Share

Chapter Five

Author: Lucy Reid
last update Last Updated: 2023-02-21 00:09:10

Y A N A

I feel numb. I can’t believe I just did that. I can’t believe I just lost all the chances I have to make things better for Catori and my friends.

I slapped Mikhail Sartori, a billionaire.

Why the hell I’m not being escorted out of the building right now, I have no idea, but I have to assume that it’s a good thing because prison is the last place I wanna be right now.

As I go out of the conference room, my knees start to shake so badly that I have to prop my hand against the wall to stop myself from falling over. Some of the hopefuls see me walking out in this condition, and I vaguely register their faces going pale. Do they think that the single-man panel in there roasted the shit out of me? Because if they’re not stupid enough to slap the CEO, they would not be in my place.

In the distance, I can see Gwen getting to her feet and looking at me. I don’t dare meet her eyes. I know that if I do, I might just commit murder.

“Is everything okay, miss?” the desk lady asks me, but I just brush past her and head to the elevator, angrily pushing the buttons so I can get the hell out of there.

The events keep playing in my head as I find my car in the parking lot, and the moment I get inside, I dissolve into tears.

I’m screwed. I’m totally screwed.

Not only am I on the fast track to bankruptcy and debt, but I also took my best friends down the sinking ship with me. They signed the lease with me. I made them do it. And I just subjected them to a possible lifetime of paying for something that wasn’t even their dream.

For a second, I sit there and debate whether or not I should go back in there and beg for Mikhail’s help. He’s a multi-billionaire; surely he can spare a couple of thousand dollars. Maybe I should get back in there and give Gwen what she deserves too, which is an ass-whooping--

The rest of my thoughts screech to a halt when suddenly, my phone begins to ring in my glove compartment.

With shaking hands, I retrieve it, only to see Lily’s name and face flashing on my screen.

My body shrivels up as though I just got doused by freezing water.

However, I still force myself to answer.

“Hello,” I say in a fairly neutral tone. “What’s up?”

“How’s it going?” she asks excitedly. “Do you have any news?”

“No . . . no, I don’t,” I mumble. Oh god, she sounds so happy. I can hear Jason chirping in the background. “Um, I’ll call you later. This might actually be an all-day thing. And I have to go back to see my family for dinner this evening. You should close up shop.”

The way that my lies just flowed out of me makes me feel horrible, but Lily doesn’t suspect a thing. “No problem! Have fun with your family and don’t worry about a thing.”

“Thank you.” I swallow hard as tears stream down my cheeks. “I’ll see you soon!”

With that, I end the call. I can’t take one more second of it. My chest is going to explode.

The only thing left for me to answer is, how would I tell them?

* * *

A couple of hours later, I’m still asking myself this question.

I’m at Moon River now, a small bar in downtown LA with cheap drinks and even cheaper food. I’m nursing a gin and tonic and a big batch of nacho chips that never seem to run out no matter how much I stuff inside my mouth.

It’s probably a bad idea to spend even a bit of money on this stuff after what happened, but I have to borrow some strength from alcohol so I could break the news to Lily and Jason tonight.

I sigh, looking into the distance and thinking of what I would say. Should I ease them into it and say that I have a backup even though I don’t? Or should I just do it straight up and say that we’re fucked? Maybe I can have a real backup--

“Hi.”

The sudden greeting from a male voice beside me makes me jump. I nearly choke on my chips. I turn around and see a thirty-something dude with a cowboy hat sitting on the stool beside mine.

He smiles at me and holds out his hand. “I’m Tyler.”

“Yana,” I say after a pause, shaking his hand for a millisecond and then focusing back on my food.

I’m hoping that this sends a clear signal to him to fuck right off, but of course he just stays there and keeps talking. “I’ve been observing you. Seems like you need company tonight.”

“That’s not creepy at all.” I frown at him, not bothering to hide my sarcasm. “I’m not interested, sir. Please leave.”

He just chuckles. “Come on, now.” He turns to the bartender and winks. “One more gin and tonic for the lady.”

