Page 157 of Grumpy Billionaire Bad Boy

I'm going to kill Joe Vito.

I wake sometime later, gasping for air as I open my eyes to find Seven sitting on the bed beside me instead of Archer. "Jesus Christ, Seven. You scared the fucking shit out of me." I scoot up and away, clutching at my chest. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

He reaches for me, his fingers out. "You have some drool right there."

I smack him away. "No, I don't." I lick my lips and wipe my mouth just in case.

"Whatcha wanna do today?" Seven says, repositioning himself more comfortably.

I rub my eyes. "Where's Archer?"

"I don't know." He shrugs. "He was being all weird and cryptic. Asked me to come babysit."

"I don't need babysat," I groan and slip out of bed, Seven staying there as I grab clothes to change into. "How long is he going to be gone?"

"I don't know, firecracker. A couple of hours, probably." He examines his hands. "Will you paint my nails?"

I stop and look right at him. "What?"

"My nails, will you paint them?" Seven drags his legs off the bed and comes over to me, holding out his tattooed fingers to me. "What do you think about black?"

"Why don't you just go get them done at a salon, Seven?"

"Because I don't like people."

"I'm people," I tell him with my arms full of clothes.

"Nah, I like you, firecracker." He rubs my head, messing up my hair more than it already was.

"I'm honored." I roll my eyes and turn on my heel to march toward the bathroom, Seven close behind me. I come to a stop before the bathroom door. "Um, excuse me, a little privacy."

"Geez. It's nothing I haven't seen before." Seven throws his arms up as I shut the door in his face. "You never answered me," he says loudly through the door. "I'm bored, what do you want to do? You wanna get some food or something?"

I make quick work of peeing, changing out of my clothes, and brushing my teeth and hair. I splash my face with water and throw on some makeup, deciding that today calls for winged eyeliner—channeling my inner Taylor Swift. With a final glance in the mirror, I apply an auburn lipstick and tuck my hair behind my ears. I force a smile, the memory of the first time I looked in this mirror coming back to me. I was a different woman then—battered and bruised and terrified of my haunted past. Today, I fully embrace the fact that I'm going to face it head-on, no longer willing to live in the shadows caused by a man. I hate that I have to risk everything, but my freedom has to count for something. I can't continue to put everyone else first, I must consider what's best for me.

"Damn," Seven says when I open the door.

Marching past him, I continue into the bedroom and kneel beside the bed, reaching my hand in until I find what I'm searching for. I pull out the gun Seven gave me when Archer was distracted and check the barrel to make sure it's loaded.

Seven leans in the doorway, his tattooed arms across his chest, a smile creeping across his face.

I tuck the gun into my waistband. "Take me to The Branford?"

Seven doesn't question me, he doesn't inquire about what we're doing. All he does is say, "Let's go."

I follow Seven through Archer's apartment and pause at the door to leave my phone on the table Archer keeps his keys. I'm well aware that he's been using it to track and spy on me, and in the past, I've allowed it to happen, but today, I don't want Archer to stalk me, not when I'm about to betray him in a way we'll never recover from.

Taking in his apartment for the last time, I draw in a breath and leave, my stomach in knots at the idea that I'll never be close to him again, to feel his skin on mine, his body pressed against me.

I love you,his voice calls out to me, but it was only a fever dream. It wasn't real. None of this was.

Then why does my heart hurt so badly?

I ignore the ache seeping through me and reach for the handle of Seven's car, but he gets there first.

"I'm not being a gentleman; I just don't want your fingerprints all over it." Seven opens it for me and closes me in, the smell of new car somehow still present despite him having this at the very least since I've known Archer.

I settle into the seat and fight the urge to change my mind, to turn back while I still have a chance. There's still time for Archer to come up with a solution, to figure a way out of this, but what if he doesn't and this is the only opportunity I have to get to Vito without Archer stopping me? I can't risk the possibility that my fate is sealed, I have to end this once and for all.

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