Page 36 of Reckless Wolf

“Oh, I think I do,” she retorted, folding her arms over her chest. “I was an idiot to trust you.”

I balked at her tone.

“I’ll be right back,” I snarled, turning away.

I hoped that a few minutes alone would give her the time she needed to clear her thoughts and calm down. Maybe I should tell her about the curse and the reality of why I couldn’t involve myself with her and her sister.

“Bring back tonight’s pay, too!” Bianca yelled after me. “I’m not coming back.”

I whipped back around to look at her.

“You didn’t do anything tonight.”

She scoffed.

“I came here, didn’t I? It’s not my fault if you didn’t let me work.”

The anger was laced with hurt, but I swallowed again and nodded.

“You know, you’re no better than Jesse, Atlas.”

I reeled around, stunned and infuriated by the comparison.

“What?!”

“You say you will help me one second and then redact it the next. You say that we can’t do…” She motioned between us. “Whatever this is, and then you go down on me until I scream,” she muttered, blinking furiously. “At least Jesse is upfront with what he wants from us. He’s made his intentions clear.”

I inhaled sharply, the truth ready to spill from my lips, but I stopped myself. She was speaking from a place of upset, and I couldn’t tell her, not without showing my own weakness. In one way, she was right—I never should have touched her.

“I’ll be back,” I growled, spinning to march out of the office, squaring my shoulders proudly. I deserved everything she’d just said to me, but deep down, I knew she was wrong about me and about my intentions. I just had no idea how to show her how wrong she was without making things worse than I already had.

Chapter16

Bianca

Ishook in my spot, the phones going nuts as he left.

Come back!I yelled in my head, but the words didn’t leave my lips. My stubborn pride kept me in place, blinking furiously at the tears that threatened to flow down my face. I wouldn’t give Atlas any more satisfaction at seeing me cry than I would Jesse.

Screw both of them. Screw all males! I don’t need them. I’ll find a way out for us yet. Dahlia and I will be okay. We’ll make it out!

But my naïve optimism was waning. How could it not be? I’d been delivered far too many blows by now to maintain it. I’d be an idiot to believe that I could claw my way out of this. My sister was injured. Even if she was getting better, we were broke, poor, and without any friends or family who wouldn’t sell us for a case of beer.

Our own father murdered our mother for money. We were truly alone.

This needed to be a lesson for me. I couldn’t depend on anyone. I couldn’t let my guard down and allow my passions to overwhelm me, no matter how hot and powerful Atlas was. He wasn’t going to save me. He’d made that abundantly clear.

I had no reason to trust him, except that I’d been turned on by his brute masculinity, and something inside me had drawn me to him. But I couldn’t let my hormones drive me. What would my mom say if she could see me now? What would Dahlia say if she saw how I’d squandered the little bit of freedom I’d managed to acquire?

Stupid. I was stupid.

The phones drove me nuts, and I grabbed one to stop it from ringing.

“I need Atlas!” a man growled in my ear.

“Take a number,” I snapped back. “What do you want?”

I was still there, in the office. I might as well do my job until Atlas returned with my money.

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