It was a good thing that I didn’t activate that phone until after leaving Steel’s estate. I wasn’t sure if he could track me by it or what exactly he was capable of doing. Iid awake in his arms all night pretending to be asleep as his words yed over and over in my head. He was nning to kill me.

    All that talk about him being afraid to be yed and he was ying me. He let me getfortable enough to where I didn’t even leave when I had the chance. He asked me to trust him when he didn’t even trust me.

    When his friend asked him if he thought I was in on Brendan stealing from him, he said he didn’t know. That meant there was no telling what would happen to me once he found Brendan. I wasn’t waiting around to find out. Especially after hearing how he’d lost me to Brendan in a fucking bet. Men were disgusting.

    It was dumb as hell to cry over a man who’d kidnapped me and held me hostage for over a month, but there I was wallowing in my own filth and pity in Kelsea’s bed. I’d driven for hours to get back to our old apartment where I abandoned Steel’s car before calling her to pick me up.

    I couldn’t stay at my old ce because I was pretty sure he knew how to find me there. If he didn’t, the fact that he owned part of the club I used to work in likely gave him ess to the files that contained my home address. It was too big of a risk to be there, so I was hiding out with Kelsea while I figured out my next move.

    “What happened, baby girl?” my friend asked, stroking my hair as I sobbed uncontrobly.

    “I was stupid enough to fall in love with him,” I revealed.

    “And then what?”

    “It was all a lie. Everything he made me believe. I should have known a crazy, fine ass, rich man wouldn’t want shit to do with my ass. I’m all fucked up, but I loved him and those kids, Kels. The whole thing is crazy.”

    “You’re not crazy for having feelings, baby. You’re human. You’re a lover so of course you caught feelings. That’s not your fault or your loss. It’s his. Now tell me what happened. Did he put his hands on you? Cause we can ride out.”

    “No, nothing like that. I just heard him saying some foul shit that showed me where I really stood with him. I’m d I found out before things got too deep.”

    “You’ve been lying here crying for the past few hours, Dev. I’m not sure how much deeper it can get.”

    “I didn’t even tell him I was gone. I never nned on leaving. I loved it there, and the kids were so precious. I miss them already. I couldn’t even bring myself to say goodbye to them.”

    “My poor, sweet girl. You can stay here as long as you want to, but I know you like your space. Our lease isn’t up on the apartment yet either.”

    “I know, but I know he can find me there. Thest thing I want is to see him,” I said, attempting to downy how much I feared Steel.

    I couldn’t risk letting him find me, but I wasn’t going to say that. I didn’t need Kelsea worrying about me any more than she already did. I had the majority of the money that he had given me for my first month of work, so I was confident that I could find a new ce to live. There were only a few months left on our old lease. Still, I wasn’t sure if it was smart to go there. I would figure something out. Right now, I just needed a little time to feel sorry for myself.hr

    After a week in the spare bedroom of the house that Kelsea shared with her boyfriend, I felt like I had outstayed my wee. Not that she had said anything. Hell, I barely saw him since he worked all the time and Kelsea seemed to love having me around again. Still, I knew that I was invading their space by living there.

    I didn’t give her a chance to talk me out of leaving because I knew it was what I needed to do to maintain our friendship. Plus, I just needed to get up and do something. I was tired of lying around crying and feeling sorry for myself. If anything, I should have been relieved to get away from the man who’d kidnapped me.

    For some reason, there was a maic force tugging at me to go back to him. I knew that thinking wasn’t rational, so I got up, got dressed, and by dinner time I had a new ce lined up and an interview at the day care a few blocks away. I let the owner know that I was starting sses again in the fall but would be avable to work part time.

    The duplex that I wanted to rent was around the same price as our old ce. Since I had the money to cover the first six months of rent up front, the owner didn’t give a damn that I was currently unemployed. Things were looking up for me, but why didn’t I feel any better?