Page 58 of Blood Money

Kendall: You’re killing me, Vittorio

Kendall: Please. I need to know if you ever really cared

Kendall: I guess that’s my answer then

Kendall: You are the lowest of lows, Vittorio. I loved you. I feel like I’m dying because I gave you my heart and now I’m bleeding out. You should’ve gone into acting because that was the best performance I’ve ever seen. If all you wanted was to fuck me, you could’ve just said that. Maybe if I’d known that’s all you wanted I could’ve kept my heart guarded. Instead, I willingly gave it to you because I thought you were giving me yours

Kendall: You’re a fucking liar

Kendall: I hate you more than anything

Kendall: I hope one day someone does this to you so you can know how badly you destroyed me

Kendall: I’m blocking and deleting your number. Goodbye

Each message was a knife to my heart, but I deserved it.

“IComeFirst”—Halestorm

Present Day….

Konstantin was a great guy, but I didn’t have a lot of interest in him. I think he was aware of that by the end of our dinner. He seemed resigned but still kind, and it made me feel like an asshole for leading him on.

“I’m sorry,” I told him as we reached the bottom of my stairs. “Tonight was great, but….”

He stood there with his hands in his pockets and a sad smile on his face. “It’s okay. At least I got to have dinner with you and pretend for a little while that a woman like you would be interested in me.”

“It’s not you,” I began, but he started laughing ruefully.

“Please don’t give me the whole ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ spiel. I think that would hurt more.” He shrugged as he cast his gaze down the street. “Is it the dude who was in the bakery this morning?”

“What? No! I don’t even….”

He swiveled his head back to give me a look that told me he knew I was full of shit.

“How well do you know him?” he asked before pressing his lips flat and giving his head a little shake.

I sighed. “I’ve known him since I was a kid.”

He closed his eyes and dropped his head a moment before he lifted his gaze. “So you know who he is?”

With an apologetic wince, I nodded. “You really are a great person, though. I’m just in a weird place in my life right now.” I wrung my hands as I tried to ease the blow.

“I get it. No worries,” he said with a sigh. “But can you please go upstairs and lock your door?”

“Huh?” I jerked my head back in surprise.

“I can’t be certain, but I think there was a guy who followed us here. I’m not sure where he is now, and I could be wrong. It would just make me feel better if you were safely inside before I left.”

Suddenly scared, I darted my gaze around.

“Don’t make it obvious if he’s still here.” He made a cautious scan of the area.

“Thank you,” I whispered before I pressed a kiss to his cheek, then rushed up my stairs. At the top, I struggled with the keys a moment, but when I glanced back down the stairs, Konstantin was still standing watch. That gave me a small measure of relief. Enough that my hands quit shaking and I was able to insert the key. I made a mental note to have a coded lock installed.

Once the door swung open, I waved. Konstantin sadly lifted his hand, then left. I hurried inside and turned the deadbolt.

It wasn’t long before there was a knock, and I froze in the kitchen, where I’d been getting a glass of water and pulling out a cupcake. Yeah, I planned to eat my feelings again.

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