Page 63 of Taming Her Temptations

“No,” he shakes his head. “It’s better she knows the truth as soon as possible.”

He grips my hand tighter.

“We’ll get through it together.”

And for the first time since the moment Steven kicked me out of my own house, I see an end to all his bullshit. And to my surprise, my biggest thought is that I can’t wait for it to be over so I can get back to enjoying my life.

That thought hits me square in the chest. I often forget about all my anger for Steven until someone brings him up again. I’ve been too busy enjoying my life without him in it. And while I stopped caring so much about revenge, maybe that’s the biggest revenge of all.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Asher

I’ve seen a lot of things in my life that most people couldn’t dream of. Our music has given us access to some of the most exclusive corners of the world. But I will never stop being amazed by the ocean. I spent most of my life having never seen the ocean and frankly, every time I do it makes my brain short-circuit. As if my brain is trying to tell me that it’s not actually real.

And now, as I walk up to Ruby perched on a blanket staring at the waves crashing a few meters away from us, I’m convinced this is a dream that I’m about to wake up from. It’s all just too… amazing. Pure, bright gratitude hums through my entire body. How the hell did I get so lucky?

“Ruby, you can take a deep breath,” Dean exclaims from next to me. “We got six calamari orders to-go.” He lays the two bags of to-go orders in front of her. “Our tribute to you, our sea queen.”

She laughs and smacks him. “All I want is for you to admit that this is truly the best thing you’ve ever eaten.”

“Well, not the best thing,” Levi raises his eyebrows and lets his eyes wander down her body. “But a close second.”

She glares at him. “Okay, acceptable answer.” She finally nods, barely concealing a smile.

We’re celebrating the fact that both the F.B.I. and the Securities and Exchange Commission have been officially tipped off about Steven.

Between Ruby, Odette, and Petra, it only took about two weeks to gather enough evidence against him. They persuaded six of Steven’s clients to demand relatively small amounts of money back from him–amounts he theoretically should have been able to return without a problem. Well, he has had a problem. Big problems. We’ve now got a treasure trove of emails, texts, and calls where he's scrambling to explain why he can't cough up the cash.

We all agreed that this would be enough to generate enough interest for the Feds to look into it and we sent it over.

Now all we have to do is sit and wait.

Of course, it’s bittersweet. Madison’s life is about to be blown up, too. Even though she makes insanely dumb decisions, I don’t want to see her suffer. Levi has given her enough money to make sure she never has to worry, But even then, we still offered to put her up on her own anywhere she wants just to get away from him, as she clearly hasn’t been happy with him lately. But she’s refused to leave him every time and for that reason, we haven’t told her what’s going on out of fear she would tip him off. She seems to see something in Shithead Steve, although I can’t imagine what.

I look to Ruby who has a huge smile on her face. She once saw something in him too, though.

“Why did you marry Shithead Steve, anyway?” I ask straight-forwardly. I know not to beat around the bush with her. She appreciates directness, and I appreciate that about her.

She lets out a long sigh. “Where do I even start with that one?”

She pops a piece of calamari into her mouth and stays silent for a long while as she chews.

“I was really insecure growing up in this town. Everyone had more money than god, and well, you know how I grew up.” She picks a piece of lint off of her pale blue dress. “After my mom died, I needed something to hold on to. With one income, I qualified for a financial scholarship to the private high school where all the super-rich kids go.”

She sighs. “I figured it was my shot at a new beginning. I tried really hard to appear as wealthy as them. I became a thrift store master and worked as a restaurant hostess one town over so no one would recognize me. And…”

She pauses, looking at each of us, clearly unsure about what she’s about to say. “I lied and said I lived in Rosewood Manor. I’d get dropped off and run into the hedges as soon as they were gone.”

Dean laughs. “Thatta girl.”

She shakes her head. “It’s so embarrassing.” She sighs. “Anyway, I got away with it for about half a year until the whole thing blew up in my face. People were ruthless at school when they found out. I mean, hell, you’ve met a lot of them already. People here are top-tier at knowing how to be mean. But Steven didn’t judge me, even though his family was the poster boy of old money. He still wanted to date me. Sometimes I wonder it it was because of the control it gave him over me.”

She pauses and cocks her head, thinking. “I should have just kept my nose to the ground and gotten the hell out of this town, but to be honest, that thought had never even occurred to me until recently.”

She looks out at the waves crashing. The salty wind blows her hair back behind her.

“Instead, I doubled down by dating Steven. I was so out of my mind with grief that I just needed something to take the pain away. Being challenged and judged every second by my peers was like a vacation compared to living in my own head.”

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