Masuk~~~Rhea~~~The knot in my stomach loosened.I felt it go, and it was almost funny how fast it happened. One second I was bracing like I'd walked into a lion's den. The next, Carson was standing there with his easy smile and his crooked headset, and the whole room shrank back down to a normal size. People. Cameras. Lights. Just stuff.It's because he's here, I realized. Because there's one person in this place who actually knows me."Hey," I said, and my voice came out steadier than I'd expected. A real smile crept onto my face. "Sorry, I hope I'm not late.""You're right on time." He gave me a quick, warm hug, patting my back twice. "You look great. Rested. Did you sleep?""Define sleep."He laughed. "That's a no.""It's a trying.""Fair enough." He turned his head and nodded at Addie, who'd been bouncing on her heels beside me with her eyes darting all over the place. "And you, trouble. Still stealing all the snacks?""Only the good ones." She grinned and shoved her sunglasses higher
~~~Rhea~~~The thing about heartbreak is that it doesn't care about your schedule.It was there when I woke up. It was there in the shower, at my desk, on the bus, and I still had to show up and be a person anyway. So over the next few days, I did the only thing I knew how to do. I shoved it down and kept moving.I calmed myself down. Slowly, ugly, one breath at a time. I stopped checking my phone every thirty seconds. I stopped flinching when the doorbell rang. I stopped replaying his hand on my throat and the look in his eyes right before he smiled and told me to go.Okay, I didn't stop. I just got better at pretending.And I threw myself into preparing for the shoot. Mirror practice at night. Walking laps around my room like an idiot, chin up, shoulders back, trying to remember how the girl who used to fight for the pageant crown stood. Meanwhile, I still had my real job, the one that actually paid the bills, so I was juggling both. Wake at dawn, work all day, rush home, practice u
~~~Rhea~~~Addie's hand froze on my cheek."Angry?" Her eyebrows shot up so high they nearly vanished into her hairline. "Rhea. Wait. What the hell do you mean you fought?"I flinched at the volume. She caught herself, dropped her voice, and gripped my wrists, her eyes wide and wild."You two don't fight. You spar. You roast each other and then stare at each other's mouths like idiots. I've never seen him get angry at you. Not once." She shook her head. "What did you do?""Why do you think I did something?" It came out thin and defensive, and my lip started to wobble again."Because he's obsessed with you, babe! That man would walk through a fire for you. So what did you do?"I pressed the tissue against my mouth and squeezed my eyes shut. The words jammed in my throat, a hot, painful knot. For a second, I couldn't get any of them out.Then they spilled."He found me at the café," I whispered. "With Carson."Addie went still."We were just talking about the job. I was so happy, Addie.
~~~Rhea~~The tears wouldn't stop.They slid down my face the whole ride, silent and stupid and hot, dripping off my jaw and onto my blouse. I wiped them with the back of my hand. They came back. I wiped them again. The driver kept his eyes on the road and pretended not to see me, which I appreciated more than he'd ever know.Stop it. Stop crying. You didn't do anything wrong.He deserved it. Every word.He'd dragged me out of a café in front of fifty strangers. He'd put his hand on my throat and pinned me to a wall like I was something he owned. He'd threatened a man's hands with jaguars. Jaguars, for God's sake.I'd said I wanted him out of my life, and I'd done it. I'd walked out of that mansion with my chin up and my spine straight. I'd won.So why did I feel like I'd been gutted?I pressed the heel of my palm against my eyes. Under my eyelids, I could still see his face. Not the rage. The other thing. That split second after I'd said you're not half of what Carson is, when someth
~~~Rhea~~~The door shut behind her, and she didn't look back.I smirked. Cold, slow, just a pull at the corner of my mouth.I crossed the room and dropped onto the black leather couch by the bed. My whiskey was already waiting on the side table, two fingers deep. My maid left it there every evening, never late, never a word. I picked it up and took a sip, and the burn slid down my throat like an old friend.The smile stayed on my face.I replayed all of it. Her nails clawing at my wrist. Her wet lashes. Her chin lifted, her voice shaking as she spat the words at me.You're not half of what Carson is.A breath shook out of me. Then a laugh.It started low, almost soundless, then climbed until it rolled off the black walls and filled the whole room. I swirled the glass in my hand, watching the amber catch the lamplight, and let the laughter run until it died on its own. There was nothing in it. No warmth. No joy. It was the sound a blade makes when it leaves the sheath.I closed my eye
~~~Rhea~~~The sudden emptiness was brutal.My body went rigid against the wall, locked in that unfinished peak, the denied release crashing through me like a physical blow. A shattered sob tore from my throat. My pussy clenched around nothing, throbbing hard, aching, dripping. My legs nearly gave out. Tears kept falling as the sharp edge of almost-orgasm left me shaking and empty and furious.Logan watched me with dark, satisfied eyes, his wet fingers glistening between us. He brought them to his mouth and licked them slowly, never looking away.“Not until you answer me,” he said, voice low and absolute. “Not until you stop fighting what you already know.”What do I say? I can’t be left aching.My body was still locked in that cruel, unfinished edge, thighs trembling, the empty ache between my legs pulsing so hard it bordered on pain. Tears blurred my vision. I didn’t think, I just reached out and grabbed his wrist with both hands, sniffing hard as I tried to drag his hand back where







