CHAPTER FOUR

AVERY

I’VE BEEN IN NEW YORK for two weeks now, and I’m ready to leave. This is not the place for me. I grew up here in New York City but moved to Vancouver when I was nineteen. Right after Bunny broke my heart. I couldn’t bear to be anywhere near her. I knew the odds of running into her were too strong because our circle was too tight. Our parents had been best friends before we were even born. We grew up together and then fell in love. After she left me, my father suggested I move to Vancouver with my grandfather.

I never looked back until I got that phone call two weeks ago and realized her life was in danger. I’m her only hope, but I have to be honest, I won’t be the kind of help she wants.

I may hate her, but they don’t deserve her. She would be useful to me. And if anyone is going to use her, it’s gonna be me. She owes me that! She owes me fucking everything!

I’m being a selfish prick, but I don’t care.

Tonight has been like any other night. She left her house and went out to a bar dressed in a little skirt and top with all of her assets on display. She caught every man’s eyes, but one caught mine. The same black-eyed man from the club last weekend who took her picture. Well, tonight he decided to make his move. Damon must know I’m on her. It’s not like I’ve tried to stay under the radar, but someone must have seen me, so he ordered them to make their move. She took the bait so fucking easy, making me want to slap the fuck out of her.

I sat back all night and watched her drink like a fucking fish until she accidentally stumbled into him, and then he offered to take her home. He’s like all the others I’ve seen over the past two weeks—too eager to fuck her. All she has to do is look their way, and they start panting with need.

It’s sickening.

But I know this guy is different. She doesn’t know he’s a hired rat. He won’t just fuck her; he’ll take her afterward, and her world will never be the same. I may be no different, but I am the better choice.

I sit in the back seat of the blacked-out Mercedes across the street from her house. It’s smaller than I expected. Her mom and dad left her and Preston with millions when they died, so I figured she would have a penthouse overlooking Central Park. Instead, she lives in a little townhome. Preston sure does live it up. The guy blows as much money on real estate around the world as he does on his expensive whores and drugs.

“Sir?” Kayn breaks the silence from the driver’s seat. “What’s the plan?”

“Wait,” I answer.

They stumble up the stairs to her front door. Well, she really does stumble, but his is just for show. She throws her head back laughing when she almost trips, and he grabs her by the arm just in time when they hit the landing. They trip over each other’s feet and fall against her front door. His hands go to her hips, his face to her neck, and she closes her eyes while her bright red lips part.

My cock hardens even as my jaw tightens. When did she become such a fucking slut?

He finally pulls away, and she opens her door before they disappear inside. I take a drink, finishing off the scotch, and then place the now empty glass on the seat beside me. “Let’s go,” I order, climbing out of the back of the car.

“Am I waiting on you, sir?” he asks while making our way toward the house.

“No,” I answer, straightening my black tie. I’ll get a ride.

I place my hand on the doorknob and turn. It opens for me, and I silently curse her for being so caught up in the idiot that she left it unlocked.

The sounds of moans and sighs fill the entrance of her house. It’s nothing as I expected it to be. Her favorite color used to be pink, but now it seems to be black and gray. Void of any color and lacking any pictures or décor. It feels cold and empty. Just like her heart.

“God, baby …” He groans.

“You like that?” She gives a soft laugh.

“Fuck yeah.”

I walk down a long hallway, Kayn following me.

“Do it again …”

I shove open the door at the end of the hall, and it hits the interior wall with a loud bang. She sits up with a scream, and he looks over his shoulder at me still straddling her hips. “What the fuck? Get the fuck out!” he shouts at me.

Kayn walks right over to the bed and yanks him off her without saying a single word. He tries to fight him, but with his jeans down around his knees, it won’t do him any good.

“What the hell, Avery?” she snaps, pulling her skirt down over her pussy.

“Avery?” the guy shouts, yanking his jeans up. “I know who you are …”

Kayn shoves him forward, and I punch him in the face. The man falls to his knees on her floor.

“Avery!” she squeals, but I ignore her. I’ll deal with her in a minute. Bending down to his level, I speak softly so only he can hear me. “I know who you are too.”

“Fuck you.” He spits blood onto her white rug. “I won’t tell you shit.”

“We’ll see.”

I lift my right hand and motion for Kayn to get him out of here. Kayn grabs him by the back of the neck and drags him to his feet before he removes him from the room. I turn toward her bed to once again face the woman I loathe.

“What the fuck are you doing?” she demands.

