Page 17 of Worth Every Penny

I will not be pitied by Nico Hawkston.

“Yes, a hundred times. A thousand times. Loyal, caring, honest. Whereas you, you… you ruined his life. You fuckingendedit.”

Nico is staring at me, utterly unmoved, whereas I’m losing my cool, which in this temperature is an impressive feat. Somewhere beneath the anger, I know I shouldn’t be saying any of this. If Jack could hear me, he’d rip my head off, but I can’t stop.

“Dad was going to retire. He had the whole thing planned out. Wanted to buy a boat and a house in the South of France with the money from the sale. We were going to stay with him. It was his retirement plan. We could have had years together as a family.” I break off, my voice thick with grief, unable to look Nico in the eye. “Years of memories. He wanted me to bring my children there. His grandchildren. He had a future marked out, and you destroyed it. That money… the money he wanted to set aside—”

“Little K—”

“Stop saying my name like that!”

His brow furrows. “Like what?”

“Like you care.”

The silence that falls is fragile and thin; a veil Nico could waft away with one hand, exposing all the long-denied emotion hiding beneath my words.

I wait for him to protest or confirm, but he says nothing.

I can’t take it anymore.

“You know what? It doesn’t matter.” My arm flails in his direction. I’m making a fool of myself, but I don’t care. Let him think whatever he wants. He’s a cruel, calculating bastard, even if he does look like a Greek god.

I crush the contract in my fist and throw it on the ground. The wind catches it and it shuffles along the balcony floor towards Nico’s highly polished black shoes. He lifts his foot and pins thepaper in place before bending to pick it up. I don’t know what he intends to do with it, but I’m not waiting around to find out.

I storm back towards the glass doors. The party is still going on inside. Everyone looks happy and relaxed, whereas I’ve been transported to a parallel universe where I’m experiencing the full gamut of emotions. Hatred and lust perform a riotous shuttle run through every cell in my body.

I can’t be with those cheerful people now, and I absolutely cannot stay out here with Nico Hawkston.

I’ll have to go home.

Just as I reach the door, a hand grips mine, firm yet gentle. “Wait.”

Nico’s touch sears my skin and I skid to a standstill, electricity zapping through me, raising every tiny hair.

I can’t breathe.Can’t think.Biochemical reactions explode through my body like fireworks.

He’s touching me.

I’m rooted to the spot, anchored where our bodies meet. He’s standing so close that I’m struck by the breadth of his shoulders and the strength that lingers beneath his suit. I could never over-power him or outrun him. His scent mingles with the cool night air, wrapping around me like the jacket I wouldn’t take.

His gaze fixes on where we’re joined, a puzzled expression crossing his face, like holding my hand has made his brain misfire.Is he feeling this too?

The expression vanishes and his gaze traces a slow path up my body to my face, dragging sparks through my flesh.

“Let go of me,” I whisper, although the teenager in me is yelling,touch me, touch me everywhere.

Nico doesn’t release me. “How much money did he want to set aside?” His voice is low; more of a vibration than a whisper, and it resonates in my bones. “For the house. The boat. For the future he never got to have with you. How much was it?”

He leans in, the warmth of his breath ghosting my cheek. My heartbeat skitters. Whether he knows it or not, I’m completely at his mercy. I want more of this.More of him. And I hate that I want it.

His dark eyes hold mine as he waits for an answer.

“Ten million.” My voice is breathy, and I’m ashamed of how it sounds. “Nothing to someone like you, but a huge sum to my father.”

Nico releases my hand, at once shattering the tension and severing the circuit running through us. He steps back, and the distance between us feels like the theft of something I didn’t know I needed.

He flattens the scrunched up contract and takes a pen from the inside of his jacket, scrawls something on the paper, then neatly folds it.

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