painful lessons in life. Beauty is everything. Play them, or they play you. Hit first and hit hard if you don’t want to get hit.
“Why destroy my life?” I asked tearfully. “What have I ever done to you?” My voice broke on my last word, and Anna patted my hand, looking at James with recrimination.
“It sounds like you destroyed your own life,” Blue said with a smirk. “No one forced you to do whatever was in the photos.”
I gasped as if he’d just struck me.
“Kelsey,” Anna soothed me. “Explain what happened. How could a few photos make you lose everything?” She had a wrinkle of confusion on her forehead that made me want to smack her. Dear, sweet Anna could be so slow and stupid sometimes.
“He,” I said with a glare in James’ direction. “Sent them to the client and threatened to share them with his wife. Gregory makes decent money, but his wife is the wealthy one. He had no choice but to tell my boss that either I was fired, or he would break ties with my firm.”
The leader got a slow smile across his face and gave James a nod. “Clever.”
“Austin,” Anna chastised him.
Austin leaned back in his seat, looking more smug than contrite.
I stood up and pointed at him dramatically. “You told him to do it! I remember you threatening me the last time I was here.”
Austin chuckled.
“You knew about this?” Anna asked him with a frown.
Austin shrugged. “Not until now.”
“So she lost her job and didn’t have money for her house and stuff?” Green asked James.
A tiny corner of James’ mouth lifted. “She was blacklisted and no one else would hire her. It usually takes months or even a year to have a bank foreclose on a house, but it’s possible for things to move much quicker than that if the right people have the motivation. Same with the car.”
Green and Blue both laughed out loud.
“That’s a life-altering prank,” Green said with admiration. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“That’s more than a prank,” Blue added. “That’s on a whole new level so I feel like it deserves a new term. What should we call it?”
Blue and Green looked like they were seriously contemplating the answer to that while I boiled with rage. I’d worked years to get where I was, and I had to do a lot of unsavory things to succeed. Things that made me nauseous, but I had to pretend to enjoy. And these idiots had the gall to laugh?
“Mason, Jason,” Anna chided them. “This is serious.” She turned to me with a look of concern. “Where are you staying right now?”
My mouth twisted in distaste. “With a mechanic.”
Anna frowned at me, not understanding the dilemma. Her security guards did, though.
Jason stood up. “He’s not good enough for you?” he asked with a sneer. “You’re only willing to suck cock if it’s a rich dude?”
I tossed my hair. “Anna, this is ridiculous. I’m not safe where I am.”
Anna didn’t look as sympathetic as I wanted, this never would have been this difficult a year ago. Being around these idiots had clearly changed her for the worse. I wasn’t ready to give up, though. This was my last resort, and I wasn’t ready to slink back into a life of poverty.
“Anna,” I said tearfully. “Please, I’m not safe with him.” There was no way she’d ever turn away a woman being mistreated. That was a major trigger for her, something her past would never let her forget.
“She’s lying,” Mason said casually. “I bet the guy worships her, and she treats him like crap because he’s not rich.”
Anna grabbed both my hands and stared deep into my eyes. “Kelsey,” she said in a hypnotic voice. “Tell me the truth. Why are you here?”
I was transfixed by her gaze and couldn’t look away. I felt the truth bubbling up inside of me, and I struggled to hold it back. Blurting it all out would ruin everything.
“I want what you have here,” the words came out of my mouth as if they were being pulled. “You have everything that I deserve. You should be the one in a shitty house with a mechanic. You’re the type of idiot who believes in love.”
Anna sighed and released my hands as I gasped in horror.
“Anna!” I said desperately. “I didn’t mean that.”
“You did,” she said sorrowfully. “Kelsey, I’ve tried to be your friend for years. I’ve given you love and loyalty, and you never returned or appreciated it.