The bartender hurries to make the order, and that makes me snap at the Tyler dude. “Like I said, I’m not interested. Please leave me alone.”

“Well, you told me your name.” He takes a sip of his beer and sneers at me. “That tells me otherwise. Besides, it’s just an extra drink.”

I’m not dumb. I’ve heard all sorts of stories about girls getting roofied by creepy guys like this, so I don’t dare touch the drink that the bartender pushed to my side. I decide to not say anything anymore either. Maybe silence would be the best repellent for Tyler.

But he just settles comfortably and faces me again, sliding a napkin to my side of the counter. “Give me your number. We should hang out sometime.”

What? My number on a napkin? This isn’t the nineties, for god’s sake.

Again, I don’t anything. I eat more nachos and finish the drink I got earlier. I’m not drunk to the point where I can’t drive, so I just slide off my stool and head to the door.

However, halfway to the parking area, I hear heavy footsteps behind me.

My heart starts to hammer in my throat. I can feel it pumping a lot of blood and heat to my face. I don’t dare turn around in fear of what I can find there, so I just fumble for my keys and start walking faster as I see my car.

But the footsteps behind me start to go faster too.

I’m scared now. I can hear heavy breathing. Tears are filling my eyes for some reason, and I’m starting to trip in my heels.

Thankfully, I reach my car, climbing in as quickly as I can and drive off.

I exhale in relief as the bar’s sign gets smaller and smaller in my rear-view mirror. I wipe my eyes and steady myself, but then I see something else behind me.

Another car, a red pickup, following me.

At first I thought that maybe I’m just making shit up in my head, so I turn a corner randomly to check. The car is still behind me, following that turn smoothly. All my fear comes rushing back. I turn another corner, and the car does the same.

I really am being followed.

I reach for my phone to call the police, but between calling and driving and the rising panic in my chest, I find it hard to dial 911. I step on the accelerator and propel myself forward, heading to a narrow alleyway and hoping to lose the truck in the traffic. However, it just manages to emerge from the onslaught of cars and keep tailing me.

“Fuck,” I curse under my breath. My knuckles are white against the steering wheel. My face is drenched in sweat. All I can think about are the worst possible scenarios to come out of this, but surely I will pull through. . . .

But I didn’t.

I find myself facing a dead-end in a bad neighborhood with no one around.

And the truck pulls up right behind me, making sure I have no room to drive back. The driver turns off his lights. The place is so dark that I can’t make out his figure, but there’s no mistaking the outline of the cowboy hat.

It’s Tyler.

I lock all the doors in my car and shrink against the driver’s seat, scanning my dashboard to look for something I can use to defend myself. Nothing. There’s nothing.

Tyler crouches beside my window and smiles at me. “Hello, Yana.”

Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App

Latest chapter

  • Hired Bride of the Lycan Billionaire   Chapter Seventy

    M I K H A I LThe aftermath of what I can confidently call a war was almost . . . calm. There were no notable ups and downs, but I couldn’t really say there were no hard emotions involved. I guess what I could say about it is that it is subdued. Quiet. Defeated.We are the winners, my family and I. And yet victory is not something that we feel.Because today is the burial of Uncle Amos, and we have to remind ourselves once again that someone we considered our family has betrayed us and died in the process.But of course, we all know that the pain and fresh betrayal and perhaps even guilt that my parents and I are all feeling right now is nothing compared to what Evan is feeling.After Yana and I kissed in the hallway a week ago, I went to see Evan. He was in the morgue, crying over his dead father’s body, which was in the other side of the place being embalmed. We couldn’t see the process, only some views of it through the little window on the door.He turned to me abruptly when I wen

  • Hired Bride of the Lycan Billionaire   Chapter Sixty-Nine

    M I K H A I LI let go of Uncle Amos, only letting the tips of my sharp teeth graze his neck and not letting things get too far.I realize that I may have proven him right by doing that. He called me a coward, and perhaps I really was, because I have the chance to kill him right now and I'm still struggling with the morality of it all even though he never stopped to consider that for me or my family.What am I doing? How can I do this? How do I finish this fight?I hate this. I hate this so much. I hate that I have to do it, I hate that it is the only thing that would keep Uncle Amos from causing more harm. I hate that I’m the one who has to stop him . . . permanently.And most especially, I hate that after everything he’s done to me and everyone I care about and love, I still have some amount of respect and love left for him.Needless to say, I should be as cold as him now. I should be able to take him out without feeling an ounce of remorse. I know everything he did now. He basicall

