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Riley cursed under his breath.
"Those girls who didn't take the money... what happened to them?"
His lower jaw tightened. "You're the first who hasn't."
Surprised, my eyes widened. "None of them stayed?"
"They were all only flings, sticking around for the jewelry and designer goods we gave them. So when my mother offered them a huge sum of money, they fled as soon as they could. We didn't care much. They were there for fun anyway."
I forced myself not to smile. Knowing I meant more to the twins, compared to their chain of ex-girlfriends, made me contented.
He lightly brushed his lips over my forehead. "I'll talk to Ryan about this. We'll think of something. Don't worry about it."
"Can you do anything?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, she's your mother and all. Can you guys stop her?"
He chuckled. "We can. Don't underestimate us." The velvety sound of his laugh was like music to my ears.
I felt as if a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. All this trouble with their mother had been stressing me out so much—maybe that's what resulted to my feeling sick.
"I'll leave you to bed," Riley said, stroking my temple with his thumb. "You seem tired."
I nodded. "I am."
"Goodnight."
As he walked out of the room, leaving me to the darkness, I tried my hardest not to call out and ask him to join me. He was suddenly so caring and comforting—nothing like the cold creature he had turned into yesterday.
But I decided against it.
Right before stepping into the hallway, he turned around and said, "Hey, Scarlet?"
I responded a little too hastily. "Yes?"
"About what we said this afternoon, do you have an answer?"
Slowly, I shook my head. "Not yet. I'm not saying no"—I didn't want to—"but I need time to think."
That response seemed to be enough for him. A faint smile curved at the corner of his lips. "That's good to hear. Rest well."
"You too."
He shut the door behind him, drenching the room in a lonely black.
***
Kristie invited me over to her house. She sounded panicked.
"Scarlet, I need to tell you something," she said over the phone.
I nearly died there on the spot. "Is it bad?"
"I want to tell you in person." And then she hung up the call.
I rushed over like a manic horse, my face flushed with anger. Damn that Crawford woman. The twins couldn't stop her after all.
My hair was unkempt by the time I got to Kristie's doorstep. I rang the doorbell five times in the row, not letting the tune end before pressing it again and abusing it with too much force.
If Kristie did get fired and found out it was because of me; I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for a long time. Heck, she might not want to forgive me either. She had been my best friend since college. I couldn't afford to lose her because of Mrs. Crawford's silly temper tantrum.
After taking a minute too long, Kristie opened the door. "Hello!"
I still hadn't caught my breath. "Are you okay?"
She shot me a quizzical look. "What do you mean?" She was beaming like a lighthouse—had I missed something here? "I'm more than okay, Scarlet! You're here for our mini celebration!" She popped the bottle of wine she was holding, and the cork nearly hit me in the face. "Oops, sorry."
"Wait, I thought you were in trouble?" She should have just told me whatever good news she had over the phone. I wanted to strangle her for not doing so. I almost had a heart attack rushing over. Tyrone even had to run a red light because I ordered him to.
She raised a brow. "I never mentioned anything about trouble."
I groaned. "Oh, God. What is it then?"
"It's like magic happened today." She grinned. "The new boss is apparently super awesome. He gave me a promotion. I'm marketing deputy director now. Deputy. Director! Can you believe it? It's like my salary tripled."
"Oh... wow. That sounds awesome." I was happy for her, but confused. Wasn't she supposed to be fired? Not that I wanted her to lose her job or anything, but the story didn't fit.
It must have been the twins.
At that moment, I didn't mind hugging and kissing them, before groveling at their feet. They saved my relationship with Kristie, and to me, that was priceless.
It took a while for the shock to subside and the happiness to seep in, but after that, I landed on cloud nine.
That is, until the painful giddiness that was caused by my reeling head came back to me again.
I covered my mouth with my hand. "Can I use your restroom?" I asked.
"Um, sure."
I pushed my way past her and ran to the toilet. I've been puking way too much lately, and I haven't even been drinking much.
