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Fuck.
66
PEARL
* * *
I can smell him. The stench of cheap, heavy cologne that used to waft through the manor. That smell would tell me if he was near. If he’d been somewhere close by.
I peek up from under the baseball cap. Brad, Danny, and James look so fucking calm, but I can feel their fury. I don’t know what Brad saw on the envelope he threw to the ground. Knowing my uncle, it was heinous. Vulgar, like he is.
“Your virgin isn’t worth shit,” the tall, foreign man hisses, and I flinch when he points his gun at me.
My uncle swings his gun toward Brad. “This true? She’s been fucked?”
I inhale sharply, consumed by dread, my mind chasing in circles.
“Yeah, about that,” Brad says. “Do you want the good news or the bad news?”
My uncle’s chin lifts.
“The bad news is, she’s no longer a virgin.” Brad flicks his eyes to me, and I will him not to goad my uncle. “The good news is, it was a nice experience for her.” He smiles. I know Brad’s smiles. They’re light, his lazy gaze twinkly. There’s none of that. “Or is that bad news for you? And good news for . . . me?”
I can’t see my uncle, won’t look. I keep my eyes on Brad.
“You?” he barks.
“Me,” Brad confirms.
“Well, that explains everything.” My uncle laughs, the manic, uncontrollable laughter turning my blood to ice. “Why else would you pay two hundred million for her? What do you think this is? Try before you buy?”
“What does it matter? You’re getting your money.”
“What does it matter?” he asks. I hear it. The frenzy rising. “You made a fucking fool of me, that’s what matters!” I watch Brad, feeling the gun that he tucked into my leggings as I climbed out of the car pressing into my back. I wasn’t supposed to move away from him. I wasn’t supposed to move out of his reach. Nolan or me. Brad would never have chosen. So I had to. Because my uncle’s here for me. Virgin or not.
And now it’s over.
67
DANNY
* * *
I don’t like the look on Pearl’s face. I don’t like the defeat. I don’t like the darting of her eyes as she thinks. Don’t do it, Pearl. Leave the gun exactly where it is. “Look at me,” Brad whispers under his breath, desperate for her to see him. She doesn’t look up. Her hands twitch. King is making sure he’s keeping her close even when his attention is pointed elsewhere.
“You. Fucked. My. Niece!”
“I’m surprised it’s a surprise,” Brad says, casual. Jesus Christ, what is he doing? “Since your friend knew.”
“You knew!” King barks, aiming his gun at Sandy again. “You knew my Pumpkin had been fucked!”
I look at Brad, nervous. We are in way over our heads, and I don’t mind admitting it. So why the fuck does he look so calm?
“Fucking hell,” James whispers.
“Well,” King barks, and then he starts laughing out of the blue again. Psychotic. Unpredictable. “I suppose now she’s worthless, I’ll keep her for my own pleasure.”
Fuck, no.
