Matteo: Considering the scratch marks you left on the side of my neck from last night, I’m pretty sure Kitten is absolutely fitting.
My cheeks heat up in a blush as I think about last night. The sounds he wrenched from me. How hard I came. The man played me like a fiddle and I let him.
I want him to do it again. I want him so bad it hurts.
Me: How did you get my number?
Matteo: Stop it, Princess. You know I can get anything I want.
The heat crawling up my neck tells me he isn’t just talking about my number.
Me: What do you want?
Matteo: Just checking in. Making sure you’re not being a bad girl without me.
My insides heat and I can just hear the suggestive tone in the text.
I’m about to reply and tell him that I’ll be a bad girl for him all he wants if he stops being stupid and fucks me hard enough to forget my own name. But then my phone rings and my arousal practically disappears.
It’s my father’s secretary. My lips turn up in a frown. The call from her is a surprise—my father usually contacts me directly.
I answer the call on the third ring. “Hello.”
Kim’s voice fills my ear, dangling on the edge of panic.
“Ms. Beaumont. It’s an emergency,” she states. “Your father has been shot.”
The phone nearly slides out of my hand. And I feel my world start to collapse.
“What? What do you mean shot?” I jump to my feet. “Where is he? H-how is he?”
“He’s alive,” she hurriedly replies. “We’re at St. Gabriel’s hospital. He’s currently in surgery.”
“Oh god. I’m on my way.”
I grab my purse and my coat absentmindedly, still gripping the phone in my hand. Rachel’s eyes grow as wide as saucers when I inform her I have to leave due to a family emergency. I’m in a daze, barely computing my surroundings.
My only thought is my father and our last interaction. I haven’t spoken to him in weeks. I hear Rachel call for me. Someone else wondering where I’m off to in such a rush. I ignore them all as I head down to the parking lot and into my car.
After a deep breath, I manage to start the car with shaky hands. How I make it to the hospital in one piece is a mystery. But as soon as I do, blind panic kicks in once again and I’m rushing through the front door.
“My father. Where’s my father?” I ask the nurse at the front desk.
She must be used to seeing frazzled family members because she doesn’t even blink.
“Who’s your father, miss?” she asks gently.
“Mayor Beaumont. He was brought here a while ago. He’s currently in surgery.”
She quickly directs me to the fourth floor where I find Kim pacing the length of the waiting room in front of the theatre. The tall, brunette woman is usually the perfect picture of stoic professionalism. Right now, there’s a crumpled expression on her face and the front of the white suit she has on has blood splattered all over it.
My father’s blood.
My feet stumble as I approach her. She stands up straight when she notices me.
“I’m so sorry, Ms. Beaumont. He’s still in surgery and I have no idea what’s going on,” she tells me.
I inhale deeply before speaking. “What happened?”
