Page 73 of Nothing To Lose
"No. Throwing my life away would be letting you control every aspect of my life, including putting me in a dangerous situation with someone who actuallydidtoss me away." I fold my arms around my chest. "I was meant to be loved. Heard. Cherished. And that's what he does."
Silence. Then I stand.
"You know, it's so funny that you would talk about an honest, good person the way you have. As if you don't work with therealcriminals every day," I say lightly, adopting his casual, vaguely threatening tone. "I forget, how much money did you make on PTech stock right before your friend Jacob Lien was arrested for insider trading?"
His jaw tightens.
"And isn't it interesting that you happen to represent three different real estate developers, all of whom donated to a local councilman right around the time he voted to make major changes to the zoning laws to allow for a shopping center development?"
His voice is sharp now. "Watch yourself, son."
"Look, I'm not pointing fingers,Father," I say with a venomous smile. "I'm just saying that it would be a real shame if the FCC got curious about your investment portfolio."
My father stares at me in a way he never has before. For the second time in my life, I've surprised him. Or maybe, just maybe, I've impressed him for the first time.
I toss the folder in the trash, after I take the photo of Isaac out. I'm keeping that one.
"I'm not intimidated by you anymore," I tell him. "And if you even breathe in Isaac's direction, I'll bury you with what I know."
I leave him with his mouth open in shock. The door shuts behind me. My heart is pounding, my knees shaky, but I'm already pulling out my phone. There are three text messages from Isaac.
Isaac: I’m sorry.
Isaac: Please come back.
Isaac: I just want to talk. Please, kitten.
I need to call him.Tell him I'm on my way home.
I need to get back to him. To fix everything.
My eyes are firmly on my phone as I make my way to the front desk and lobby. I'm not paying attention, and I smack right into another person. My phone clatters to the ground, and I nearly fall, too. A tight grip on my arm keeps me upright, but the moment I look up, I freeze.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Daddy's little disappointment." Guy sneers. "Fancy meeting you here."
My entire body goes cold. I grit my teeth to bite back my nausea, although maybe if I puke directly on him, he'll get the point.
Guy drags me backward, forcing me through a door. The next thing I know, I'm shoved through a door into a dark conference room. Motion activated lights turn on as the door clicks shut.
"Let me leave, Guy. You really don't want to fuck with me right now."
Hetsks."Such language. What's wrong? Find out your gutter-trash boyfriend is going down? Can't say I'm surprised by the looks of him."
My eyes narrow. "That's never going to happen."
He leans in closer, breath hot against my ear. "As a favor to your father, I might consider still taking you after all this is over with. You'll need to get tested, of course, and maybe get cleaned out. You're already not my type. I don't want to catch anything."
His mouth twists like he's considering something, his eyes raking down my body. I instinctively move back when he stalks forward, my back hitting the wall. "I guess it wouldn’t be too inconvenient to have a cock sleeve lying around to use when I get bored."
My stomach churns. I push him away when he gets close enough for me to smell his breath. He doesn't smell like booze right now, but then I suspect you have to be a certain kind of person to act that way, drunk or sober.
"You're disgusting," I spit. "You make me sick. I wouldn't let you touch me if you were the last person on earth."
His grin falters and he slams into me, pushing me against the wall. "You better watch your mouth. Or do you need to be reminded what happens when you disrespect me?"
One hand holds my neck, not squeezing but tight enough to threaten. "I'm not going to sit here and listen to you talk shit when you take it up the ass from some low rent trailer trash."
My heart pounds, but I stare him down. "Isaac is more of a man than you could ever dream of being." I try to buck him off of me, but he's too heavy, so I do what I need to do to get some space between us. I spit in his face.