  • Hired Bride of the Lycan Billionaire   Chapter Sixty-Eight

    Y A N AEvan moves quickly and seizes my wrists with one hand as though binding me, pushing me against the wall. I yelp and gasp, looking at him with my gaze full of questions.He shoots me a meaningful look and I immediately get that this is all for show. He's trying to make it look like he's trying to subdue me.It would make a pretty convincing narrative, I have to admit. It would look like I somehow managed to escape from my bonds and my cell just to wreck the princess up and end up killing her. The story might crack if they realize that I'm just a weak human with no special abilities whatsoever, but at least it would do for now.To add to the credibility of it all, Evan turns to the warriors and says, "I got it under control, everyone."They hesitate, and I can see their eyes flitting from him to me and to the princess, who's clearly gone.The warrior in the front who I assume is the leader steps forward. "What happened here?""She managed to get out of her chains and out of her

  • Hired Bride of the Lycan Billionaire   Chapter Sixty-Seven

    M I K H A I LWithout hesitation, I pull back, clench my fist, and break out of the chains that are binding me to the wall.The needle in my arm breaks, spilling the hissing formula of the wolfsbane potion everywhere, causing it to burn holes in the actual concrete. I step on it, not caring at the small sting that it causes, not caring about anything much at all except for my parents’ safety.Strength is flowing in my body like a lush river, endless and loud and raging. I face Uncle Amos, who is watching me without a clear expression on his face. But when he sees me breaking the bars of the cell with my bare hands, he smiles.“You coming to hurt me, nephew?” he asks tauntingly. “Are you going to kill me? Because I bid you good luck for that.”With that, he rushes towards me with no warning, his fists already clenched. I have to admit that I didn’t anticipate his speed at all or any kind of grace from him, so I don’t manage to parry the punch that he lands against my face.My head sta

  • Hired Bride of the Lycan Billionaire   Chapter Sixty-Six

    Y A N AIt's strange seeing Evan again, even though it's barely been a full day since we last saw him. Even as I stare at him now, I can't believe he's actually here.Evan holds out his hand to me, reaching through the gaps like Sienna did. "Can you reach me?"The answer is, I can. I can definitely reach him and take his hand if I want to. The only problem is that I don't. I don't want to touch him.I don't want to trust him.I remember his father and how he attacked Mikhail like it was nothing, despite Mikhail seeing him as his father. I remember how he almost killed me. Also, I don't know if I'm hallucinating or what, but I do remember him saying that his son was involved in the whole thing somehow.Now, I can't see Evan the way I used to. I know he helped us through it all and even warned us, but I can't shake off the idea what maybe he was involved in everything somehow. Like actively involved.Hell, for all I know, he just set up a trap for us so his father could take me and Mikh

  • Hired Bride of the Lycan Billionaire   Chapter Sixty-Five

    M I K H A I LI have no body.I can’t feel anything physical. The only thing I have now is my consciousness, and even that is waning in and out of focus. One moment, everything is dull and muted, then the next, everything feels sharp. Sometimes too sharp. So sharp that it hurts, even though I have no physical form to experience that pain.I’m surrounded by an endless sea of black. Nothing in the distance, nothing up close. Just a whole lot of nothing. I want to inhale and feel the air in my lungs, but I don’t know how to do that.Slowly, memories of what happened start to come back to me.I remember having a great night with Yana. I remember waking up with her. I remember the peace in my heart knowing that I will be with her like that, safe and warm and loved, but all of that gets shattered the moment I heard Evan calling.And the call was late. They were already there.What I didn’t expect was that the whole thing would be led by Uncle Amos, who I’ve confided in and looked up to. Eve

More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status