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Chapter One
Cadence
“Ihave a proposition for you. Meet me at eleven.”
The clatter of dishes jarred me back to where I was. My pulse fluttered in my throat, and I sucked in a deep breath to calm myself.
How easy it would be to give in.
I knew Leo had the means to solve my financial issues, but I was supposed to be forgetting about him. Moving on. He was an addiction I needed to end before it caused damage.
I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about that night in his bed.
Or how, if I sold myself to him again, I’d be able to quit working seventy-hour weeks and constantly worrying about paying the bills.
I crammed my phone back into my pocket when the bell dinged for me to pick up my plates. Doing my best to ignore the thoughts racing through my head, I served the table before making an excuse to Sharon and slipping to the back for a break.
My gaze lingered on Leo’s message, fingers hovering over the keyboard before I finally forced myself to type a response.
“No.”
Two letters had never been so hard to type, but it was the only response I could give him. My stomach roiled as I hit send before I could erase it. I knew it was for the best, but I couldn’t help the sick feeling that I was making a mistake by not even hearing him out.
But it would be harder to say no if I saw him again.
My brother had the number to the diner and knew to contact me here if there was an emergency, so I turned off my cell. I had no idea how Leo would react, but I couldn’t spend the rest of my shift focused on my phone.
Dropping it in my purse, I gave myself a shake and blew out a sigh, shoving the mess he’d brought forward back into the box in my head that I was trying to avoid. Reminding myself we were caught up on the mortgage payments, I told myself I could find a way to take care of the car and other bills without selling myself to an alpha it was too dangerous to associate with.
Pushing all thoughts of Leo and money aside, I left the breakroom and focused on my customers. The rest of the night passed in a blur, and by the time ten thirty rolled around, I was exhausted and ready to go home, but the sight of my phone sitting dark in my purse as I fished out my car keys made me pause.
Was I really too stubborn to take the easy way out?
Yes.
I may have sold myself once already, but that had been a desperate situation. The amount Michael owed had been impossible to pay off in the time I’d been given, and I had exhausted every other choice.
I left the phone where it was, not bothering to turn it back on before climbing into the Toyota and heading home. I didn’t even bother to check it as I plugged it in next to my bed, too tired to deal with whatever might be waiting.
Flopping into my nest with a huff, I pulled my blankets around me and was dead to the world in seconds.
***
The alarm blaring in my ear had me groaning as I groped for the off switch. Sunlight flooded my room, burning my eyes as I forced them open. My room was on the east side of the house, so it was nothing I wasn’t familiar with, but it still sucked every morning.
Rolling from my bed, I stretched before making my way to the bathroom to shower and get ready for work. It took longer than usual for the water warm, and I was rushing for the door, scared I was going to miss my bus, when I remembered the message from Leo.
Pausing mid-step, I stared at the dark screen of my phone, but I didn’t have the time to deal with what I expected to find. Leaving it off, I shouted goodbye to Michael and Momma as I rushed out the door.
I barely made it down the street to the bus stop in time, not even able to catch my breath before the doors swung open in front of me. Flashing a smile at the driver, I tapped my card on the scanner and slid into my usual seat behind him.
The ride to the office took about thirty minutes and I usually spent it scrolling on my phone since it was one of the few times I didn’t have anything else to do, but the blank screen in my hand mocked me. Fidgeting, I finally hit the power button, holding my breath as it blinked on. I waited a full minute after the home screen appeared before letting the air out, deflating as it rushed from me.
There were no waiting messages.
I opened my texts in confusion, thinking something had to be wrong, but my single ‘No’was the last message on the thread.
Leo had never responded.