“I could ask you the same thing,” I respond calmly although I’m far from it. If I hadn’t been watching her, she’d be drugged and on a plane to Cuba already.

She jumps out of bed and storms over to where I stand. She stops a foot from me, and her glassy blue eyes narrow on mine. Then just like last time I saw her, she slaps me.

This time, I slap her back.

The force makes her move back two steps, and she places her hand over her cheek while gasping in surprise that a man who had never laid his hands on her could now slap her without a second thought. She recovers quickly and lifts her hand to slap me again, but I shove her back, causing her ass to hit her long dresser and making her things rattle. “I told you I’d give you one pass.” I lean my lips down to hers like I did in the bathroom and almost kiss her. “Gonna yell for help?” I ask.

Her eyes narrow on me. “You don’t scare me, Avery,” she says, breathing heavily.

I chuckle and grip her hips. She tries to twist out of them, but I keep her pinned between me and the dresser. “You should be very afraid of me, Bunny,” I say honestly.

“Go to hell!” she yells in my face, her fists punching my chest.

“Okay, Bunny. You wanna act tough?” I remove my right hand from her hip and run my knuckles down her reddened cheek where I just slapped her. She doesn’t even flinch. “But just know that I warned you.”

“What’s there to be afraid of?” she asks, and I want to slap her again. If only she knew.

“Me.” It’s simple.

“You’re just a man,” she snarls.

My eyes narrow on her, and my hand grips her hair, yanking her head back. It hits the mirror on her dresser with a thud. She doesn’t make a sound even though I know it hurt. I like the way she takes pain. Almost like she needs it even though she always seemed so fragile. I don’t know if the time apart has changed her, or if I could have been this rough with her all along. “What does that mean?” I demand.

She gives me a sinister smile as if she’s the one holding me in place and not the other way around. “It means you think with your dick. Even at this moment, I can feel how hard you are.” She licks her lips slowly as if she wants me to shove her to her knees and fuck her pretty little mouth. Images of her looking up at me with tears running down her face flash before me. But I’m brought back when she continues. “If I told you to fuck me right now, you’d do it.”

“Is that what you want? Want me to fuck you, Bunny?” I ask with a smirk.

She lifts her chin. “You weren’t the guy I planned on fucking tonight, Avery.”

I’ve had enough of her shit! She isn’t the same Bunny I remember. And I don’t like it. “Maybe I’ll do it anyway. I don’t need your permission.” Her lips thin. “Plus, from what I’ve seen, you don’t care who it is.”

“You don’t know anything about me!” She growls.

“I know enough.”

“Fuck you, Avery!”

I want to. Fuck, how I want to. It’s all I’ve thought about ever since I saw her at the club. Her hands on my skin. Fuck, I want to strip her down, shove her face first into the mattress, and fuck her without mercy. But I can’t. Right this second, I have other things to take care of, so she will have to wait. I let her go and take a step back.

A slow smile spreads across her face, lighting up her dark bedroom. She places her hands out to her sides, grabs an imaginary fabric, and curtsies. “Thank you, sir.” Sarcasm drips off her words.

My cock throbs.

As if she knows what I’m thinking, that smile drops off her face, and her eyes narrow on me. “Now get the fuck out of my house, Avery. And I don’t want to see you again.”

I go to turn around, but something on her dresser catches my attention. I look down at the joint and arch a brow, looking back at her. “Alcohol, slut, and druggie?” I say, and her face tightens. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“If I remember correctly, the first time I got drunk was with you. The first person I fucked was you. And the first person who got me high … was you.”

 

I sit in a chaise chair, my head resting back and a cold beer in my right hand. Bunny straddles my hips. Her short blond hair tucked behind her ears. Laughter fills the room while my friends from school crowd around. Some playing pool and others playing darts in my father’s game room upstairs in his mansion.

“Here, man.” My friend Mitch hands me his blunt in passing.

I place it between my lips, taking a hit, then turn my head and blow it out so that it doesn’t blow in Bunny’s face. She hates when I smoke.

“Why do you do that?” she asks.

“Because I like the taste,” I respond honestly.

She tilts her head to the side. Her eyes go to the blunt in my hand, and she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth as she rolls it.

“Wanna try it?” I ask her.

She doesn’t answer, just continues to stare at it. I sit up and place my beer on the floor by my chair, then grab the back of her neck with my now free hand. I pull her toward me and her lips part, thinking I’m going to kiss her. Bringing the blunt to my lips, I inhale and then lower it, pressing my lips close to her face, and I blow it out. “Breathe in,” I order, and she does—shotgunning it from me.

