Page 158 of Slumming It

"You meanourhotel?"

"Yeah, the shithole."

Ignoring the insult, I asked, "Why? Were you thinking of buying it?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. I was still deciding."

"Well, you couldn't have bought it, anyway," I said. "I mean, we already had a purchase agreement."

This made him scoff. "You thinkthatwould've stopped me?"

I saw his point, which I chose to ignore. "Okay, let's say youdidbuy it. What were you gonna do? Fix it up or something?"

"Hell no." He was smirking again. "I was gonna burn it to the ground."

I blinked. "Seriously?"

"Sure. Everyone likes bonfires, right?"

I liked bonfires, too, but this was crazy. "So, why didn't you?"

"Buy the hotel?" He gave me a long cold look. Something about it made me feel naked and not in a good way. His tone wascolder than ice as he replied, "Because something better came along."

He couldn’t be saying what I thought he was saying."Meaning what?"

His gaze locked on mine. "Personalpayback."

It was the answer I'd dreaded, and I rocked back on my heels. "You mean the thing with me?"

"Well, it wasn't your sister."

For some reason, I couldn’t stop blinking. "So that payback you mentioned, way back in the beginning…itwasn'tbecause I'd been hiding under your bed?"

"Well, it didn't help."

"So youknewwho I was from the start?"

"Not from the start, but soon enough."

"And then what?" I demanded.

"And then, I figured I'd have some fun with it."

My jaw clenched. "What kind of fun?"

He said nothing, but his smirk said it all. And now I didn't know what to say. By now, it was beyond obvious that I had never meant a thing to him.

I'd been a toy all along, a means to an end.

Payback.

It was a word he'd used plenty during the past month. I hadn't given it much thought, but I was now. It suddenly struck me that if he still had a grudge against my parents, he might be looking to givethemsome payback, too.

He was rich and powerful. He was calculating and cruel. And he had no scruples whatsoever.My parents wouldn't stand a chance.

I gave a hard swallow. "Fine. So you're done with me. I get it." I was trying hard not to cry. "But Iknowmy parents. And they wouldnevercall the police on a grade-schooler, especially for something that never happened."

"Yeah? Well I've got a signed police report that says otherwise."