Page 147 of Wicked Dares
I keep waiting for some Eureka moment where I’ll come up with an idea that fixes everything, but nothing has come to me.
That’s probably because Reece is a fucking psycho. People like him don’t scare easily.
The only thing we’ve got so far is the restraining order violation, but what good does that do when nobody can find him?
None of this feels real. I still don’t know how everything went from perfect to this.
I loosen my tie and blow out a ragged breath.
Everything’s turning into a fucking disaster.
Piper’s trying; I can see it. She doesn’t want that asshole controlling her life again.
But there’s only so much a person can take.
We’re supposed to be flying to England on Sunday. I hoped the distance might help, but I don’t think it will. That bastard would follow her anywhere.
He wants her. It’s painfully obvious he’ll do whatever it takes to get her back.
There’s no way in hell I’m getting on a plane knowing that psychopath is still walking around free. But there’s only so much I can do, too.
A sharp knock suddenly hits my office door.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, already irritated before the door even opens. Every interruption feels like another weight pressing against my skull today.
I barely glance up. “Come in.”
The door swings open. My stomach drops instantly when Arthur Lockwood storms into the office. In his hand is a large envelope. On his face is a deep scowl, one sure sign he’s pissed with me.
“Levi Vale. What the hell is this?” he demands, waving the envelope furiously.
He doesn’t look anything like the man who drank wine and bourbon with me at Belladonna Ridge while talking about family and legacy.
I can’t fucking deal with him right now. Not today.
“What is it, Arthur? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He marches forward, opens the envelope, and tosses a contract onto my desk.
At first, I think it’s our contract, and that he’s found something else to displease him.
But my blood freezes when I see it’s not our contract.
It’s the one I gave Piper. The contract offering her two hundred thousand dollars to be my girlfriend.
Fuck.
My stomach turns. I already know exactly how this looks.
Like Piper meant nothing.
Like she was some transaction instead of the woman who’s become the center of my fucking world.
Arthur laughs bitterly when he sees the look on my face.
“So, it’s true. You devious son of a bitch,” he snarls.
He’s not wrong.