She pulls away, coughing. And I lean back with a smile, taking another hit.

“Avery? Your turn,” Mitch calls out over by the pool table.

I slap her thigh, and she hops up, allowing me to walk over to the pool table to take my turn. Leaning over the side, I set my sights on the five ball and line my stick up with the cue ball. I look on ahead and see her now sitting in my chair, taking my place. I hit the ball, and it goes in. I line up my next shot, and it too goes straight to the pocket. My next shot is the eight ball, and I sink it, winning the game.

I toss my stick onto the green felt and go back over to her. She looks up at me, and I straddle her hips and take another hit before leaning down and blowing it once again in her face. “I’m gonna get you high, Bunny,” I tell her, and she coughs some more. “And then I’m gonna make everyone leave and bend you over the pool table.”

 

“I told you to leave, Avery!” Her voice brings me back to now.

And I’ve had enough of memory lane for the night. I smile and tell her the same thing last time I saw her. “I'll be seeing you soon, Bunny.” Then walk out of her house.

_______________

I stand in the abandoned old warehouse that Kayn found last week here in New York City. The man who I removed from Bunny’s house lies on the floor, face covered in blood from my fist. His wallet lies open beside me, and I toss his license next to it.

I’ve removed my tie and rolled up my sleeves. I crouch down to his level, resting my forearm on my thigh. “Why does Damon want her?” I ask for the fifth time.

He spits blood out and looks up at me. “I’ll never tell you.”

I arch a brow. “You’d die for her?”

“Fuck no. Damon.”

“He would never die for you, yet you show him this much loyalty?” I ask confused.

“I don’t expect you to understand,” he growls.

I stand and turn to face Kayn. He stands, shoulders back and head held high. That pissed-off look he always wears on his face. I hold out my hand, and he passes me the bolt cutters without thought.

Turning back to the man on the floor, I bend down and yank him to his feet. I throw his body over the silver table and flatten out his right hand. When I place his finger between the cold steel, he tries to yank it back.

“Kayn!” I bark.

He comes to stand behind the man without question and leans over him placing his forearm across Dennis’s back to keep him pressed down onto the table.

“For every minute you’re silent, I’ll take one of your fingers.” He whimpers. “Then I’m going to rip out a tooth for every minute after that. Then I’m going to drop you on his fucking doorstep. If he’s so fucking loyal to you, he’ll put a bullet in your Goddamn head.”

“If I tell you, he’ll kill me anyway,” he snaps, still trying to pull his hand free. I look up at Kayn, and he removes his forearm and places his hand around the back of his neck instead, getting a better grip.

“True,” I agree with him. And his body starts to shake. “The countdown has begun,” I say, looking down at the watch around his wrist as the seconds tick away.

I learned at a very young age that you can change a lot of things, but time is not one of them. It goes on. You can’t stop it or slow it down. My father taught me to use it to my advantage.

“One down,” I say when his first minute is up.

“No, no, no, no …” he screams frantically.

But I press down, cutting into his flesh and bone with a pop, and his finger is gone. He screams into the silent warehouse as blood pools around his hand. The sight of it reminds me of my father. He always lived for shit like this. And somewhere along the way, he made me crave it too. No matter how long I tried to deny it.

“Why does he want her?” I ask again.

He bites his bottom lip, tears running down his face as his body shakes uncontrollably. But he stays silent. When another minute has passed, I do it again.

I look up at Kayn and give him a nod. He lets go of his neck and takes a step back. Dennis begins mumbling to himself in what sounds like German.

“What is that?” I ask, leaning down to his face.

He closes his eyes tightly as drool runs down his mouth. His head drops to the table with a thud. I roll my eyes. “Kayn,” I order, and he grabs him by his hair and yanks his head back again. Red, watery eyes meet mine. “Good, I was afraid you passed out on me.” I smile. “Where would the fun be in that?” He whimpers while drool runs down his chin, mixing with his tears. Two more minutes tick by when he finally opens his mouth to do something other than scream like a little child.

“Preston ran his mouth …” He gasps through a sob. “That you are in love with her …”

I look up at Kayn and even his usual look of hatred has turned to confusion. “How does he even know about Presleigh?”

He sucks in a deep breath. “Damon has been watching … Preston. She met up for lunch with him last month while he was in New York … Later on that night, Preston killed Damon’s brother.” My brows rise. That’s news to me. I didn’t know Damon’s brother was killed. I also didn’t know that Preston had lunch with her. He never mentioned meeting with his sister. But why would he? He knows how we feel about one another. “Damon wants her for revenge.”

