The Monster (Boston Belles #3) - L.J. Shen Page 0,51
way or the other, but until I do, you lose all cumming privileges. Not by my hands, anyway, and let’s admit it—your sole purpose in life is getting fucked by me.”
His knowledge of just how much I wanted him destroyed me. I was too transparent, too naïve, too willing to show him how much he meant to me over the years. Now he was using it against me, and there was nothing I could do about it.
Nothing but try to show him I was my own person. That there was more to me than loving him.
“Why do you even care what I do?” I rearranged my torn dress around my legs the best I could to protect myself from the harsh weather. “You made it perfectly clear you don’t give a damn about me. You spent a whole decade dodging my advances.”
Not that there were many. But whenever I did muster the courage to reach out, he always shut me down in a spectacular fashion. The truth was, I was too scared to upset my parents to go after a man they didn’t want for me, and Sam was too career-focused to let someone like me become a problem for his business.
He took his car keys out of his coat’s pocket.
“Circumstances change,” he clipped.
“Yes, they do,” I agreed. “Which is why I suggest you stop assuming I am always going to be at your disposal. I’m not the same girl you met at the carnival, Sam. I’m all grown up, and I won’t be treated like I’m a toy.”
He leaned toward me, smirking teasingly. “Wanna bet?”
“How are we going to settle the bet? In your card room at Badlands?” I arched an eyebrow, a childish part of me desperate to let him know I was privy to the way he ran his business.
“No. You’re not allowed in Badlands,” he reminded me in a withering tone.
“But Sailor and Persy are.” I laughed bitterly.
“Sailor and Persy are not running around looking for trouble. They stay at home with their babies. I suggest you do the same.”
“I don’t have babies,” I pointed out the obvious. “Oh, and it’s not the nineteenth century.”
“You might be annoying, but I’m sure you’ll find a schmuck willing to knock you up.”
“What about Belle? How come she’s allowed in Badlands? She looks for trouble all the time. Much more than me.”
“Belle is damaged goods and also none of my fucking business. If you end up catching the clap in Badlands’ restroom, your family will come crying to me.”
“You’re a sexist pig.”
“And you are still interested. What does it say about you, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Jr.?”
I was going to say something snarky, but apparently, Sam was through with the exchange. In a swift fashion, he turned around and sauntered over to his car, which was parked right behind me.
“Hold onto those little secrets of yours, Nix. Because I’m going to have one hell of a good time unraveling them.”
He slid into his car and sped off.
Leaving me with a throbbing center, wet cheeks, and a jumbled head.
I knew something was wrong as soon as I parked the car by the fountain at my front door. Avebury Court Manor was like a body. It had bones, a heart, and a soul. I could recognize its pulse from miles away, and something felt different. Erratic.
All the lights in the house were turned on, the staff, which should be long gone, running back and forth by the window like shadow puppets. There was a commotion. My brothers’ cars were also still parked by the entrance. They should be home by now.
Something happened.
Hurrying out of the car, I clutched my keys in a death grip.
Please be okay, Mother.
As soon as I flung the door open, Cillian and Hunter poured out of it, each of them holding Da from each side. My father, green and dripping with sweat, was slouched unresponsive between them, his head dangling from his neck like a pendulum.
“Where are you taking him?” I shrieked.
Cillian shouldered past me, toward his car. I followed them, my legs still shaky from my crazy night.
“Disney World,” my older brother drawled, sullen. “Where do you think? The hospital.”
“The hospital!” I echoed, my mouth turning dry. “Why? What happened? Where’s Mother?”
“Mother is hiding in her room crying about how Da stole the show, being a real fucking adult about it per usual,” Hunter filled me in, his voice playful as always, even when his words were hot and angry.