I walked into the house, beat and ready for bed. I needed to wash the pussy off me before I went to bed, but it was worth it. I hadn’t been ridden like that in I couldn’t remember how long. My brother was right. I did work too much.

I tossed my car keys onto the table. I couldn’t wait to crawl into bed. I was so tired. I’d spent the past couple of weeks watching Laney on the monitor to see if she’d use the toys. Aside from looking at them from time to time, she never took advantage of their features.

“It’s about time you’re fucking home. Some of us have to work tomorrow.” Tim was not thrilled with my late night.

“You could’ve crashed on the sofa. It isn’t my fault you waited up like a suffocating parent.”

“I waited up because I wanted to know how it went.” He sniffed the air closer to me and waved his hand in front of his face. “Oh, man. At least it isn’t alcohol. You need a shower.”

“Any time you want to become a man and learn how to fuck a woman, say the word. I’ll hook you up, little brother.”

“The only thing you need to hook up is a shower.”

“I’d rather smell like pussy because I had it instead of smelling like it because I am one.”

“That’s mature.” He shook his head as he walked past me with his nose pinched shut.

“Oh, come on. It isn’t that bad. Don’t you want to hear how it went?”

“I think I know how it went. What I don’t know is if Bryce was part of it.”

I shook my head. “Nope. He’s still pussy-whipped for Laney. I still got a couple of incriminating shots of him, though. It’ll be enough to cast doubt for her.” I pulled my shirt over my head as I started to walk out of the kitchen. “Oh.” I turned back to him. “We don’t have to worry about that private detective.”

“Why’s that?”

“Joshua Mosley bought her, too. He hooked her up with a few fake photos of Laney on a beach. He needs to hire better graphic designers if he’s going to pull any more of those stunts, but it did the job. Bryce is starting to believe she left him.”

“We’re sick fucking bastards for going through with this.”

“If it isn’t us, it’s someone else. I’m not sure what you’re worried about. She’ll have someone else warming her bed two weeks after she gets out of here.”

“Yeah, right. Let’s just not have that guy be you. Okay?”

I threw my shirt at him as he shut the door. “You’re just fucking jealous.”

I turned and went upstairs. I wanted to shower and go to bed. It was exhausting pleasing two women. I smiled. I loved every minute of it, though.

I narrowed my eyes as I reached the top of the stairs and saw Laney’s light was still on. It was after one in the morning. She was never up that late. The closer I got to her room, the more I could hear her crying.

It was different from the crying she had done when she first came. Before it was a hopeless and helpless cry, unsure of what the future held for her. She still didn’t know about that future, but the sobbing I heard as I reached her door was broken-hearted. I didn’t like it.

I took her key out of my pocket and unlocked the door. She didn’t hear me come in. She was at the table with her face in her hands, sobbing. I did that to her. I’d never cared about what I’d done to someone before, and it was only going to get worse for her when I showed her the photos of Bryce and Dana.

I shook my head. I had a job to do. I didn’t care that her heart would be broken for a little while. She was a big girl and would get over it. She’d find someone else and move on from that pussy Bryce.

I sat down and worked on the puzzle. She was startled and tried to stop crying, but couldn’t. “What do you want?”

“I came up to go to bed.”

She stood and backed up.

I looked up at her. “In my own room. I heard you crying when I walked by.”

“So, you came to gloat in my guilt?”

“Of course not. I came to make sure you were okay.”

“As if I’m supposed to believe you really give a fuck.” She walked over to the bed and got in, putting the covers over her head.

“You’re right. I don’t give a fuck.” I continued to work on the puzzle. “Why are you feeling guilty?”

She didn’t take the covers off to answer, so it was muffled. “You know why.”

I smiled. I did know why. She wanted me and hated it. I was determined more than ever to make her beg for me. “No, I don’t. Enlighten me.”

She became enraged, throwing the covers off her and stormed over to me. “Enlighten you? Enlighten you! You are a manipulative piece of shit whose only goal in life is to get your rocks off no matter the expense of other people. You think you know so much about me and about my relationship with Bryce that you can keep me here until I don’t love him anymore. I think you actually think I can love you.”

Her laugh was cold and held no humor. “No one can love you. Not even your own brother loves you. You’re a narcissistic son of a bitch who will be alone for the rest of your sad, cold, pathetic life. You have nothing worthy to give this existence and do nothing but pollute the air the rest of us needs to breathe.

“I will not have you diminish the love I have for that man or the love he has for me. I will be with him again when I get out of here, and we will get married. No one will stop us this time. The only regret I will ever have in my life is waiting for approval from anyone to be happy. He makes me happy. He is my happiness, and I will have both again when I leave here no matter what you do to me.”