“But why? I was told she was off-limits? Belonged to someone else. What the fuck does that mean?”

Snot runs from his nose. “I don’t know …”

“Stop lying!” I roar.

He shakes his head, and Kayn lets go of it before it falls to the table once again. His blood covering the side of his face and hair.

I release his hand and take a step back, running a hand through my hair. He falls to the floor, cradling his thumb to his chest. Since it’s the only finger he has left on his right hand.

“What were your orders?” I ask, trying to make sense of this. “You were going to fuck her,” I say more to myself than him. “Damon wouldn’t want used merchandise.” But then again, it’s not like she’s a virgin. I took that cherry.

He sucks in a breath, tears still rolling down his face. “I was told I could do whatever I wanted with her …” He sobs. “It didn’t matter how she arrived as long as she was delivered.” His voice rises; I’m sure he’s becoming angry due to his lack of power.

I spin the bolt cutters between my fingers and look over at Kayn. That stone-cold look back on his face. “When?” I ask Dennis.

He bows his head. “I was given forty-eight hours six hours ago.”

“I’m gonna give you twenty-four.”

Then I turn around and walk out of the warehouse, knowing that things are about to change. And they’re not gonna be better for Bunny. So like the selfish guy I am, I’m gonna go and get what I’ve wanted for eleven years now. Before the game changes.

PRESLEIGH

 

Eleven years ago . . .

 

I sit on the floor in my hotel room, slowly rocking back and forth with my knees pulled to my chest. I feel so lost. Alone. My chest tight and my mind silently screaming.

Why?

What did I do?

Was it all a lie?

I had been so naïve. So in love with a boy who I was blinded to what he was capable of—destroying me.

I look down at my phone and press play again even though I’ve already listened to it countless times since this morning. “I fucking hate you, Presleigh!” Avery growls, and my heart shatters a little more. “You were nothing to me. Do you hear me? Fucking nothing!” His voice rises to a scream. “Just something to kill the time.” Tears run down my face, so much that they soak my shirt. “I hope you are happy with him. Just so you know, you’ll never be anything to him either. You’ll always be a whore who was meant to be used.” I cover my face with my hands and sob at his words. He’s right. I’ll never be worth anything. They made sure of that. “He did me a favor, Presleigh.” I choke out another sob. “Just as you fooled me, he’ll do the same to you.”

 

I sway in the shower, the water running down my body as the memories return. Not like I can forget. I haven’t thought of them in a while, but like always, they creep up and remind me who I am. Numb. I’ve been numb for years.

Until Avery showed back up into my life. And now I feel alive. I try to push him out of my mind. He’ll get me killed. But is that such a bad thing? There is no pain after death. No memories. And most of all, no love.

I still wear my pink thong and matching bra. The room sways, and I stumble over my own feet and go to grab my shampoo. I slip and fall into the tile wall, hitting my head.

I moan and then press my back into it before sliding down onto my ass.

I’m so fucked up. I’m not new to the club and alcohol scene by any means, but I’ve been drinking more ever since Avery cornered me in the bathroom at the club two weeks ago. I’ve been trying to drown my thoughts and desires for him. It’s not working.

I have to remind myself I fucking hate him. And then he showed up again at my place tonight. He slapped me. It was hard and unexpected, but I admit that I liked the way it felt. It made me wet. Finally, I felt something other than numbness. It also made me ashamed. So after he walked out of my house, I made my way into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of vodka out of my fridge and started drinking more.

Even now, it sits beside me on the floor of the shower, half gone. I grab it and throw it back, not even feeling the burn. I hear my cell ringing, and I crawl out of my shower and onto my tiled floor, welcoming the coolness.

“Hello?” I slur when I push answer.

I hear a deep sigh. “Are you drunk?”

“Yes.” Don’t see the point in lying.

“Jesus, Pres,” my brother snaps. “Where the fuck are you? Are you still in New York? I can get someone to come and get you.”

“I’m fine,” I say and then lick my lips. Vodka lingers on them, and it makes me moan.

“Fuck! I don’t have time for this,” he all but shouts in my ear. “I need you to get out of town. I need you to hide from him—”

“He already found me,” I say, interrupting him and taking another drink of my vodka still in my hand.

He’s silent for a long second. “Who found you?”

“Avery.”

“What the fuck does he want?” he shouts as if that was not the him he was referring to earlier.

“He was looking for you actually.”

“Fuck!” He hisses. “What else did he say?”

