Page 20 of My Three Rivals

“They’re leaving,” I promised, spinning on the gravel driveway and kicking up dust with my flip-flops in the process. “They just don’t know it yet.”

* * *

I locked myself in my room for the rest of the day, refusing to come out for anything. I was too fixated on finding a way to get the partners out, I lost all track of time as I pored over my computer, scanning the internet for precedents like this, reading legal cases, looking into old case law. But all the search was doing was making me crazier. I didn’t even know where to start with something like this.

Bizzy and I reconnected after the cops had left, and I filled her in on what was happening.

“They really do want you out of there, huh?” she asked, sounding vaguely entertained. I ignored the lilt in her voice.

“I don’t give a shit what they want. They’re declaring war on me now.”

“Honey, maybe you should just get out of here for a bit. The cops are right. I don’t think staying there is the best idea.”

“They’ll have to drag out my cold, dead corpse before I leave.They’rethe ones who have to leave. And I’ll make sure they never come back when they do. They’re going to regret the day they ever heard about Five Penny,” I vowed.

I just had no idea how to make any of that happen.

My stomach growled relentlessly by the time night fell, reminding me that I’d only eaten half a bagel for breakfast at dawn. It was almost eight thirty now, and I needed to put something else in my body, but I didn’t want to encounter any of them when I did.

My knees cracked when I climbed off the four-poster bed, pulling my hair up into a high, messy bun before opening the bedroom door with a deep breath.

I’d have to face them sometime. I couldn’t and wouldn’t hide away forever. That wasn’t the way to win this.

But to my surprise, the house was silent as I made my way into the upper-level corridor.

All three of the doors to the bedrooms they had claimed were shut, and I was tempted to burst in and startle them. But simultaneously, I was grateful for the quiet.

Tiptoeing, I used the first staircase to make my way to the main floor and into the kitchen.

Only the light on the hood range burned, the last of the California sunshine fading off into oblivion for the night, and I remained in the semi-darkness as I opened the fridge with a grimace of disgust.

When was the last time I went grocery shopping?

I realized it was better that I hadn’t. I didn’t want my new roommates touching my food, after all.

Three-day-old pizza peeked out at me from a half-open box, the stale waft of it making me lose my appetite. But before I could consider any other options, I heard the front door open.

A loud, obnoxious giggle filtered toward the kitchen, and I hurried toward the threshold, but kept my body hidden as I watched two people walk into my home.

A busty, bleach-blonde had her arms slung around Maverick’s neck, his hands firmly planted on her buttocks, half pulling her too-short skirt and giving me an eyeful.

As their kiss broke off, she turned her head to look around. “It’s so dark in here, baby.”

My heart dropped to my feet. I knew her. The pinched face and wide, innocent eyes of the blonde still haunted my nightmares, even after all those years. But I knew looks could be deceiving and that Natalia Rogain was a stone-cold bitch.

A light flooded the interior as Maverick finally found the switch, and Natalia gasped, throwing a manicured hand to mouth with feigned shock.

“Youlive here?” she asked in the same pretentious tone she’d had in high school, her upturned nose cocking higher as she padded up the stairs, her skirt hiking up with the steps.

“You don’t like it?” Maverick snickered, following her up the steps, his eyes glued on her too-curvy ass.

Every movement made me more nauseous.

“For someone who drives a Porsche, I expected something a bit… classier,” she confessed bluntly. She giggled and looked back at him, strands of platinum falling over the swell of her breasts.

“I live here for now,” Maverick replied, his hand reaching toward the space in her thighs. “I have a better place in the city. If you’re a good girl, maybe I’ll take you one day.”

I couldn’t watch another second of this.

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