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I looked down at my nails and sighed. I knew what I was giving up, but it would be worth it. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I can’t live without money, but I’ll never know unless I try.”
I turned on my heel and stormed away. My father’s voice yelled after me.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to the bodyguard!” I shouted over my shoulder.
“For what? For love? That will never make you happy and you know it!”
At his words, I paused, then stormed back to him. “I’ve been listening to you my whole life, and you know what it’s gotten me?”
“Rich,” he retorted.
It saddened me that this was what my life boiled down to, but at least I woke up before it was too late. “Nothing. I am nothing. My life is pointless. I have no real friends. I have no hobbies. I couldn’t hold down a job if all our money was gone.”
“You don’t need to. That’s why you get married.”
“So I can end up like Mom? Rich and alone with only her daughter to nit-pick over? She didn’t even love me.”
“She did in her own way.”
Tears pricked my eyes, but I didn’t wipe them away. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t worried about appearances or behaving properly. The only thing I wanted was to be happy, and that would never happen as long as I was here.
“That’s not good enough,” I whispered. “I need more than contentment in my life. I need laughter and excitement. I want someone who needs me just as desperately as I need him. That was never going to be Bryce, and it won’t be the next man you choose, either.”
“If you walk out that door, you’ll come to regret it.”
I walked up to my father and wrapped my arms around him, even though I knew he wouldn’t return the gesture. “I’d rather have all the love in the world than a big house without a single person who cares for me.” I pressed a kiss to his cheek and stepped back. “Goodbye.”
I turned on my heel and headed to the front door. Richard winked at me, a small smile gracing his lips as he pulled the door open.
“Be safe out there, Ms. Wren.”
“I will, Richard.” And just because I was feeling happy, I leaned in and gave him a hug. “I’ll miss you.”
“No, you won’t,” he chuckled.
When I stepped outside, George was already waiting for me with a big grin on his face. “To the hospital, Ms. Wren?”
“Yes, please, George.”
He chuckled, shaking his head.
“What’s so funny?”
“I think that’s the first time you’ve ever said please.”
As ashamed as I knew I should be, I wasn’t. That was the old me. The new me was getting into this car and racing back to the man she loved. It was time to start over, and shaking off this old life was the first step in my new journey.
38
BROCK
“You’re moping again,” Edu said, flipping the page of his magazine.
For days, the guys had been taking turns sitting with me. It was annoying as hell. I just wanted to get out of this hospital and back home to Kansas. Not that it would be any better there. Cash was already making arrangements for me to have a hospital bed downstairs so that I didn’t have to take the stairs. All I could think about was my bed with my silk pillowcases instead of these scratchy ones I was currently resting against.
I could rough a lot of shit, but I was feeling crappy and wanted a few basic comforts. And these guys wouldn’t even go out and spend a little money to get me what I needed. Didn’t they realize I’d been shot and my life was falling apart?
