Page 38 of Sweetest Revenge

But no. I just came in her mouth, watched her come on my desk, and then helped her up and showed her out of my office before slamming the door in her face.

It took about an hour for me to work up the courage to walk to my own room for fear of what I might do if I saw her again.

I hate what she does to me. Almost as much as I hate h?—

I can’t even finish the fucking sentence in my own head.

I grabbed my pillow and held it to my face, exhaling loudly into it. I’d never had an urge to scream into it before now.

In all of my fifty-two years of living, I had been calm. Collected. I could count on one hand the times that someone undid me the way she had.

Buying her was a mistake.

I threw the pillow across the room and reached for my phone. The bright screen threatened to blind me in the darkness of the room.

Quickly as lightning, I dialed Dante’s number. He picked up on the second ring.

“Warren?” His voice was thick with sleep. “It’s two in the morning. What happened?”

So many things.

I cleared my throat.

“Remind me of the penalty for contract dissolvement,” I ordered, my voice too tense.

“The penalty… You wrote it! You’re telling me you forgot?” He sounded as incredulous as I felt.

“Let’s say I did,” I replied. “Remind me.”

He paused.

“From the buyer’s side? It’s full payment plus a twenty percent early cancellation fee. The girl walks away with a prorated percentage based on the days completed. Unless, of course, she does something to break the contract.”

“Twenty percent?” I sat up abruptly.

“You were the one who added it! It’s to earn back costs on the work we put into it, you know? I was the one who recommended fifteen, but you said?—”

“Whatever.” I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. “Never mind, then.”

Just as I was about to hang up, he called out to me.

“Hey, is everything alright with Addi?”

My hand clenched the phone.

Is everything alright with Addi? She’s fucking fine, Dante, just ruining my life for the second time.

“She’s fine,” I forced out.

Another pause.

“And you, Warren?”

Dante and I weren’t friends. I didn’t truly have any that I would consider close enough to discuss whatever was happening with Addi. But somehow the sincerity in his voice had me wanting to spill everything.

“I’m fine, thanks for asking. I’ll see you soon.”

I hung up before I could act on the urge to tell him about it and lay back on the bed, looking up at the bare ceiling. Trying to think of anything that could get me out of this mess.

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