Page 12 of Turning Back

“Well…” I chuckle as I watch him. “I’m not going back, if that’s why you’re here. And I’m not falling for all your bullshit. I have a lawyer, in case you think I’m still that same little brat you met four years ago. I’m ready for this day. One hundred percent ready. So you—”

“Why not?” he asks, still looking around at all the baby stuff. He picks up a soft teething toy I just bought for Adley since she’s due for that little milestone, and then sets it back down on the foyer table where he found it.

“Why not what?” I ask, walking Adley back into the living room area. She’s got her eyes locked on his face. I haven’t ever had a man over here so I guess he’s just… interesting.

“You don’t miss us?” Bric asks, still looking around.

“I’m different now. I just told you that. I’m not playing your game anymore.”

“Give me a break, Rochelle,” he huffs. “The game is over.”

“Exactly. I ended it. And I won. So if you’re here to ask me to come back to Denver, save your breath. I’m not coming.”

“How do you afford this place?” he asks. “My investigator says you pay five thousand a month for this suite. It’s a lot of money to live at a resort.”

“Are you serious?” I laugh. I’m not surprised he knows how much I pay for the suite, but I am a little shocked he thinks I’m broke. “You paid my bills for three years, Bricman. Gave me a place to live, bought me food, clothes, gifts. And you guys put thirty thousand dollars in my bank account every month. How else would I be paying for the suite?”

“So you never spent it? You saved it all up?”

“Why do you care?”

“I’m just trying to understand how you’re living this lifestyle. Do you have another…” He stops mid-sentence. Like he can’t continue.

“Do I have another… what?”

“Another… arrangement?”

I laugh so loud, Adley startles in my arms. “Sorry, baby,” I say. “But Elias Bricman is on drugs.”

“So no… quad?” he prods.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I pan one hand down my completely disheveled outfit of leggings and t-shirt, lack of makeup, and fucked-up slept-on ponytail hair. “Do I look like I’m playing another sexual fantasy game here? I’m a new fucking mother, Elias.” I wince at my f-word. I’m really trying not to swear in front of the baby.

Bric runs his fingers through his hair like he’s frustrated. “I’m just trying to understand. You left everything we gave you behind.”

“Because I didn’t need it.” I’m rolling my eyes at his stupidity. Did he really think I was spending thirty grand a month while I lived with them? On what? It just shows me how goddamned clueless he is.

“So you left it all behind to get rid of us? All of it? Put us away and just forget it ever happened?” He stops and scratches the shadow creeping down his jaw. He’s one of those guys who needs to shave every day. Something I always enjoyed about him when we spent our nights together. “So you saved your money and you pay for all this yourself?”

That little question mark at the end is almost cute. He’s so… un-Bricman-like right now. He came here thinking I had a sugar daddy. I almost laugh at his insecurity. “I have a lot saved still. I bought a nice Lexus. And I put most of it in a trust fund for Adley. But I do get that payment every month, so I’m not strapped.”

“What payment?” His eyes narrow.

“The ten grand that gets deposited into my account every month. I assumed it was from you. No?”

“No,” he says. “Maybe it was Smith? Maybe you’re his new project.”

“Ha.” I laugh. “Good one. It’s probably Quin then. And even though I don’t feel like I owe you for it, I do… appreciate it.”

It has helped. I had more than a million dollars saved when I left them and I only spent a hundred grand on the car. Which was stupid, but I justified it because I wanted to drive places instead of flying. I don’t fly.

“So he’s been paying you.” He says it more to himself than me. “And you’ve been accepting it.”

“I figured it was child support.”

Bric points a finger at me. “Right. Because this child belongs to us.”

“To me,” I clarify. “I will fuck you over six ways till Sunday if you came here to pull some custody bullshit on me, Bricman. I’m not even messing around right now.”