Page 52 of On Your Knees

She chuckles at me. “I’m not just people; I’m his future wife.” She flicks her hand in the air. “This will all be mine very soon.”

“Is that so?” I reply, leaning back against the counter, interested to see where this is going and why she is really here.

“Yes.”

I smirk at her. “He never told me you were coming.”

“Why would he tell a gold digger that his fiancée is stopping by?”

“Look, how about we stop right there. Whateverthisis, I’m not doing it. Ridge does not strike me as the kind of man to mince his words. If you were really his fiancée, future wife, or whatever you are claiming to be, you would know that every inch of this house is covered by cameras—ones he checks frequently—so I would make sure you have proof to back up your claims.”

Her face morphs into that of a scorned woman, and it’s almost comical to see she clearly hasn’t gotten the reaction from me she wanted.

“I’m not a woman who gets jealous and jumps to conclusions. I’m the kind of woman who will talk to Ridge and ask him myself. He has not given me any reasons not to trust him, nor has Zeland, for that matter.If you were expecting me to run out of here in tears, you thought wrong.”

“You think you can just walk in here, flaunt your cheap ass around, and sink your claws into a rich man? Do you plan to live your life off his money? He will throw you away like yesterday’s trash once he has finished with you. I’m the endgame, and he knows I am here waiting for him when he is ready. Then you and Zeland will be gone.”

At the mention of her wanting to split Ridge and Zeland, I’m like a fucking rabid dog, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end as I push off the counter, closing the distance between us. I might be a lot shorter—she is naturally tall, and in heels even taller—and she may look like a supermodel, but if Ridge wanted her, he would be fucking her and not me and Zeland.

“Let’s get one thing fucking straight,” I spit. “You are fucking delusional if you think you can split up Ridge and Zeland. It’s never going to happen, and if you really loved him, you wouldn’t want to try. Clearly, you can’t see what is right in front of you—Ridge loves Zeland, he doesn’t love you. It’s sad, really, that there are trees out there producing oxygen just so you can breathe. Maybe throw them an apology on your way out.”

She opens her mouth to speak, but I hold my hand up. “Get the fuck out of my house before I call Malachi to come throw you out. You are not welcome here, and if you come back again unannounced, I will throw hands. I don’t give a flying fuck how rich you or yourfather are. You will not come into my house and disrespect MY men. Either of them.”

“This is not your house!” she screeches.

“That is where you are wrong,” a voice booms. She gasps and turns around to see Ridge with his arms crossed over his chest. “This is her house, and if she asked you to leave, I suggest you do it.”

“Can’t you see all she wants is your money?!”

“You can believe what you want, Genevieve, but she has not let me spend a cent on her. Aspen has her own money and supports herself. Now I am asking you politely to please see yourself out. We have been friends for a long time and would hate to have to reevaluate our friendship if you can’t respect my woman or Zeland.”

“Your woman!” She scoffs. “You have lost your damn mind.”

Ridge storms toward her, leaning down into her face. “Maybe I have, but I have never been happier. And let me make one thing very, very clear. I do not love you. I won’t ever love you. And I will never marry you. Now please leave before I call your father and end our working relationship because his daughter doesn’t know her place.”

“Screw you, Ridge! If you want to throw away two decades of friendship over a homeless whore, then so be it.”

As she huffs and storms away, Ridge doesn’t turn to watch her leave. Instead he just stares me up and down in his shirt.

“Fuck, you look hot in my clothes.”

“I know,” I say with a smirk. Running toward him, I launch myself into his arms and wrap my legs around his waist. “I don’t think I like her very much. Were you watching?”

He smiles. “I sure was. I think I’m a little obsessed with you, so I’m always checking in, but this time I heard the gates open, and I wanted to see what she was up to. You believe there is nothing going on between her and me, right?”

I take his handsome face in my hands. “Of course I do. I meant it when I said I’m not a woman who won’t come to you first before I believe someone else. But I started losing my temper when she said she wanted to get rid of Zeland. I don’t know if she knows you two are together, and I may have let the cat out of the bag on that, but I’m not sorry. You two are meant for each other. He compliments you in ways you need, and vice versa.”

“I don’t care who knows. We don’t put it on billboards, but if people know, they know.”

“Hmm, I like the sound of you two on billboards.”

He chuckles and walks us toward his room. “I’m sure you do. Zeland’s gone to do whatever Zeland does—he disappeared around the fourth hole. I honestly think he is stalking your boyfriend.”

“I doubt he’s stalking him, but maybe they are hanging out. He mentioned something about coffee.”

Ridge snorts as he reaches the top of the stairs to his wing. “We are grown men. We don’t ‘hang out.’”

I pout. “What, you’re too old to hang out with me? Iguess that’s what happens when you’re nearing thirty—all your fun has run out.”

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