I reached across the table and picked up the empty soda can she’d hung on to since the moment she got it. It had sentimental value to her. It meant something.

“I saw Bryce tonight.”

She rounded the table and watched me as I rotated the can in my hand. “Why would you see him?”

“I was curious. Even before your eloquent speech tonight, you seemed hell-bent to love this man. I wanted to see what was so special about him.”

I could see the blood drain from her face. She was worried I’d hurt him. I did, but what I did was going to hurt her far more.

“Aren’t you going to ask me how he is?”

“Would you tell me?”

I kept the can in one hand and pulled out my phone in the other. I pulled up the photo of Bryce and Dana on his sofa with Dana on his lap before he pushed her off. “He’s not a lightweight when it comes to drinking. If I were still in my drinking days, I think he and I could’ve had a lot of fun together.”

“What did you do?”

I looked at her. “I did nothing. After what happened between us earlier, I decided to see if the blonde was a one-time thing. It turns out he likes brunettes.” I motioned to her hair. “It makes sense.”

“What are you talking about?”

I held my phone out and let her lean in close. “You can zoom it if you’d like to make sure again. There’s no mistaking it’s him. Does the room look familiar?”

It was quiet, but you could hear the disbelief. “No.”

“No?” I tilted my head. “Are you sure you don’t recognize the room?”

“He wouldn’t do that. This is another sick game of yours. He loves me!”

The chair fell backward when I stood. “Just like you love him when you were against that wall letting me finger fuck you!” I picked up the can and slammed it onto the table, crushing it as if it were mere air. “It’s over, sweetheart. He’s moved on.” I threw the crushed can at her and stormed out the door.

I was so angry I wanted to go to bed before I did something stupid, but I went to the monitor downstairs first. I wanted to see what she was doing and how she was handling the news. I turned it on as she walked out of the bathroom, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Had she thrown up?

It was a blow to her. How could she refute the evidence in front of her? She couldn’t. I wasn’t going to tell her nothing happened. Let her think what she wanted, but I wasn’t going to tell her he shoved Dana off him.

I watched as she walked over to the can I had crushed. She looked at it and turned it over in her fingers a little before gripping both ends. I narrowed my eyes and leaned in. What was she doing? I sat back in my seat, dumbfounded. She was trying to reverse what I’d done. She cried out as she pulled on both ends with little result.

I knew she was in denial as anyone would be when they’d lost their first love, but she couldn’t possibly believe they could become whole again. No one had that much faith in someone. I punched the monitor off and went back upstairs for that much needed shower and sleep and ignored the wailing coming from her room when I walked by.

* * *

My intention was to drop off her breakfast and make a quick getaway. I didn’t want to talk to her after the argument the night before. By the time I was finished with my shower, I was ready to take her back to her father’s and give him his money back. I didn’t need the headache.

After a couple of hours of sleep, I woke with a clearer head. Still pissed, but clearer. I needed to keep the bigger picture in mind when she got to me. Six figures was a lot of money I couldn’t pass up. I got half when I picked her up without incident, and I’d get the other half when she returned home, hating Bryce.

The job was to only make her fall out of love with him. After the things they both said to me the night before, I’d have them hate each other before it was over. I didn’t care if she loved me or not. I only wanted to fuck her once. It was all I needed, but I worried it would start another addiction for me. I’d stepped my way out of other addictions. I could do it again with her. I just needed that one taste.

When I walked in, I was surprised to see her up and exercising. I figured she’d still be in bed mourning the loss of her relationship. She wasn’t mourning anything.

I went to set the tray on the table and noticed more of the puzzle was complete. “Did you sleep at all?”

“Nope.”

“Are you trying to give yourself a heart attack?” I walked over and placed my hands on her shoulders to get her to stop moving. She was dripping with sweat. “How long have you been doing this?”

She shrugged before walking over to the table. I was sure I’d have a fight on my hands to get her to eat, but she dug in. I scratched the back of my neck. “What does someone have to do around here to get bacon?”

“I can fix BLTs for lunch if you’d like.”

“Yes, please.” She drank half of her milk in one pass.

“Slow down. It isn’t going anywhere.”

“I have a lot to do.”

I looked around the room. “Like what?”

“This puzzle for one.” She wiped her hands on her leggings and picked up a piece of the puzzle. “I have a method.” She pointed at me. “I’m not telling you what it is.”

I held my hands up. “It’s all yours.” I pulled a chair out and sat down. “I’m concerned that you’re going through a crisis. You’re having a breakdown of some sort. Do I need to bring in some medication for you?”

“I know you’ve never had a love of your life to lose, so please don’t tell me how to react to losing mine.” She sniffed as if she were holding her emotions back. “I need to stay busy. It hurts when I stop.”