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“Always,” he promised.
twenty
Millie
The excitement within me grew as I clutched my bag with my book inside. There was just something alluring about dark romance that I couldn't ignore. Even though I tried to be the best person I could be in the real world, every girl secretly dreamed of being kidnapped and whisked away to fall in love with a mafia man… even if the fantasy couldn’t be real like my book club kept telling me.
For this month, the book we were devouring a reverse harem romance, and it played out a little differently than what we were used to. Typically, we read books where the bad men got the girl, and she fell in love with them and their world of darkness. In this one, the main character ends up being sold into a sex trafficking ring and becomes nothing more than a common whore for her new owner.
She found love with a group of brothers and their friend from her past, but they had no idea why she left. I still didn't know either, but Tethered Apart had already become a huge recommendation for me even though we were only a few chapters from the end. I enjoyed the difference from the normal ones we read, but I also kept other mafia romances on hand where the villain did get the girl. There was just something about it that reminded me of my favorite movie as a child, Beauty and the Beast. I think it ruined me since I was little, and it was why I couldn't see the bad people for what they were, attempting to find their potential.
Maybe my fantasy drove me to start visiting Draven, but I also knew our connection was real. He made me feel alive, and he made me feel heard. From the common trauma of our pasts, we connected deeper than just being people who read similar books growing up. I knew tomorrow would be a good day when I visited him because I would be bringing him a copy of Where the Sidewalk Ends.
The book itself had been a childish one with poems and simple drawings on each page, but he said it was one of his favorites. The best way to help anyone in a bad situation was to give them something that gave them hope, and I had a deep desire to help him find his hope while imprisoned. If that book had given him life as a child with his mother, I hoped it could give him the same fulfillment now.
Pulling into Helena’s driveway, all the other cars were waiting. Her house was lovely, and so was her personality, but we're only a book group to me. We all met once a week and connected over what we read, but our lives were very different. Helena was a stay-at-home mom who took care of their two young kids and her husband was an engineer of a company. Most of the other women in the group were also stay at home moms who connected a little deeper together because they had that bond, but I worked all day. Sometimes, I felt a little out of place with them, but I also knew their company was welcome once a week over the common thing we did share. They always liked reading the same things as me, so we had that to share. I did feel a little offended that none of them had faith that criminals could change, but I kept it to myself.
Kasey and Astrid made me feel better about my choices even though my bestie didn't fully agree either. She kept telling me that the hope I had and saw in others was one of the reasons why she loved me the most. Holding the book, my friends already knew I got it for Draven, but I still couldn't believe I did it. I planned to show the ladies tonight and hush their nasty things because doing nice surprises should be seen for their value and not for who might take advantage of me. Draven hadn’t done any of that, so I felt comfortable.
Before I could get out of my car, my phone rang like Kasey knew I’d be thinking of her. My happiness reached my voice as I answered the call. “Hey!”
“Wow, someone’s perky,” she cooed.
Rolling my eyes, she couldn’t see it or my giant smile. Life had been good for the last little bit. “You say that like I’m a miserable sap.”
“But you are, my little wallflower. You only bloom in good company.” Something had her too happy.
“What’s up with you?”
“Oh, you know, watching these men in here act like they’re starved for female companionship.”
“Uh huh, and that made you want to call me? Are you saying you’re starving for my companionship?”
“Always, but not why I’m calling. There’s this giant brute in here today. Like, a big guy, Mills. God, I bet he could ram me on his dick with one hand and pull my hair with the other.” Kasey never filtered with me. She felt our bond exceeded friendship.
“Why are you telling me this?” I made a face.
“Because he has this sexy accent. It’s like Italian or something, and it made me want to cream myself. I bet a man like this could be rough. He even has a giant scar on his face, right down the left side.”
My brows furrowed. “Is his name Constantine?”
The new guard popped into my head. I knew better than to judge him for wanting a stripper, but I felt myself slightly tipping that way even though I barely knew him.
“Maybe? I didn’t talk to him. I had Daphne loading my tray up with drinks as Rob checked him out. Whatever they were doing was sly because Rob did that weird thing with his eyes. They got all shifty and he went a little wiry. Then I saw how much dough the dude dropped. Like goddamn! He could pay me a fourth of that, and I’d fuck him.”
“It sounds like you would anyway,” I pointed out.
“I don’t know. He’s not my brand of handsome. He looks like a man who needs a woman to love him through the scar on his face. Someone like you.”
“Are you trying to set me up with a complete stranger that you haven't even talked to because you think I’d love him more than a scar?” I shouldn’t be surprised by her antics. Kasey did this here and there, promoting some jock from the club. “You’re forgetting I try to avoid that place.”
“You only avoid it because Tim is addicted to anything not his,” she growled. “But watching a show while getting horny with your partner is a treat.”
“Besides it would most likely be my best friend who’d be arousing.” Looking down at my smaller chest, I didn’t want to think about how Tim would prefer Kasey. In most of his porn videos, the woman had giant racks, and mine were a small handful.
“Ugh, you take the fun out of this game. This man is yummy, and I just know he’d be the best lover.”
“You’re making me late for book club,” I said on a laugh.
