AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’d never really needed it before, not even with Henry on Christmas. Rhys had always paid for my addiction. The only thing I gave him in return was…
“There are other ways to pay.” He swept his fingers through my hair, brushing it off my face. “I can make it worth your while. Just got a new shipment and it’s so fine. You’ll be flying in under a minute.”
A whimper swept past my throat, tumbling free as my legs shook. He grabbed a fistful of my hair, using the leverage to direct my gaze to the table in the middle of the room.
It was there. Everything I needed, sitting in plain sight, and so close I could taste it. The smell hung in the air, and my body shook in anticipation.
“I need it.” He heard my whisper. He laughed in my face. And he dragged me forward by my hair, tossing me onto the couch as he went to that table and readied the drugs that would take away my pain.
That would take away my guilt, if only for a moment.
I fumbled with the pipe and he held it to my lips. I sucked in until I was gasping for breath, choking on the smell, and dying an uncertain death.
I wasn’t there anymore.
I would never be there again.
No matter what he did to collect his payment.
12
LEE
Anxiety coursed through me the minute I watched Kelly walk through the doors to that building. I’d forced myself to drive away. She wasn’t mine. She deserved a life of freedom to do whatever she wanted. That started here, her being allowed to do these little things by herself.
No matter how fuckin’ much I hated not being there with her.
She’d kill me if I didn’t follow through on my plans for today. Or likely, she’d sing to me again. Not that I would have minded. Not with the way her face burst into the biggest smile that I couldn’t get enough of.
I couldn’t get enough of her.
If this had been any other time… If I had met her months earlier instead of having to rescue her from hell…
I shook my head to rid myself of the thought. The what-ifs wouldn’t change the fact that I failed her. I could only try to make up for that failure. Protect her from anyone that might cause her harm. Take care of her. Give her what she wanted. What she needed.
I’d live on the crumbs of her life if that was all I could get.
Dragging a hand down my face, I leaned back in my desk chair. This was too much. I had interviews with the two people Kelly had told me to flat out hire, and I’d already finished a meeting with a realtor she didn’t know about.
What she’d said the night before stuck.
I wanted my company to thrive. To be a place people wanted to work at. I wasn’t sure soft serve ice cream would be the key to unlocking employee loyalty, but the rest of what she said? That, I could do.
“You look like shit.”
I jerked in my chair, dragging my face away from the ceiling and toward the door. A smile crept across my lips. “Wasn’t sure you’d show up.”
Van Thaylor stepped into my office, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. “That makes two of us.”
It wasn’t possible to keep the frown from wiping my smile away. I motioned to the chair in front of the desk, and Van unzipped his coat and sat down. “What made you come?”
He worked his bottom lip between his teeth for a moment before he spoke. “You want the truth?”
“Always.”
He nodded and glanced around the room. “It was that last flight. The girls on the lake.”
Kelly.
