gripped Charlee’s chin, raised it. His eyes were fierce and imposing. He wouldn’t ask her if she was okay. Not if he was reading her face. “I had our things packed. Our bags are downstairs. Was that…is that what you want?”
Bless him for his foresight and saving her that dreadful task. “Thank you.” She moved toward the cluster of guards, knowing what would come next. Jay’s actions didn’t just impact her. They hurt Nathan, too.
Nathan wrapped his arms around Tony’s waist and leaned his forehead against hers. They spoke softly, Tony nodding, her face drawn and her lip sucked in.
Maybe Charlee could convince him to come back before they left Little Rock. What could she say to make him stay with Tony? The throb in her head magnified with the pain stabbing her heart.
He cupped Tony’s face, kissed her deeply, passionately. Charlee turned away and swatted at the tracks of tears burning her cheeks.
A moment later, his hand slid over her limp one. “Let’s go.”
As Nathan led her to the elevators, she plodded beside him, borrowing his strength to move her legs, to leave behind the guards and their semblance of safety. The further they walked, the more brittle her spine felt.
Should she have handled it differently with Jay? Maybe waited until morning to talk to him when he was sober? What if she misinterpreted what happened? Betrayal gripped her insides. There was no way to misunderstand Ella’s mouth wrapped around his more-than-willing erection. She choked, muffled it behind trembling lips.
Bags in hand, Nathan led her to a waiting cab, his eyes scanning the street and windows of nearby buildings. Following her in, he barked an address at the driver. They made it a block before her grief exploded, trembling her body, clogging her sinuses, and soaking her face. She let it go, let him hold her as she wept the broken pieces.
By the time they pulled into an underground garage of some swanky hotel, her eyes were dry and her breathing had returned to normal. Emptiness set in, deadening her. In a shocked haze, she followed Nathan out and froze.
Edison, one of The Burn’s bodyguards, waited behind the wheel of a nondescript subcompact car.
She backed up. “No, I’m not going—”
“He’s driving us somewhere.” Nathan shoved her face first into the backseat, tossed their bags on the floorboard, and crawled over her, his weight pressing her down.
The car moved, but he didn’t. “We were probably followed. This should throw him off.”
Right. Of course. Roy was always watching. Numb and drained from crying, she concentrated on loosening her trembling muscles.
The car stopped. Another underground parking lot. With a nod at Edison, she trailed Nathan up the stairwell and through a tiny hotel lobby.
The mechanics of check-in and bedtime preparation went by in a blur, and she lay on one of the double beds in their shared room, blinking through the dark. Her body, exhausted and weak, would not shut down.
“You want to talk about it?” His bed creaked with his movements.
“I want you to stay with Tony.” Silence. Her chest squeezed. She pushed on. “Do you love her?”