Page 112 of Rent Free

“I got a call today from the richest man in Dallas,” Maven said. “He wanted to check references. And when I’m saying that he’s excited to work with you? That would be an understatement.”

The next ten minutes consisted of Pepper saying it wasn’t that big of a deal every time someone said something about her business, and the rest of us informing her that it was.

“I would love to be a sponsor,” Keene offered. “We had a performer come let us know just last week she’d have to take a hiatus because she found out that she had stage-three breast cancer.”

Pepper was almost in tears by the time we made it back inside.

“This day,” she wiped her eyes hard, hoping to stop any tears from falling. “I don’t think that it could be any better.”

I pulled her into my arms, my fingers going to the hollow of her back, as I said, “You deserve everything, Pepper Solomon.”

She lifted a hand and ran it along the dark circles underneath my eyes. “Ready for bed, Carter?”

I nodded.

“Can I join you?” she asked. “Is it time yet?”

I laughed, picking her up.

She wound her legs around my hips, arms going tight around my neck, and looked at me with pleading eyes.

“I wasn’t trying to torture us both,” I murmured. “I just wanted you to know how I feel before we went back to the stuff we knew we could get right.”

Her legs tightened around my waist. “Really?”

I walked with her to the bedroom, stopping only briefly to make sure that Forest was fast asleep, before setting the alarm as we passed.

I laid her down on my bed, then followed her, my fingers idly running over the scar on her face.

“How did you get that scar?” I whispered, praying she’d answer me.

She licked her lips, then told me the story.

By the time she was done, my forehead was resting against hers, and I had this rage—this uncontrollable rage—that felt like it was choking me.

“Do you have any more scars from her?” I asked.

How had Sage hidden this side of herself for so long?

How had I missed the signs?

Even worse, that night that she’d run out of the woods, I’d all but given her the perfect story to use to get the kind of attention she sought.

What kind of person did that make me?

An accomplice?

All this time, I’d been falling into her illusions.

Meanwhile, there was Pepper, who’d been abused by Sage so many times, trying to make me see.

“Not ones you can see,” she admitted. “But inside? There are a whole lot.”

I gritted my teeth, my jaw working at the words.

She pressed both fingers into my jaw and massaged.

The softness of her fingers forced me to relax whether I wanted to or not.

---