Page 25 of Paid With Innocence

God, what is he doing here?

“Hey there, Megs.” He grins. “How you doing today?”

Trish glances at me like any good friend would do, basically asking if she wants me to stay. But I shake my head and give her a hug.

“It’s okay. You can go,” I whisper.

“Call me if you need me to beat him up,” she whispers.

I laugh, and she goes out to her car, leaving me alone with Chuck. He’s wearing lime-green pants today with a tucked-in pink plaid shirt and a bow tie. And I’m pretty sure he’s wearing Jordans too. Not sure what look he’s going for, but it is not working.

“Orson!” I call out, walking down the hall to his office. Chuck follows me without invitation. “Orson, are you here?”

“He’s not. I checked.”

“Orson!” I repeat, ignoring him. I reach for my phone but realize I left it upstairs in the studio. I turn to Chuck. “I’ll have him call you—”

“Actually, I didn’t come to see Orson. I came to see you.”

My fingers start tingling with that odd sensation you get when you’re feeling uncomfortable. Why would he be here to see me?

Everything Orson has told me about Chuck, combined with the way he acted toward me at the restaurant, makes me not too happy about being around him.

There should be a security guard at the gate, though. I walk past Chuck and head for the door, but he grabs me by the arm and stops me. My heart leaps, and I cry out, but he just smiles.

“No one can hear you, gorgeous.” The stench of his cologne invades my nostrils as I struggle. “But relax, I’m not here to hurt you.”

“Then let go of me!”

“I will, okay? Just don’t run. I have something important to tell you.”

I scoff. “To tell me? What could you possibly have to tell me, Chuck?”

I should have asked Trish to stay. But how was I supposed to know this guy would physically assault me? Orson never warned me to be actually fearful of him.

Chuck sighs and hangs his head. “This is going to be hard to hear, Megan. But your friend Trish? She’s been sleeping with Orson.”

“Ha!” I burst out laughing. “Get real. She would never!”

“You sure about that? I mean, she asked me on a date, Megan.” Reaching into his pocket, Chuck pulls out his phone and scrolls through a series of texts from Trish, including a selfie that looks like it was taken outside my apartment.

“What…?”

“She said she’d sleep with me if I paid her monthly rent and took her out for an expensive dinner.”

I shake my head. I don’t want to believe it.

But then again, Trish has openly admitted to me that she does stuff like this with men. I mean, she was supposed to go out with Orson. The only reason I did was because she double-booked herself. Is it really that unbelievable that these are real texts to Chuck?

“Fine, let’s just say I believe you. Those are texts to you. Not Orson.”

Chuck nods, releasing his hold on me. This is my chance to run, but something keeps me where I am.

I don’t want to believe it. No way Orson would have sex with my best friend! And Trish wouldn’t do that to me!

That’s what I keep telling myself. But for the last few days I’ve also been telling myself that this new life of mine isn’t real. It’s impossible. A man like Orson would never want a girl like me.

“How do you think Trish got in here, Megan?” Chuck asks. My blood turns to ice. I open my mouth to respond, but nothing comes out. He has a point. I even asked her that when she showed up, but she didn’t answer…