Page 48 of ’Til You Break

The news both pleases and frustrates me. I’d convinced myself these negotiations were with one of them. Instead, Brian is just another middleman. Maybe I was foolish to think finding one link would be enough to break the entire chain.

But I’m growing tired of this game of cat and mouse. Hannah’s return has given me something new to chase. Something that comes with its own excitement. Its own thrill.

My desire for her remains overshadowed by my need for vengeance, though. I can’t have her... or allow myself to truly want her... until this debt is paid.

“What’s it going to take to arrange a meeting with them?”

“Money,” he says, punctuating the word with a smoky laugh. “Lots and lots of money.”

“Then name your price and arrange the meeting.” I gesture for him to stand, and he does without complaint. “Let’s make it quick. Time is not on my side.”

“You got it, boss.” Brian heads for the door. “But let’s skip the forty-minute drive next time, huh?”

I smile behind the mask.

Chapter Seventeen

Hannah

With days of job hunting behind me, I’m starting to feel anxious again.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise, given my record. I know it takes time for employers to work through applications before they start calling people in for interviews, but it’s still disheartening when I haven’t even managed a callback for a cashier or perfume sales position.

“Oh, Muffin, what are we going to do?” I ask the kitten kneading biscuits in my lap.

He answers with a tiny meow before stretching across my legs and collapsing into a fluffy heap.

As I sit there smiling—on the verge of tears over how ridiculously cute he is—something suddenly occurs to me.

I’ve been fighting the wrong battle.

No medical practice is going to touch me while this cloud hangs over my head. Instead of pouring all my energy into finding something new, maybe it’s time to go back to the source of my problems. Treat the disease at its root and hope it doesn’t follow me any further.

I’ll talk to my previous employer and see if they’re willing to give me my job back.

By talk, of course, I mean beg.

Plead.

If that fails, maybe I can at least convince them to go a little easier on me when my name comes up in future applications. There’s no harm in asking.

Besides...

I’m running out of options.

I change into a simple black dress and a pair of heels before heading out the door.

Vik’s nowhere to be seen. I’m relieved. In fact, he’s barely been home lately. Still...

I can’t stop wondering what he’s been doing. The thought lingers at the back of my mind, quietly gnawing away at me.

Then I get annoyed with myself for even caring. The harder I try to push him away... the deeper he burrows into my thoughts. It’s as though Vik has lodged himself somewhere in my mind where I’ll never be able to dig him out.

I grab a quick snack before catching a taxi to the hospital.

When I arrive, around lunchtime, the sting of being ignored by my former coworkers hits harder than I’d expected. They go about their day without so much as a hello. Once upon a time, I considered these people my friends.

Now... I’m not sure we ever were.