The words land like slaps. Shame burns through me, hot and humiliating. “I didn’t know what else to do. You were dying. The bills were getting close to a hundred grand and climbing. I had nothing.”
Ben’s face twists with anger and something worse: disappointment. “And this Max guy? He just took advantage? Paid for pussy and called it help?”
Tears stream down my face. “It felt real. The way he touched me… the way he looked at me. Like I was his. But then he sent me away. I think it was all a lie. His name isn’t even what he told me. He’s tied up in some criminal family. I don’t know anymore.”
Ben reaches for my hand, but his grip is weaker than it should be. “We’re done with his money. As soon as I can talk to the billing office, we cut it off. I’ll figure something out. You’re not his whore, Sydney. You hear me?”
The harsh words make me flinch. I nod numbly, but inside, everything fractures again. The joy of Ben waking up is poisoned by his rage. At me, at Max, and at the impossible situation I put us in.
Alex appears in the doorway, clearly having heard enough. “Time to go. Doctors need the room for tests.”
I hug Ben tightly, whispering that I love him. He hugs me back but mutters, “We’re fixing this. No more selling yourself.”
The ride back to Alex’s house is worse than the one there. I’m shaking.
Rosie meets me at the door, her face softening when she sees my tear-streaked cheeks. She pulls me into the living room and makes more tea while Alex gives us space.
“I can’t stay here forever,” I tell her, voice hollow. “Ben’s awake. He’s furious. He wants nothing to do with Max’s money. I need to get out of this arrangement. Tell Alex I want to leave.”
Rosie listens without judgment. “Alex is already talking to Max. There’s more going on than you know. But… give it a little time. Max looked wrecked when he came by last night.”
I laugh bitterly. “Wrecked? He told me to pack like I was nothing. After weeks of making me feel like everything. After fucking me every night like he couldn’t get enough. ‘This pussy belongs to me,’ he’d say. And I believed him.” The crude words slip out, raw and painful.
Rosie doesn’t flinch. She just squeezes my hand. “The Kedrov men… they’re not good at feelings. Especially when they’re scared.”
Scared. Yeah, right?
I retreat to the guest room and curl up on the bed, the same way I did the first night here. The luxury sheets feel cold. My brother is awake, miracle of miracles, but I’ve never felt more alone. I can’t get around that the auction, the nights of tender dominance and dirty promises, were all part of whatever game Maxim Volkov was playing. Sorry, Maxim Kedrov.
I cry until my eyes burn, wondering how I’m supposed to pick up the pieces when the only person who ever made me feel truly wanted might have been the biggest lie of my life.
CHAPTER 10
MAX
The penthouse feels too quiet without her. I stand at the windows where I used to watch the city lights while waiting for Sydney to be ready for bed so I could fuck her senseless.
Revenge is done.
Mercer is in custody. His empire ash.
Rik officially pulled me back into the fold of the family yesterday, but none of it matters. The only thing I can think about is her.
Sydney.
I fucked up so badly when I sent her away. The fear for her safety had me in a chokehold. But worse, I pushed her out because the big feelings crashing over me, the possessive love I wasn’t ready to name, terrified me as much as the danger did. And I chickened out like an adolescent boy.
I should have handled it like a man. Should have held her tighter, explained, let her see the real me instead of playing the distant bastard.
My phone buzzes. Alex.
“She’s at the hospital,” he says without greeting. “With her brother. He woke up yesterday.”
Ben is awake.
The news hits me like a gut punch. Sydney’s reason for everything: the auction, the sacrifice, the exhaustion I saw in her eyes some nights. He’s awake.
Shame hits me again when I remember how I never asked her about him. The man saved my life, and I didn’t want to deal with him while I fucked his sister.
