Page 6 of Virtue & Vengeance

2

EDEN

LOOKING INTO THE MIRROR, I hardly recognized the person staring back at me. My eyes were puffy and rimmed in red, and my nose was swollen for some reason. My blond strands were twisted into a knotted mess, and my lips still looked stung from his kisses.

I’d spent most of the night crying into my pillow like a teenager with a broken heart. All while hating myself for giving him such a personal part of me. I’d saved my virginity for so long only to let the first beautifully dangerous man I met snatch it from me.

Then again, I’d been more than willing.

The things he did to me.

The way he made my body respond to his trained touches.

All of it left me feeling uneven and confused.

By the time the sun peeked over the horizon and began to fill my room with its glorious light, I was all cried out. I had no tears left for Zander, and I finally managed to fall asleep.

I didn’t understand any of it.

I had no idea what I’d done to deserve Zander’s wrath, but I knew I never wanted to see his gorgeous face again.

Had this been his plan all along?

To get me to sleep with him so he could fire me?

I had no idea what Zander’s intentions had been, but I knew if he hadn’t fired me after last night, there was no way I could continue to work there.

I would have quit.

I woke around three in the afternoon to the sound of the rain beating on the large bay window in my room. The water slid sadly down the glass, reminding me of how upset I was.

The bed kept me, holding me in its soft embrace. It didn’t matter. I’d already slept most of the day away, and honestly, I could have rolled over and gone back to sleep, but I needed to get up and move around.

I stretched, expecting my muscles to feel cramped after being with Zander, but there was no discomfort if I didn’t count the tiny touch of soreness between my thighs.

Crawling from my bed, I pulled the sheets off and rolled them up. They were spotted with blood, so instead of washing them, I tossed them in the trash.

I had no idea what I would tell Aunt Kennedy when she got home, but I knew she would want explanations.

My stomach sank with the thought of Aunt Kennedy.

I hadn’t thought about her at all through this.

How would I explain her ruined sheets?

She was also going to want to know why Zander fired me, and there was no way I could tell her about the night we spent together. She would think I was nothing, and honestly, I felt like even less than nothing.

Turning away from the mirror, I opened the shower door and turned the water on as hot as I could. Then I stepped back into my bedroom to get myself a fresh set of clothes.

Stopping at the foot of the bed, I closed my eyes and thought about the things that had occurred the night before.

The way his body felt.

The things he did to me.

The things he said.

His sounds.

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