Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
“Hello, yes, would Nicholas Brandon be able to speak with me?”
“He doesn’t take public calls. Sorry.” She goes to hang up on me, so I state, “It’s urgent. Please, just tell him my name, and if he doesn’t want to talk to me, you’ve done your job. But as I said, it’s urgent. And you don’t want an angry boss, right?”
“What’s your name.”
“Thea. Tell him Thea is calling.”
“Hold on.”
I wait, walking back and forth to see if he will take my call. It takes a total of four minutes before someone speaks on the other end, “I’m transferring you now.”
“Thea.” Nicholas’s voice comes through the phone. “I see you tracked me down.” He chuckles, and it sounds as if he’s moving.
“Why did you do it? That’s a lot of money,” is all I can manage to say.
“We pay each girl who keeps us company on the island. It’s how you make money. You left before I could pay you.”
“That money should have gone to Atlas.”
“I paid him, too, and even asked for your details, but that was a firm no.” He chuckles. “That man can be intimidating, but I have been around intimidating men all my life, and I have my ways.”
“He certainly is,” I tell him.
“So, can I get your number?”
“Do you not have caller ID?” I reply back to him, smiling. “And I can’t accept that money.”
“Too late, it’s yours. And thank you for spending your time with me. Your company was needed.” He goes quiet. “Thea?”
“Yes.”
“Are you and Atlas a thing?”
“I don’t know how to answer that.” Which is the truth, as I have no idea.
“Okay, well, I guess I was expecting that.”
Hearing a knock on my door, I turn to face it and say, “Can you call me back? Maybe we can meet for coffee or something?”
The knock on my door this time is louder, so I walk over, and I pull it open to see Atlas standing there.
“Yes. I have some free time tomorrow. I will call you then. And Thea? If you don’t want the money, donate it,” he declares, and then hangs up.
My phone drops to my side as I look at him, his amber eyes are dark and angry while they assess me.
“I checked. You have a lot of money in your account. Did you decide to side hustle on the island?” Atlas’s voice is full of malice when he speaks.
How does everyone manage to gain access to my personal life, isn’t there laws to stop this shit?
Stepping back, I go to shut the door, but he stops me, holding it open with his foot.
“What did you do for that money, Theadora?”
“Nothing. I did nothing. What the fuck are you doing here?”
He cracks his neck from side to side. “What am I doing here? Maybe we should be asking why you are still breathing?”
“Fuck you.” I throw my cell at him, and it hits him in the chest. He doesn’t even blink at my outrage.
“I would like to fuck that temper out of you. What do you say?” He steps forward and makes a move to touch me.
“Been there, done that. What a mistake that was. Never going back there,” I say, backing away from his touch. Because he will burn me, and not in a good way. No, his touch will scorch my soul, and I’m afraid of what might happen after that.
“You enjoyed it. We could enjoy it again.”
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t quite get that memo that you enjoyed it...” I give him an eye roll, “… especially with how fast you ran out afterward.”
“It’s what I do,” he admits. “I fuck and leave. It’s what I do,” he reiterates it, like I need to hear it or something.
I cross my arms over my chest. “Well, it’s not what I do. And it’s considered impolite to… ‘fuck and leave’ as you so disrespectfully put it.” I raise my head. “You fuck with people’s emotions when you do something like that.”
“I’ll stay… if that’s what you want. But I am not great company.”
“I don’t even want you here in the first place,” I tell him while shaking my head. “So why are we still talking about this.”
Atlas reaches out, and I am too slow to stop him from touching me this time. He grips my waist and pulls me to him.
“Stop! Just stop touching me. All you do is touch me.”
“I like to touch you.”
“You hated me a week ago and were willing to give me to your damn clients,” I say as his hands lightly stroke down my arm while he holds onto me.
“I would never have let one touch you. Ever,” he whispers in my ear. “Not something so precious.” He bites my ear. “So delicious.”
I push the door shut behind him, and in the next second my hands are all over him.