Page 70 of Pretty Pink Poison
CHAPTER 22
PINK
Six months seemedto fly by smoothly.
In general, Bane accepted me as a human and although it wasn’t the love match I wanted and his friendship would never satiate my real cravings, I accepted it. It allowed me to find something maybe even more valuable in my life.
I found me.
I found friends.
I found who I wanted to be.
Because sometimes chasing a love so toxic and all-consuming drowns you and you’re not able to realize that love for yourself should be found first.
Maybe Bane always wanted that for us both, or maybe he was just trying to survive us, but either way, I found happiness outside of him and my family.
I found my Oracle App gave me pretty good therapy advice after Bane had reprogrammed it, and he also sent a therapist and psychiatrist to talk to me once a week.
I wanted to ignore the sessions and write them off until I didn’t. Once I got over thinking I didn’t need them, those conversations became something I couldn’t live without.
Therapy wasn’t a crutch or a weakness the way my father would have said it was. I learned that therapy is a lantern helping guide us through the dark, a life raft to help stay afloat, a compass to keep us from getting lost.
The man was thorough with that. But I saw him trying in other ways to keep me happy too. He kept his word on letting me work in the resort, or rather, I went to work and he didn’t balk.
It was there that I found my first real friend outside of the syndicate while working on makeup. I had started with simple tasks at the spa, then moved into doing makeup for the dancers, then dressing them, and before long, I was doing makeup for everyone who walked in. Celebrities. Models. Influencers.
Keelani came to the resort for a singing residency, and I found her to be resilient, loyal, and real where others hadn’t been. I helped her change her brand from the clean-cut childhood star who wore her long brown hair in a bun to a rock star with smoky eyes, curls that were wild, and a soul that she owned. Olive was a close friend of hers with cute glasses and a kind personality. We became a trio even while Bane hovered, consistently checking on us. They’d found she had a stalker and while I was twisted enough to want a stalker like Bane, I knew she didn’t want this one.
For months, we grew closer, and I learned to trust her and the man who wanted to keep her safe. Dex Hardy had become a partner at the Black Diamond resorts, and he and his brothers had so many connections that I think even Bane and his brothers were impressed enough to do business with them.
Between Kee being around to talk to and Bane coming to my room almost daily, I was happier. Especially when I enjoyed living in the moment rather than focusing on what was inevitably to come.
I may have had to marry his brother in a couple years, but for now, Bane would come talk to me, listen when I whined aboutnothing, and even would work in my room while I did nonsense tasks like painting my nails all different colors and trying to stick rhinestones on them.
Then, I’d ask him if he liked the nails or the new makeup tutorial I tried, and he’d glance up from his computer, but I would see his smirk every now and then.
One particular day, I made him watchCarrie. “You’re not even looking at the screen.”
“I’m listening,” He rolled his eyes with that black top resting on him. He sat on the leather couch next to me, but he didn’t relax at all. His brothers texted him tirelessly about work, and I knew for a fact the day before he’d had blood on his shoes when he’d come to check on me.
“What did Carrie say, then?”
He gave me a look. “She’s going to burn down the whole school.”
I gasped in mock horror because I’d seen it a million times. “How dare you tell me the end!”
“Don’t act surprised. You used to do the same damn thing to me as a teenager. You were quick to tell me the end before I even started reading.”
“You liked the information.”
“I liked the malice in your eyes. You wanted to ruin it for me.”
I shrugged. Maybe I did. It was a tiny way to act out and I enjoyed doing it. “Or I was misunderstood. Just like Carrie.”
“She was a murderer.”
“So?” I looked him dead in the eye. “She was abused and bullied. She was a victim.”
