Page 2 of Filthy Secret

Her lips press together, and her eyes narrow on me. “That’s not fair,” she breathes. “That’s not fair at all.”

It’s not.

I was the one who fucked any and every whore who crossed my path, including her own sister. I loved Ryan, but I wasn’t a good partner to her back then. I'm not sure if I would be now, either.

Ryan probably wasn’t wrong for leaving me when she did, but that doesn’t mean I’m not angry about it. Because I am. I’m still livid. There will be no just getting over any of this. I’ve been swimming in resentment for six years with no closure. I’m getting that now. All of it.

“What the fuck do you want?” I snap.

“I’m in trouble,” she whispers.

“Elaborate.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I tilt my head to the side and wait for her to continue. She takes a deep breath, holds it for a moment, then lets it out slowly. I don’t know if she’s gathering the courage to tell me what the fuck is going on or what, but I have shit to do.

My patience is fucking gone.

“My sister,” she begins, and I almost interrupt her because her sister is nothing but a fucking junkie, but I decide against it. “She’s been working the streets. She owes her pimp a lot of money, and he’s expecting me to pay him back.”

“Why would you pay him back?” I ask.

“Because if I don’t, he’s going to come after me.”

“But why?” I demand.

There has to be more to this. I can’t imagine some pimp would give a flying fuck about his bitch’s family members. He can get what he needs out of Ellen’s ass. No way is he going to demand that Ryan pay him back out of the blue.

She lifts her hand to her forehead, the worry clearly etched on her gorgeous face. “Atomic, my sister is my sister. Nothing has changed. But if she owes him money and isn’t making him money, he’s made it clear that he has no problem using me to pay off her debts.”

My stomach clenches at her words. She’s telling the truth. I can see it in her eyes. And as much as I want to help her, my pride won’t let me. Not yet, anyway.

“Beg me,” I grind out, knowing she won’t.

She wouldn’t even beg when we were together, not for a fucking thing. My girl was hardheaded and strong-willed. Nobody could break her. Not even me.

“Atomic, I’m being serious here.”

My lips twitch into a smirk. “I am, too.”

“I won’t beg you. If you don’t want to help me, that’s fine.”

I take a step toward her to close the distance between us before I lift my hand and cup her cheek as I look into her gorgeous fucking eyes. I missed these eyes. As I slide my thumb along her bottom lip, I don’t break contact with her.

“Beg me, legs,” I rasp, using the nickname I’ve called her since the moment we met. Best fucking legs in Texas, probably the world.

Her eyes search mine, and I think she’s going to cave, but she doesn’t. Instead, she takes a step backward, her eyes sliding to the side and breaking my gaze. Defeat. I see it in her eyes. I know the expression, and I’m not going to reassure her. She needs to beg.

“I won’t.”

“Then I won’t help you.”

She walks past me, unlocking the door before moving out of the room, and I let her go. I let her walk out of my life, something that, this time, I could have probably stopped from happening. But fuck Ryan Turner.

Fuck her.

Goddammit, I should have fucked her one more time before she walked away.

RYAN

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