Page 44 of Four Money (Ever and Always 1)

“No.” He smiled as he shook his head. “If you’ll agree to stay, say, another three months? I’d be glad to pay for your mother’s rehab and her hospital expenses.”

“Oh.” Holly’s face fell and she crawled over him to get out of bed.

That hadn’t been the reaction he’d been expecting.

Owen punched him in the shoulder.

“Ow, what? What did I say?” Trent looked between Holly’s face, now devoid of her previous contentment and joy, to Lorenzo’s glare and Owen’s clenched jaw.

“You said you want to buy more time to fuck me.” Holly threw her hands up. “When you promised me before that you weren’t paying me for sex. If that’s all this is to you, thanks but no fucking thanks.”

She started gathering her clothes and putting them on so sharply he thought she might tear them in the process.

“Your momneedsthat care.” Trent tried again to make her see reason.

“Fuck you, she’ll have it. Even if I have to get ten jobs to pay for it.” Holly crossed her arms over her now fully clothed body. He missed the sight of her lush breasts and the soft pink skin of her stomach and thighs. “But I will not take another penny of your money so that you can convince yourself this is some sort of transaction and nothing more.”

She whipped her head to the side, but it was too late; he’d seen the tears gathering in her gorgeous eyes. Shit, and now he’d hurt her, just like he’d been afraid of all along.

He wasn’t cut out for a relationship. She was right to leave him before they fucked each other up completely.

Trent flopped onto his back and stared blankly at the ceiling.

“Let me walk you home, Holly,” Lorenzo offered.

“No. I need time to myself. Without Trent, or any of you.” She snatched her purse off the bedside table and jammed her feet into her shoes. “I have to think, and you screw with my head. All of you.”

Trent didn’t argue, sure that it was true. Hadn’t his father always told him that the abomination of his sexuality would ruin any woman he tried to love that way?

“At least take Moose with you,” Owen suggested.

“No. He’d be more likely to lick someone to death than to attack them, and I’m not sure when I’ll be back. Because at the end of the day, or ninety days, it’s my stupid heart that’s going to be broken. I can already tell I’m falling for you.”

His eyes cut to hers at that. She stared straight into Trent’s soul, but he knew she had directed her statement at the three of them. “And that’s the one thing I can’t afford. None of us can. Especially not you, despite your spare millions.”

Damn it!

“Holly, wait!” What the hell had she said? Did she feel like he did? That this was more than a fucking sham marriage they were living out? Had he ruined everything by refusing to admit it, even to himself, as she was obviously brave enough to do?

It was too late. She’d already gone, slamming the door behind her.

The sound reverberated through the house and his aching chest. Though he’d been preparing himself every minute they spent together for the moment he’d have to give her up again, he realized that nothing was going to keep him safe if they kept going like they were.

And that’s why he didn’t chase after her and beg for forgiveness, despite Lorenzo and Owen shouting at him to do exactly that.

19

Tears blurred Holly’s vision as she jogged through the streets toward her mother’s apartment. Sure, it was empty, but maybe that’s what she needed. Some time alone to really think about the mistakes she was making and how bad the consequences would be if she didn’t fix them now, before she couldn’t repair the damage they would wreak.

Turn back from the dangerous, impulsive part of her that was rushing headlong into a one-sided relationship, despite the fact that it was with three separate people.

Upset and still mostly boneless from the endless orgasms Trent and his roommates had showered her with, she wasn’t paying much attention to her surroundings. When the headlights of an oncoming car blasted her with blinding blue light, she realized she must have nearly run out in front of someone.

She held up her hands, casting dark shadows onto her face. “Sorry, sorry!”

But that only made the perfect grip for whoever it was that burst from the passenger side of the vehicle and snatched her up. She was stuffed halfway into the backseat before she even registered what was happening and began to thrash.

Screaming, she kicked, punched, and even bit who-knew-what part of the refrigerator-sized man squashing her into the vehicle and sitting beside her to keep her from escaping. He didn’t give a shit that she knocked her head hard enough to see starbursts that reminded her of the fireworks the lawyers had arranged in Kari’s honor when she’d agreed to be their wife.

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