All Chapters of 30 Ways To Win A Heart, 30 More To Break It: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The seat beneath me hummed with the steady vibration of the engine, but the only thing I could feel was the blinding, white-hot pain radiating from the left side of my torso.Every shallow breath I dragged into my lungs felt like an ice pick driving into my lungs.I stared at my reflection in the rear view mirror.My face was bruised, blood gathering in my left eye.My chin trembled as I stared at the mess I was. A tear slipped down my cheek, I eased it away, wincing because every movement just sent a flood of pain through me.“Are you okay?” The driver’s voice broke through the suffocating silence, his eyes anxious in the rearview mirror.“Mm…” I hummed. “I’m fine.”“No, you’re not.”“No, I’m not,” I agreed. “But what can I do?”“You can stop tolerating this,” the driver said, his voice firm. “You can put an end to it if you want.”“Why should I? He’s my father.”“No father should do that to his son.”“It’s not like he does it all the time,” I muttered, trying to find any excuse to h

The atmosphere inside the private jet was suffocating, thick with the kind of heavy animosity that could choke a person.It felt like Kayden’s eyes were permanently locked onto me, heavy, dark, and burning with an intensity that felt less like a stare and more like a threat.He looked like he wanted to burn me to the ground just for breathing his air. Keeping my head ducked low, I scurried down the aisle and slid into a seat near the back of the cabin, hoping to make myself invisible.I should have known better. Kayden never let anyone off that easily.With a low, frustrated groan, he dropped into the seat beside me, his broad shoulders crowding my space and making the cabin feel even smaller.I crossed my arms over my chest, offering him a sharp look. “You know you don’t have to sit so close to me, right?”Kayden turned his head, his jaw clenching so hard a muscle twitched in his cheek. “So you force your way onto this trip because you want to be my girlfriend and handler, but you d

“Good news,” the doctor said, closing the medical bag at her feet. “It’s not broken.”The breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding escaped me.“But he’s so heavily bruised that I’m tempted to ask what happened.” Her eyes flicked briefly toward the bedroom. “But because my discretion was requested, I’ll not ask.”I gave her a grateful smile. “Thank you.”“I also want to advise against playing tomorrow.” She smiled back at me. “But Mr. Alvarez doesn’t exactly look like a man who can be reasoned with.”A reluctant smile tugged at my lips.That was one way to put it.“So, in the end, I can only provide the best treatment I can in such a short amount of time and hope for the best outcome.” She picked up the small tube of ointment she’d prescribed and handed it to me. “Make sure he takes the painkillers. And massage his ribs with the ointment every hour.”“Okay.” I nodded. “Got it.”“And make sure he gets enough rest. It’ll help his body heal itself at least.”“Alright.” I nodded again, me

What am I doing here?What am I doing here?What am I doing here?The voice in my head buzzed and buzzed and fucking buzzed.My life was a mess.The only thing I had was money, but even that didn’t matter.I was aching—literally and metaphorically.Why was I moving on this ice?Who was I enduring this pain for?My mother?She was long dead. I was sure her carcass wouldn’t care about what I did with my life.My father and the family he abandoned me for?Just so he could get more money from me.Gabrielle?Perhaps.She said she loved watching me on the ice.But in the same breath, she said she was ashamed of me.What was it about me that caused her to be ashamed?Was it my physical appearance?Was it my nonchalance?Was it the crazy things the tabloids wrote about me on a daily basis?Perhaps it was because I inherited my mother’s broken heart.But that wasn’t my fault.It wasn’t my fault that I was born with a broken heart and a mind that often drove me to the edge.It wasn’t my fault.

Kayden came to a fucking club.So naturally, as both his handler and his supposed girlfriend, I had to come after him.It was literally my job to babysit him, and he was making sure I put in the work.By the time I stepped into the club, I was furious. God, I was so fucking furious that putting it into words would just be a disservice to myself.The music was loud enough to vibrate through my chest, the bass pulsing beneath my feet as bodies moved around me in a blur of expensive clothes, flashing lights, and alcohol. Colored lights swept across the room, illuminating faces for half a second before plunging them back into darkness.I hated everything about this place.But mostly, I hated that I had come looking for one particular idiot, who I spotted almost immediately.Kayden was impossible to miss.He was sprawled across a booth near the back of the club, a bottle in one hand and a woman pressed so close to his side that there was barely enough space between them for air.Another wo