Page 36 of All Bets Are Off
But apparently not enough to apologize.
“Respect, you say?” Calder laughs, shoving his way out of my grip, lowering his voice for my ears alone. “Does she know you’re only dating her because of a bet?”
That statement is the equivalent of an uppercut to the jaw.
I haven’t spared a single thought to the bet since we made it in the gym.
Did I shake on it? Yes.
Did I only take the bet so this fucker would stay away from her? Also, yes.
But I shouldn’t have. I feel sick to have gambled on something so precious.
My Vida.
“The bet is off,” I rasp. “There’s no fucking bet.”
Calder chuckles, but the sound is bitter. “What’s wrong, worried you’re going to lose?”
Here’s the thing. IwishI would lose. I wish Vida would ask me foranythingof value. I wish she’d let me spoil her rotten. But she won’t.
“Do you really want to call the bet off?” Calder asks near my ear. “Because I think that makes her fair game.”
“I don’t think you heard me. Vida is mygirlfriend.”
“Sure. As if that’s realistic. Is she going to clean your mansions for you?”
I deck him clean across his smug face. He goes down hard and in disbelief, clutching his nose while blood seeps down the side of his face. I’m not done, though. I’m seeing bright, murderous red. No one is going to talk about Vida like that. Not now. Not ever. I throw myself down on top of him and land a vicious right cross before I’m hauled off by several of my friends.
“Deep breath, Sterling.”
“He had that coming, but let’s stop before we do too much damage.”
“Go ahead, say one more stupid thing, motherfucker,” I bellow down at Calder. “So I can finish you off.”
Wisely, he says nothing. And then Vida appears in front of me, splaying her fingers on my chest, her beautiful eyes brimming with concern.
“Are you okay?” she asks me, stroking my hair.
Her worry is centered solely on me. There’s no shock or judgment or curiosity.
Just her expression that saysI’m here for you.
“I’m in love with you,” I say. Right there. In front of all my friends as one of them screams into his phone, demanding someone fly in his personal doctor from Boston. “It happened overnight. Or maybe it was instant. I can’t help it, Vida. I fucking love you. It just is.”
She looks up at me, so still, but moisture is gathering in her eyes.
“I love you, too,” she whispers, blinking rapidly. “It just is.”
“It just is,” I repeat on a ragged exhale, so relieved and grateful and happy, I don’t know what else to do but scoop my girlfriend up into my arms, holding her like the survivor of a shipwreck. Cradling her and rocking her, resenting every second of my life I’ve been forced to live without my angel. “Everyone, get off my goddamn boat.”
With that, I turn on a heel and carry Vida downstairs, into the living area of the yacht, nodding at my security guards as I go. Without saying a word, they know I want everyone gone.
Everyone but her.
She stays.
She stays forever.
