Page 20 of Violent Little Thing

What I did not like, however, was what it made me feel when he was this close to me.

And feelings were something I avoided at all costs.

I would never, not ever, put myself into a situation again where I lost the person that I loved most in this world.

What I’d shared with Sonja hadn’t been intimate love. It’d been a love that one had between best friends.

If it felt that bad to lose your best friend, what would it feel like to lose the person that you fell in love with and shared your heart with?

“That’s so awesome!” Her face fell slightly. “Have you shared this with Chris yet?”

“No,” I said. “That’s what we’re doing now.”

“You’re not giving two weeks’ notice?”

I shook my head.

Though it went against everything I was ever taught, two weeks wasn’t something that I was going to offer them.

“It was sudden, and I have no choice,” I lied.

Court’s hand tightened on my shoulder to the point of pain, and I looked up at him in confusion. His gaze was on Chris, though, as he came out of the depths of his office and into the main room.

“You’re late,” Chris growled. “And you didn’t answer my morning call today. That is unacceptable.”

The morning call where he would be having sex or masturbating.

Darn, I really hated that I had to decline that call.

It was the first time in a year that I didn’t panic at the thought of not having a job to fall back on, though.

Court and Beau had promised that what they had planned for the Condors and the Cowgirls would cover the loss of work.

Beau had also secretly promised that, no matter what, he wouldn’t let Birdee’s jobs, or my parents’ careers, go down, either. He’d keep an eye on Chris.

I hadn’t shared everything with Court, though.

I didn’t know how I felt about him knowing my secret fear of being poor. Of Chris doing what he’d threatened for the last six months and making me unemployable. Making my parents unemployable.

I don’t know why I was so scared about being poor, though.

Likely, some therapist would say that my trauma at losing Sonja, along with hearing about my parents not being able to afford medical bills, had gotten crossed in my brain.

Now, I obsessively made sure that I had enough money to live off of no matter what.

And, in a nest egg, the revenue I made from my percentage of the Condors and the Cowgirls steadily accrued in an account that only my financial advisor dealt with.

To me, that was blood money.

I’d only accessed that account a handful of times, and each of those times was to pay off my medical bills so my parents wouldn’t have to.

“So sorry,” I said. “But I’m here to turn in my letter of resignation. Effective immediately.”

I saw the moment that Chris realized that he had no way to manipulate me out of this.

His eyes narrowed, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Is that so?”