Page 59 of Whispers of Wisteria

She needed an outlet.

“If it helps…” I began, pressing my palms in my lap. “Maybe we could do something together?”

After all, video games were beginning to grow rather dull. I’d hoped that Brayden, at least, might offer up a challenge, but I’d beaten him as easily as Bryce.

I might be able to focus on strategy. I’d rather not get sweaty. Maria, on the other hand, might enjoy physical activity. It was the lioness who hunted and killed, while the male lion remained a useless figurehead.

She could be a fighter, and I, her manager. That might be fun.

We could make so much money. Probably.

She lowered her head and leaned across the table.

“What do you mean?” She was whispering, and my focus stayed on her lips. “What are you thinking? I’m not playing Taken with you.”

“No.” I waved my hand. I didn’t want to get kidnapped. “Bryce is still holding my money hostage. It’s stopping me from making investments and doing things.”

“How is he holding your money hostage?” Maria frowned. “That doesn’t sound like him. He’s a total pushover when it comes to you. It’s almost disgusting, the way he gushes. Just ask him for his credit card.”

“I don’t want to keep usinghismoney.” My pulse began to race. How could I not have come to Maria about this sooner? “He says Mu’s money is tied up, and I, Bianca, am poor.”

“Well, it is tied up.” Maria’s frown deepened, and her voice turned cautious. “Have you just… asked Titus for money. He’s loaded. Hewantsto buy you stuff.”

“I will not!” I pressed my hand to my chest.

I’d been a freeloader long enough—and every dollar spent on me without repayment was a black mark against my soul. There were so many things on my private wish list, and Damen refused to let me do a single chore.

I had no way to earn everything I wanted. I would be the one to give myself the newestVoguecollection and theHello Kittyautumn releases.

Everything I needed was slipping through my desperate fingers.

“If you’re so poor, how did you afford those Jimmy Choo’s?” she wondered out loud. “They look good, by the way. Where were they when we first met?”

“It doesn’t matter!” I slapped my hand on the table. Never would I admit that these two hands once scrubbed Finn’s ink-stained blazers. “Do you want to beat up things or not?”

“What are we beating up?” The doubt in her eyes cleared, replaced by an almost terrifying gleam. “Lead the way, and I’m there.”

10

“You see that?”Maria touched my shoulder and pointed to the muscular man holding his face. He fell to the ground an instant later, screaming profanities at the top of his lungs.

“Sure, it worked, he’s out. But look at his opponent,” she added, nodding at the still-standing man covered in green paint. His arms were raised in victory, but the grimace on his face told a different story. “He must have broken his hand with that hit.”

I nodded in response to her observation, for, in fact, Ididsee. The blonde was physically in the same class as his foe, but had underestimated the necessity of proper form regardless of being evenly matched.

He might have won, but at what cost?

It was fair to say that things were much different here in the underworld street fighting rings than I’d expected. For example, professional boxers knew how to hold their fists when punching correctly, but these fighters were a different breed.

“You could do it better,” I told her.

“I know!” Maria raised her hands in the air in exasperation. I’d never seen her so passionate about anything except maybe our slumber party andPretty Pretty Princessand…

Well, actually, this seemed to be a normal state for her.

“It just pains me to watch.” She shook her head.

“So, what do we need to do?” I was half-asking, half-talking to myself.