Page 29 of Queen Of Dark Money

Nomatter how muchIwanted to crawl out of my own skin and hide under a rock instead.

Mytears dried up, andIgave up on reading, setting the book on my lap with a soft sigh.Therewould be no enjoyment in reading an old classic right now.Resignedto this strange limbo,Iclosed my eyes, leaned my head back, and tried to just take in the sounds of life from the city below.

Icould do this.

I’dget through this shit, and whenIcame out on the other side,I’dbe stronger for it.

EddySinclairwouldn’t leave me sitting here as a captive.He’dsend the police after me, even if he didn’t want to pay the ransom.

AllIhad to do was wait.

CHAPTER TWELVE

JASPER

Wakingup on a floor is always an experience.Thefirst thing you notice is the bone-deep ache that resonates through every fiber of your being.Thefeeling of being asleep for far too long or far too little, never entirely rested enough.

Thencomes the room-spinning nausea.Eventhe slightest movement of your body and your head went into a dangerous spiral that could drag your stomach up through your esophagus, forcing it into the back of your throat as you desperately struggled against the urge to void every inch of your stomach of the contents you’d imbibed to make it feel this way.

Afteryou stilled and the room stopped spinning, you’d get a slight reprieve before it all started over again, and thus, the vicious cycle would rotate like a twisted vinyl on a slightly unbalanced record player.Youcould see something was off, but no easy fix would solve the problem.Therewas also no getting off the ride.Likea runaway train or a too-fast carousel, you simply had to hold on until the ride came to a complete stop on its own and then stumble from the damn thing with the hopes that you would retain your dignity and stay upright as you fought your feet for purchase on the ground.

Iflexed my fingers and growled into the shag carpet of my hallway, refusing to open my eyes just yet.

Fuck,Iached.

Myfingers twitched miserably, a groan rolling through me as the pain resonated from those joints to every other inch of my body, slowly, like a creeping, invasive moss, determined to touch every part of my nerve endings and light them on fire.

Iswore, then swore again as the sound of my own voice echoed agonizingly loud in my ears.Itsounded likeI’dshouted the damn word, but in reality,I’dbarely uttered a whisper.Mythroat was dry, my head was spinning, my whole fucking being ached, and nowIwas deafening myself with nothing more than a little swear.

Getit together, you spineless hot mess.Youcan do it.Justshut up, suck it up, and get moving.

IfIcould get to my bed, we’d be all clear.

Myhead turned slowly untilIspotted the open door to my room and grinned.IfIcould just crawl into bed,Icould sleep most of this shit off and be right as rain in the morning.I’ddeal with today’s problems whenIcould think straight.

Thetrip to my bed was long, agonizing, and utter hell.

Thecarpet along my fucking knees felt like sharp rocks, not the plush shagIknew it to be.Everynerve ending was on high alert for every sensation known to man, amplifying them into such intense feelingsIcould hardly stand to touch a fucking thing.

Ifinally gripped the post of my bed and sighed in relief.AllIhad to do now was hoist my stupid ass up into the bed, crawl a few inches, and pass the fuck out for another six hours or so.Thecurtains were open, but the world outside was dark, so it had to be night.

Honestly,Ididn’t give a damn what time it was.Itcould be high noon for allIcared, andI’dstill sleep like the dead, curtains open or not.Itwas as easy as covering my head with a pillow.

Makingmy way to the center of the bed was damn near impossible.AndwhenIreached it,Iinstantly knew something was off.

Myspinning room came to a sickening halt asIput my hand down in a pile of fucking crumbs.

Sheate those fucking cookies in my damn bed.

Myfingers encountered the empty box, andIswore again, rage burning off a fair amount of the pain asIprocessed the situation.

Ifthere was one thingIabsolutely didnotallow, it was eating in a bed.Crumbswere like my biggest pet peeve, and the fact that she’d left me lying on the hall floor, devoured my snacks, and left the damage in the center of my bed?

Itwas all too much for my drink-addled mind to deal with.

Icouldn’t take it.

Shovingpast the dizziness, nausea, and agony,Isat upright in the bed, slid off to the side, and stumbled to the door, determined to find and scold this grown-ass woman who was acting like a child.Shehadn’t even had the decency to dust the crumbs from the bed.Onthe floor, they weren’t as annoying.Aquick call to the housekeeper in the morning and they were dealt with.

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