It was the last text he was able to send before they walked through the door. I had my eyes on her from the moment she stepped through wearing a purple wig that caught me off guard. Rich had claimed they’d worn a disguise, but I hadn’t been convinced that it was enough. He looked like that character Justin Timberlake played in a movie I couldn’t remember.
Unable to look away from Braxton, I knew the moment her apprehension sunk in for what awaited her now that playtime was over.
It’s true.
I wanted to ask where the hell she’d been and who told her she could leave, but I didn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to be the reason for that depleted look in her eyes. Instead of Braxton sucking the happiness out of the room, the room had sucked the happiness out of Braxton. It was a bruising blow to my ego, to be sure.
Loren appeared on the spare’s threshold, and the moment Braxton spotted him, she made a break for her room. “Have fun?” he asked before she could get too far.
She spun on her heel to regard him with a curious squint as if she were trying to figure out whether he was being genuine or not.
Deciding to make a stand, she lifted her chin. “I did.”
“Oh.” Loren scratched his chin. His eyes darted around the room as he searched for something else to say in an to attempt to make small talk. He was never without words when he was being an asshole, though. “So what did you see?”
“You.”
Smooth as fuck, as if he’d actually understood her cryptic reply, he didn’t miss a beat. “Doubt it, baby. I was here all day.”
Setting down the bag of souvenirs she’d bought, she dug out her phone from…somewhere. Her dress, which had no pockets, was tight and short as fuck. I watched her through narrowed eyes as she crossed the room and made her way toward Loren.
No way she was wearing panties.
My gaze shot to Rich, wondering what else they’d been up to. He caught me staring and smirked. He had another one of his idiotic plans to thank for the reason I didn’t pummel him.
“What the hell,” Loren barked out of nowhere, drawing my attention away from Rich. Braxton was showing Loren something on her phone, and whatever it was made his face turn purple. He looked like an angry eggplant emoji.
“What is it?” I asked when no one bothered to explain. Rich had his lips tucked, and his body shook as he fought to keep himself from losing it.
Braxton took her phone from Loren, who looked like he wanted to snatch it back before he stormed over to the mirror by the door and started inspecting his nose for some reason. When Braxton reached me with her phone in tow, I accepted it from her before pulling her down onto my lap and before she could realize my intent.
She didn’t fight me.
I pretended my heart wasn’t skipping inside my chest when she sat in my lap like she’d accepted that she belonged there. After getting my fill of staring at the goofy face Braxton was making in the photo, I finally glanced at the wax replica of Loren that she was posing with and burst out laughing.
The sound made Rich lose his composure, followed by Brax before we were all laughing at Loren’s expense.
Truth be told, it wasn’t that bad. The difference was minuscule, and the statue was pretty accurate.
To Loren, it looked like his nose should have its own zip code.
Without thinking to ask for permission, I went through the rest of the photos she’d taken, wanting to see her day through her eyes.
I wasn’t surprised to see she’d even taken some with Rich since she was being so agreeable with me. I felt her gaze on me as I scrolled through them.
He’d taken her everywhere.
Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, the MET, the Empire State Building—everywhere I’d been too stubborn and stupid not to take her myself.
When I reached the last entry and realized it was actually a video, she tried to snatch her phone back, but I held it out of reach.
Our gazes met, mine steady, hers nervous.
“Houston—”
I held her tighter before pressing play. The video was dark, but I could still make out the wig Rich wore, and his head buried between Braxton’s legs as she recorded. He was eating her pussy in what looked like the back