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He hated me. He was the love of my life, and he hated me.
And I’d messed up what his father asked me to do. Ramos was not getting his bribe, meaning Lewis Bryson was not getting his approvals. Which meant that I was dead meat, and so, most likely, was Cole’s inheritance. Or worse. I couldn’t bear to consider whether Cole’s father would also go after Audrey and Elena.
I’d ruined everything.
I didn’t have a plan when I landed in Boston. Most likely, I would pack my few belongings and get on a bus to go somewhere, anywhere. Maybe Canada? I should talk to Cole and tell him the truth, but as the hours passed, I felt more and more certain he wanted nothing to do with me. Why would he? Also, if I was gone, Lewis Bryson might not be so motivated to disinherit his son and eviscerate the reputations of my friends.
If I left, everything would be better.
But my plans suddenly changed once the plane landed and I turned my phone back on. My cell was blowing up with texts from Elena.
I need you to come to the office ASAP.
Your aunt is here, and she’s causing a SCENE
Fuck!I hustled to the loading zone, got an Uber, and headed to the South End. Two police cars, lights flashing, pulled up in front of Accommodating’s office.Fuck.Elena was out on the sidewalk speaking to an officer. I’d never seen the Madam look so rattled. When she spotted me, she sighed in relief. “Jenny, thank God. Your auntie Theresa locked herself in the conference room. She’s making all sorts of threats and demands. She said she wouldn’t leave until she talked to you and Mr. Bryson.”
Elena peered past me. “WhereisMr. Bryson?”
“Um.” I scratched my jaw. “He’s not here. Can I go talk to her?”
The officer who was interviewing Elena nodded at me. “If you can get her out of there, it’d be a real help. She’s the one who called us—something about an old attempted murder charge. Frankly, she’s being a nuisance.”
“And she’s demanding money,” Elena added, “lots of it.”
“Great.” I crossed myself, straightened my shoulders, and headed inside the office. AccommoDating had always been a haven for me, with its air conditioning, racks of fancy clothes, and immaculate environment. But as I walked inside, I felt like I was entering a haunted house. There was a ghost in the conference room, for sure. It would be better if she were a vampire; at least then, I could drive a stake through her heart and be done with it.
I knocked on the door. “Don’t bother me unless you’re meetin’ my demands!” Theresa hollered.
I strode through the door. My auntie Theresa was sitting at the table, tapping on her phone with her talon-like nails painted neon orange. Her roots were done, and her stringy, bleachedhair skimmed her shoulders. Auntie’s eyebrows were as bold and eerily symmetrical as ever; she was going to ask me for more money, and I knew it, but what she really needed was a fucking makeover.
“What are you demanding this time, huh?” I asked. “I just paid you twenty thousand dollars. What the hell else do you want, Theresa?”
Auntie narrowed her eyes at me. “Well, if it isn’t Little Miss Stuck-Up, it’s nice of you to finally show up. Where’s your billionaire, huh? Daddy Warbucks said I should talk to both of you.”
At the mention of Cole’s father, I almost lost my nerve. But I had to be brave to finish this once and for all. “Cole’s not here, and he’s not coming here. We’re not together anymore. So whatever his father asked you to do, forget it. All bets are off.”
Auntie Theresa held up her phone. “His father called me this morning. He said you messed up and didn’t do what he asked. He’s the one that said all bets are off—and I’m sure as hell listening to him, not you.”
I sighed. “You want to tell the world what I did, huh? You want to threaten me for more money? Go ahead. But I’m not giving you another cent.”
“That’s fine—I don’t want your chump change. I want your billionaire’s money.”
I took a step forward. “Well, you can’t have it,bitch.”
“Excuse me?” Auntie Theresa raised her ugly eyebrows. “You say no to me, and I’m spilling about you. Everyone will know what you did. You’re going to jail. Not only that, everybody will know you’re a whore! That billionaire won’t want anything to do with you!”
“He doesn’t want anything to do with me, anyway.” I was close to tears, but I refused to cry. “So I don’t care anymore. I’ll tell the cops the truth, and they can arrest me. I got nothing tolose. But you’re not getting another cent out of me. And Cole doesn’t owe youshit. So go die in a hole, Auntie! You’re a piece of crap, and you know it!”
All of a sudden, something unleashed inside of me. If I was going down, I was going down swinging. Things with Cole were over, and I knew it. But this bitch didn’t deserve to walk away. She needed to pay for what she’d done to me, even if it was just by listening to me finally scream my fucking head off.
“I was sixteen when I stabbed that guy. I was just a scared kid! And you tookadvantageof me! You used me! You used to pimp me out to all the disgusting men in our building so you could make FUCKING MONEY! You’re the whore, Theresa! You’re a terrible person! I was only a kid. I never deserved what you did to me!”
Theresa jumped up and jabbed her finger in the air. “I took you in when your father wanted nothing to do with you?—”
“You got money from the state to take me!” I hollered. “Don’t pretend you were anything but a FUCKING PIMP! You made me go with those guys! You used to hit me if I said no! You refused to feed me! You locked me in my room for days until I finally cried and said I’d do whatever you wanted!”
“You’re a liar,” she snarled. “You wanted it. You made money from those guys!”