Page 73 of Falling for Them

“You spent it all on that dress, didn’t you?”His voice sounds sharp, with a thread of anger lurking beneath it.

“Um, no.What dress?”

“I saw a picture of you at the freakingTyler Gala, Ella.What the fuck?You rich now?And you can’t give your brother a hundred dollars?”

“You know what, Tommy?You’re being a dick.Cut it out.I don’t have money.I can barely pay my rent.”

“I’m in a jam, El.A big one.Come on, please?”

I unlock my apartment door and let myself in, then throw my coat on the loveseat.“Tommy, listen to me.I don’t have the money.I havenomoney.None.If you’re in a jam, you should go to the police.And stop gambling so you don’t get in jams!”

“Fuck you, Ella, you don’t know shit.This is hard, and you haveneverunderstood me or what I’m doing.I’m trying to pay back the hospital bills while you’re off at some fancy rich people party.”

Before I can respond, he hangs up.

I stare at my phone until my vision blurs with tears.

Dad’s gone.My brother hates me, and he’s lost because of gambling and I don’t know how to find him.He’s my only family now, and I don’t know how to bring him back.

Twenty

Ella

The next morning, Saturday, doesn’t bring any improvement to my situation.I wake up at nine a.m., which is far too early for me, given my usual work hours.But I can’t go back to sleep, probably because I’m nervous.Mr.Tyler asked me to call him.Sebastian told me I should.Even as I cried last night, the one bright point that I clung to was the knowledge that I would get to hear Mr.Tyler’s warm, stern voice today.

Should I be referring to him as Kingston?It seems like it should be weird to call him Mr.Tyler after he’s literally had parts of his body inside of my body, but I can’t really imagine calling him by his first name.He commands that kind of respect from me.

Or I can call himDaddy, which also works for me, for some reason.

I wish I knew what that reason was, but maybe it’s best not to question it.

Sitting up in bed, I grab my phone from the nightstand.I could text him this early.I should probably call.He wanted me to call.

If I text instead, will he punish me again?

Feeling naughty at the thought, I slide open the screen and see a message from my phone and internet company.

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING YOUR ACCOUNT: DUE TO NONPAYMENT, ALL SERVICES ARE SUSPENDED.

Oh, shit.

With the excitement of everything going on, I never got the money together for the bill.Most of what I earn goes to paying off my debts, and what little extra I had to tide me over in situations like this…I spent on the other dress’s deposit, and Tommy took the rest.

My heart falls.

This is just another fucking reminder of why I don’t belong with someone like Mr.Tyler or Sebastian.It doesn’t matter what Natasha says—she could probably pull off a relationship with men like them and do just fine.But me?I don’t belong in their world, and every time I turn around, something reminds me of that fact.

Not enough.

Unlike last night, after Tommy called me, I don’t cry.I’m too tired and angry for bullshit tears.They don’t solve anything, and you know what?I don’t need a fucking phone.Without one, I can get by just fine.And I won’t be distracted by hot men who turn my head and take me to false heights only to drop me on my ass after the novelty of the new toy wears off.

Near the end, my dad told me to never say “fuck my life,” because life is precious and it can be so, so short.

But right now, staring at my stupid fucking phone which has hijacked everything important to me because I can’t pay the damn bill?All I can think is,fuck my life.

Kingston

As I’m getting out of my car on Monday morning, my phone rings.I grab it quickly, hoping it’s Ella.I don’t know why I keep fucking hoping.I left that message with Melinda at Maids in Heaven on Friday.