Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
He’d already spoken to Mary, and we’d all agreed that the only way to put this whole thing to bed once and for all was by killing Elena. With her out of the picture, all of my worries would be over.
I don’t know why we hadn’t thought of it sooner, but the idea took root in my head, and now it’s all I could think about. I just needed Ryder to be here so I could see his face when it was done, though it wasn’t for a few days because there were still some things left to work out; just knowing what was coming had filled me with the most excitement I’ve felt in years.
That’s why I’d gone in search of him and why I was now standing outside the closed door to his suite fuming. I couldn’t wait until I was in good with the Saunders. One of the first things I was gonna do was get rid of those two.
That made me feel better already, and I went in search of some coke and some fun. Just because my husband refuses to screw me doesn’t mean I have to go without, just as long as he never strays, which I know he wouldn’t, because she’s the only one he seems able to get it up for, and soon she won’t be here. I was outright laughing by the time I hunted down the guard.
He saw me coming and knew what I wanted before I asked. As soon as I cleared the door, he walked towards me, removing his shirt and reaching for the vial of Coke he always kept ready for me. I do like a man who knows his place.
I was surprised when Ryder kept him and a few others around when he did his massive staff change, especially after the rumors that it had taken lots of money to kill. But this one has been with him for a very long time, so it made sense that he’d keep him on.
And besides, Ryder never even mentioned anything about what had been written in the tabloids. I guess he hadn’t seen it while he was shut away wherever the Saunders had sent him to get clean.
I took my first hit of coke and leaned in for a kiss while his hands moved on my body just the way I liked. It’s a heady feeling having so much power over a strong, strapping, manly type, and soon, very soon, I’ll have Ryder at my beck and call, just like all the others I’ve conquered.
For a quick second, I was reminded that Ryder was the only one I could never control, not without the help of some substance or the other. Soon, that problem, too, would be obliterated.
I know once she’s taken care of, he’ll spiral again, and I’ll have him back under my control. I just have to figure out a way not to let Saunders know that his new protégé is not so clean any longer.
Chapter 43
*Elena*
“You fucked the whole plastic Barbie family?” I couldn’t hide the disgust in my voice. Mary had set him up on a threesome with three of her five daughters. “Why did she leave the other two out? Were they out of town?” I jeered at him, totally repulsed.
He hung his head down in shame and nodded, and I kept reading, doing my best not to start throwing things or outright losing my shit. This was bad, it was even worse than I thought, and I already knew it was a shit show.
“So, you’re saying you started cheating on me even before they started drugging you, right? Because these years don’t add up.”
“Yes, and no. I wasn’t sure exactly when the drugs started; I only realized once I got clean that it had been going on for much longer than I even knew. It started about the time they started lying to me. They filled my head with nonsense, tried to turn my mind against you, and I fell for it because I didn’t know my mind was being altered.”
“Drop it, Ryder; you should’ve known me better than that; you believed them because you wanted to. Now, what is it that you want? What do you expect to happen?”
“What do you mean what I want? I want you. Don’t snort at me; I hate it when you do that.”
“I don’t give a flying fig what you like or don’t like, now go back to where you came from. Thanks for telling me that you’re even more of an asshole than I thought.” He tried reaching for me, but I moved out of the way.
“I always suspected there was something going on between you and them, that maybe they’d got into your head somehow. But I never imagined that all those years I spent trying to save you were wasted because you kept running back to them, to her. You chose her over me, Ryder, so fuck you. Fuck you, fuck her, and fuck the rest of them. Now get the hell out of my house before I shoot you.”