Page 54 of Last Chance Seduction
My hand squeezed around her neck for a moment before I forced myself to relax.“Money isn’t an object here,” I whispered.
“You can’t do this for me,” Mercy said as she looked towards me, and my hand fell.
“Then let us do it for you,” Daisy said calmly.“A Christmas gift from the Montgomerys.And if I need to break into your house in order to keep it safe, I will,” she added with such a bright smile that it took me a moment to see the edge underneath.
“I cannot believe that asshole.Are they really going to keep coming after me?”Mercy didn’t sound scared.She soundedpissed.And I didn’t blame her.
“I’m sure the authorities are going to do what they can to make sure that doesn’t happen, and so will we.I just need you to be safe for now.Okay?Take the security system.”
“It’s way too much,” Mercy said with the shake of her head.
“Don’t be stupid.Let us help you.”
She scowled at me.“And don’t call me stupid.Fine though, as long as it’s from all of the Montgomerys.”She was speaking to Daisy as she said it but looking at me.So I knew exactly what she meant.We had no idea what we were to each other in that moment, no idea what would happen next, but I’d be damned if anyone put their hands on her again.
ChapterTwelve
Mercy
It wasn’t every day that you found out your former fiancé/worst nightmare owed money to a loan shark withconnections.Or was it the Mafia?I had narrated a few mafia romances, and it was always the innocent bystander who’d gotten in the way who ended up hurt or dead.I was not going to let myself dwell on that however, at least in this moment.Because it was Christmas Eve, and I was taking a full day off work.I was not going to dwell on the concept of my imminent doom, demise, or downward spiral.Because if I did, oh, there would be spiraling.
Justin was such a punk-ass bitch that he couldn’t even stand up for himself two years later.I didn’t know when he had stolen that money.Because not paying back a bookie was pretty much stealing.If he had done it after we had ended everything, then he was truly reaching far back in time to find a scapegoat.
But him and his perky wife, the woman I had trusted with my wedding, were safe and sound in Florida.
And I was apparently being mauled on street corners in Denver.
After Daisy had gone over everything, I had also explained to the group about the uneasy feeling that had washed over me in the grocery store as well as the random phone calls.While I had told the authorities that, the Montgomerys hadn’t known.Lex had paced his kitchen, my cat oddly pacing right along with him.At one point, Mr.Darcy had tripped Lex, but the man I was slowly falling for had merely caught himself, growled, and continued to mumble.
I didn’t know what the Montgomerys were planning, or how the authorities were going to fix this, but I was so damn annoyed that the person I truly did not think of often, thought of me enough to throw me under a bus.
And now here I was, dwelling on it when I said I wouldn’t dwell.Frustrated, I flipped my mascara a little too hard and ended up with black on my eyebrows.
“Son of a bitch.”
“Here you go.I do that too many times to count,” Brooklyn said as she handed me a tissue.
I wiped at the black smear that was slowly starting to seep into my foundation and growled.
“That’s it.I’m just going to draw on my face and call it a day.Can we have it as a costume party for our dinner tonight on Christmas Eve?”
A group of us were all heading to a nice restaurant that was owned by a friend of a friend and were going to celebrate as couples for Christmas Eve.Later I would open my gift underneath the tree, slightly different than when I was younger, but it would just be me and Mr.Darcy, unless Lex wanted to stay.
I warmed at the thought of that, because the two of us were sure acting like we were in a real relationship, and we hadn’t even slept together yet.
Yes, we had slept next to each other but we hadn’t had sex.We had been close enough a few times, but distractions and interruptions truly were the bane of my existence.No, Justin was the bane of my existence.Distractions were just hindrances.Maybe my Christmas gift would be an orgasm.That would be wonderful.
“I would love to know what you’re thinking,” Brooklyn said with a laugh.“And don’t worry, I’ll help you get that streak right off, and we won’t have to draw on your face like that oneFriendsepisode when they went to Vegas.”
Laughing, remembering the ridiculousness of that particular show, I let out a breath.
“You really don’t want to know what I was thinking.”
Brooklyn, one of the most gorgeous women I had ever seen with her honey-colored hair and freckles that covered most of her face, winced.“I really don’t want to know about your sex life with my cousin.It really sucks when people that I’ve become friends with or people that I’ve known all of my life start to date my family members.Because then we can’t have the normal talks.I don’t want to know about bedroom antics or the size of his dick.”Brooklyn let out a shudder.“I can’t believe I just said that aloud.”
Laughing, I turned back to the mirror and sighed.“Thank you for the mascara help.And don’t worry, I wouldn’t even know what to say about that certain aspect.I mean, I think we’re dating.Lex sort of alluded to it, but it’s not like this whole time together has been any form of normal.”
“Life isn’t normal.That’s the whole point of it.”
