Page 421 of Savage Bosses

"Find her! Do you hear me?"

"Uh, Ma, the connection is breaking up," he lied, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "I'll have to call you back."

"Wait, Bryce—" The line went dead as he hung up, cutting her off mid-sentence.

Heaving a deep sigh, Bryce leaned back in his chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Did his mother really just say Tati was hers? She hadn't uttered words like that since years ago when she'd said that Tati was like a daughter to her.

He knew his mother wouldn't let this go without a fight, but he couldn't stand the thought of Tatianna waltzing back into his life like nothing had happened.

"Damn it," he muttered under his breath, images of Tatianna's smug face flashing through his mind as she flipped him off. "Crazy ass."

She should be begging for his forgiveness, not giving him the finger. A part of him was glad she was back, the way he'd always secretly hoped she would be. The other part of him was furious that she'd returned as if nothing had ever happened, as if she'd never held his heart in the palm of her hand and ripped it to shreds.

"Damn it," he growled, slamming his fist against the desk.

He needed to teach her a lesson for leaving him when he'd needed her the most. He'd make her hurt just as badly as she'd hurt him five years ago. No tears, no apologies would change what she'd done. And now that she was back, he had the perfect opportunity to make her suffer.

"It's time for you to feel the pain and frustration I've felt for the last five years, Tati," Bryce whispered under his breath, a wicked grin stretching across his face.

He didn't know the real reason behind her return, nor did he care. He wasn't the same man he'd been when she'd left. And he was sure his actions today had shocked her. Bryce chuckled. She hadn't seen anything yet.

The game was on, and this time, Bryce would be the one calling the shots. This time, he'd make her crave him just as much as he'd craved her. Then, he'd drop her ass the same way she'd dropped him.

Since she wanted to work at the café, he’d let her, but he’d make her time there hell, the way her absence had turned his life into a hell he couldn’t escape from. A hell that he now called home.

"Starting tomorrow, you're gonna wish you never came back," he promised, his voice low and menacing.

Bryce called his mother.

She answered quickly. "Did you get her back?"

"You could at least start by saying, hello, son," Bryce told her.

"Son, did you get my Tati back?"

"Mom, don't call her that."

"I can call her whatever I want to call her."

"Why don't you call Melinda that? She's the one dad wants me to marry."

"Don't get me started on that one. I'll never agree to you marrying her. I don't care what your father says."

Good. "I wasn't able to stop Tatianna," Bryce lied. "She left before I could catch her."

"Bryceson Cattaneo, how could you be so rude to her?"

"Me, rude? She’s the rude one. She flipped me off as she drove off."

"She did?" his mother asked, laughing.

"It's not funny, mom. She's ruder than before."

"To be fair, you started it by firing her unfairly."

He had every right to fire her. But now he wanted her back. Not in his life, but at the cafe, so he could torment her daily. So he could teach her a lesson she'd never forget.

"Mom," Bryce said. "Can you call her for me? Tell her to come back in the morning."

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