What did he say in the bathroom that night? “That he knows what you did.”

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” He curses in my ear.

I lie down on the cool tile while the shower continues to run. Closing my eyes, I release the bottle and slide my now free hand down my stomach to dip into my wet thong. I lean my head back and sigh when I run my finger over my pussy, thinking of Avery. At how much he would fuck me. I saw the look in his eyes and the power behind his hand to my face. He wants to dominate me. Hate fuck me. I hear that’s the best.

“Presleigh?” my brother snaps in my ear. “What the fuck are you doing?”

I ignore him, hoping he’ll hang up, but he doesn’t. “Listen. I need you to jump on the jet and fly to me. Okay. Can you do that? I can come and get you, but it’ll take me too much time.” My finger slides between my wet lips, and I imagine it’s Avery’s. That he is teasing me. Making me wetter with anticipation.

“Goddammit, Presleigh,” he shouts. “You need to listen to me …” His words trail off, and I bite my lip to keep from moaning when I add a second finger. “Wait a second. You said you’re in New York and that Avery was there. When did you see him last?”

“Tonight.” I sigh, but he ignores it.

“Where did you see him at?”

I suck in a long breath. “My house,” I say, removing them and enter them again.

“Next time you see him, call me,” he demands.

“No,” I manage to say.

“Presleigh! You don’t understand what he is capable of. How dangerous he is,” he urges.

“I do.” Did he forget how we were raised? What we saw? Our father was just like Avery’s, and I know that Preston is no saint. He took just as much as the others did. Women. Money. Drugs. You name it, my brother has snorted it and sold it. In our world, nothing is off-limits.

“Get your ass off this phone and on the jet. Now, Presleigh. If you don’t, he will make a move.” He growls. “And it’ll be too late.”

“Hello, Bunny.”

I open my heavy eyes and look up from the tiled floor to the doorway in my bathroom. I blink a few times, wondering if I’m really seeing Avery standing there or if I’m dreaming it.

“Pres? Are you listening to me?” my brother yells.

“Gotta go,” I mumble before I hang up, ignoring him shouting my name.

I drop my phone on the floor and sit up. His dark blue eyes stare at mine, void of emotion. His black tie from earlier is gone and his top two buttons are undone, but his shirt is still tucked into his black dress slacks. His hands are in his pockets while he casually leans against the doorway. His sleeves are rolled up, showcasing a set of tan and muscular forearms. His body looks relaxed, but his eyes tell a different story. They drop to between my legs where my hand was a moment ago.

“Thinking about me?” he asks with an arch of his brow. “Or was it the bastard I had dragged out of here a few hours ago?”

My eyes narrow on him. “Fuck you, Avery.” I can’t let him see how he still affects me after all this time. Not after what he did to me. He doesn’t deserve two fucking seconds of my life.

He pushes off the doorway and stalks over to me. He removes his hands from his pockets and undoes the belt around his pants. My breathing hitches when the button comes undone, and then he is pushing down his zipper. Coming to a stop before me, he stares down at me. He reaches out and threads his fingers into my wet hair, tightening his grip. My lips part, and a cry falls from my lips when a thousand needles pierce my scalp.

“You know how long I’ve imagined you like this, Bunny?”

I don’t answer. I can’t. He’s got me under his spell just as he did back then. The past forgotten for a moment. I like his presence; it silences my mind. All I do is feel.

“Too fucking long.” He answers his own question.

Letting go of my hair, he wraps his large hand around my wrists and pulls me from the floor. Before I can say anything, he grabs my hips, lifts me, and carries me out of the bathroom.

He lays me on my bed. My body’s still wet from sitting in the shower, but he doesn’t seem to mind. He pushes the wet strands of my hair from my face while he pulls his hard cock from his slacks.

“Avery …” I pant.

“What, Bunny? Isn’t this what you want?” he asks with a chuckle, and I hate that I can’t form a fucking sentence. That my body betrays me even when my mind screams to fight. To hit him. To tell him no. Fuck, he always had too much power over me. I look up at him, and the room sways. He smiles down at me as if he knows I’m under his spell.

His free hand yanks my thong to the side, and I close my eyes when he runs his fingers over my pussy. “I think you were thinking about me.”

I bite my bottom lip to keep from crying out from his soft touch. He lowers his lips to my ear. “I want you like this one last time, Bunny,” he whispers harshly.

“What do you mean …?” My slurred words are cut off when he slides into my soaked pussy. Stretching me in the way that only he ever could.

“Fuck!” He growls into my ear.