Page 104 of Bought and Broken

It’s partially my fault that this happened. I should have known better. If I had been smart about this, I never would have allowed Tate to get close enough to hurt me again. Yet, I did… so he did. Honestly, I don’t think he can help himself. All he knows is hurt, and that is so sad. Because deep down, Tate is an amazing person. But until he figures out his own problems, he’ll never change. And I have enough of my own stuff to deal with, I can’t help him through this. Not after what he did. So yeah, I’m not sure if I’m going to call him or not. I guess we’ll see how I feel after I talk with everyone else. If I find out he’s moping around and upset, maybe I’ll talk to him. But something tells me he’s just fine. He got what he wanted—his revenge. I’m sure he already has another girl warming his bed. Something I really don’t want to think about because it enrages me like nothing else I’ve ever felt.

I go into the kitchen to get a bottle of water and work on opening the windows around the house. It’s a beautiful day, and I love that I can smell the beach from here.

The delivery guys should be here in about an hour, and I still have to clean the dining room. It’s the last room to clean, and it shouldn’t take me long since it isn’t big. The worst part is all the windows.

I get to work cleaning the room, and just as I put the mop into the bucket, the doorbell rings.

After peeking through the peephole, I pull it open.

“Devon Kensington?”

“That’s me,” I say with a smile.

He’s an older man, maybe about my father’s age. Looks like he spends a lot of time in the sun. His hair is mostly grey, and his eyes are the same deep blue of the polo shirt he’s wearing.

“I’ve got a pretty big delivery here.” He looks at his clipboard, running his finger down it as he looks it over. “Says we’re putting everything together too?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I only have two guys with me since one called out sick, so we’ll have to do one room at a time.”

“That’s perfectly fine.”

“Let me get everything pulled out of the truck, and then you can tell us where it’s going.” He makes to turn, but stops, looking me over. “Are you related to that guy who does the fashion shows?”

I sigh, smiling softly. “Brent Kensington? Yeah, he’s my father.”

The guy smiles, pointing at me. “Yeah, that’s the name. My niece was a model for his clothing line a few years ago. Heard he was a nice guy.”

“He’s great.”

“Tony,” he says, offering his hand. I shake it, then he heads down the walkway and to the truck.

Guess even this far away, I can’t get out of my father’s shadow.

My house is clean. My furniture is put together. My suitcase is empty. I have a list of everything I need to buy tomorrow, sorted by room. The sun is down. A warm breeze flows in from the window by my bed that is so comfortable. And though everything seems so perfect, it’s all pretty lonely.

I’m happy I did this—that I was able to do this at all. But now that I’m here? It’s not what I expected it to be.

I glance at my phone, wondering if I should call someone. Dane won’t understand. Neither will Dad. I’m not calling Tate.

That leaves only one person.

I snatch my phone from the nightstand and call my best friend.

“Hello?”

“This is not as great as I thought it would be,” I say, turning onto my back.

“It hasn’t even been a week.”

“I know, but I thought it would be amazing from the start, you know? I’ve done nothing but clean and sweat. I think I’ve lost ten pounds.”

She laughs. “You just need some time, Dev. Everything will come together. You can’t expect to change your life so drastically and settle in right away, even if you wanted it so badly.”

“I’m starting to think I don’t know what I want.”

“You do,” she says firmly. “You just need to get used to it. It’s a big change.”

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