Page 68 of Ruined
Again, not one of the servers moved. Haley bit her lip, her eyes cast over her shoulders, then faced me again.
“I’ll double it,” Aldrich said.
Nothing.
“Mel,” Aldrich called. “The answer is yes.”
Mel sucked in a breath and moved forward, her steps heavy in the silence. Haley walked faster towards me, panic in her eyes. She reached for me and I pulled her in close. She was frightened.
One thing was certain: Ineededto get her out of this environment.
Mel tapped Haley’s shoulder. Haley burrowed into me before turning around to face her.
In a low, barely audible voice, Mel said, “Pretend like you’re upset.”
“Upset?” Haley asked.
“It’s not personal,” Mel added in a whisper. Then in a loud voice, she said, “You’re a whore. Once Dahlia finds out, you’re all gone.”
There was no pretending in Haley’s stance. Her mouth dropped open, then she bit her lip, her eyes filling up with tears.
“What?” Haley stammered. “What do you mean ‘all’?”
“Your loved ones too. Your secret won’t be safe forever.”
Haley shook in my hands. I hugged her tighter. She buried herself in my arms, not letting herself look at Mel again.
I’m sorry, Mel mouthed to me, but I didn’t respond. Her apologies weren’t welcome. Mel returned to the group, taking her place at Aldrich’s side.
I grabbed Haley’s shoulders and ushered her towards the Terrariums. “No work. Just rest,” I whispered. “Don’t worry.”
“Get off of me,” Aldrich yelled at one of the servers. “Cowardly bitch.”
His steps rang through the building. Haley’s pace quickened, but I kept her steady. If Aldrich wanted to say something, I wanted him to say it out here, where there were more ears. More people to see the kind of person he truly was.
“A word of advice for an old friend,” Aldrich said.
“What do you want?” I asked, turning both of us towards him.
He leaned against the wall. “Never forget, Lucas.” His mouth pinched shut. “Money is power. It’s the only power worth anything in this world.” He angled his body away from Haley. “If you accept that, you’ll be more successful than you ever dreamed of. Money won’t buy you love. But it will buy you a whore.”
My posture stiffened. “Don’t talk about Haley like that,” I growled.
“I’m not concerned with what you want. You fucked me over. I will return the favor.”
“Fucked you over?” I asked. I let go of Haley. “Ifuckedyouover?”
“I keep my word, Lucas. You know that the company is yours,” he said. He knew about Haley then. I glanced at her. She must have told him. That explained his hatred. “I told you that Bella would fall for me, and you didn’t believe me. You believed in love.” His eyes bloodshot gleamed. “I may not have taken Haley’s virginity, but I will destroy her love for you, and everything she loves with it.”
Haley clutched my side, and I put a firm grip around her shoulder.
“Go fuck yourself, Aldrich.” I nodded towards the group of servers. “None of them will fill the emptiness of what you’ve lost.”
He screamed at us, but by the time a security guard came to his side, we were in the sound-canceling hallway of the Terrariums.
Instead of picking our usual room with the aerial dance equipment, I picked a plain room that didn’t have anything besides a champagne cooler and the usual furniture. Haley took a seat in the far corner of the room to get as far away from Aldrich as possible. I sat next to her. Haley’s gaze couldn’t quite stay still. She looked everywhere, never settling down. Not even on me.
“He’s joking, right?” she finally said. “He can’t mean it.”
