by T. L Smith
Jesse and Chloe walk off the plane.
Theodora’s eyes go wide, and she turns to me.
“What?” she asks, and then looks back to them. “Why are they here?”
Behind them, when they get off, is an armed guard who has a gun trained on them.
“Did you get me fired?” she asks. “You ruined my life on purpose?”
“No. They ruined your life. Your sister did as well. They just gave me the keys, and I decided to take you for a drive,” I tell her, turning and walking away.
Theadora catches up and follows me. As I walk closer to Jesse and Chloe, they spot Theadora straight away, and Chloe has the cheek to at least look a little guilty, while Jesse eyes her as if she’s his next meal.
“Why are you here?” Theadora asks. They look down, and she screams, “Why are you here?”
I lean in close. “They owe me a lot of money. You were my way in to finding them. Thanks for that,” I tell her.
Her head whips back to me. “I… was your way of finding them? What does that even mean?”
I look to Chloe and smile. “Why don’t you tell her?”
“We cheated in one of his casinos, counted and replaced cards,” Chloe replies.
“Does everyone rob you?” Theadora asks, looking at me in disbelief. “I mean, my sister isn’t very bright, and neither are these two. So how do the dumb ones cheat so much money from you?”
I lean in. “Because they are the only ones dumb enough to try it,” I tell her. “But that isn’t all now, is it, Jesse?”
Jesse looks down in shame.
“Jesse,” I say, and look to Theadora. “Jesse also has a drug problem, and thought that when he took a shipment to transport, he could get away with keeping some for himself. So now Jesse is in a lot of trouble, aren’t you?”
“What about the company?” Theadora looks back to me.
“I fired everyone yesterday.”
Chloe cringes.
Theodora’s head drops.
“Drugs and cheating. Did I really expect anything less?”
“Your sister was the one who actually told me about them. I had no idea who you were until she told me.”
“I was the pawn, stuck in the middle?” Theadora asks.
“Yes.”
“You wanted to use me this whole time?”
“Yes,” I tell her the truth.
“Am I free now?” she asks. “My sister too?”
“Your sister still owes me a lot of money. I was not lying about that.”
“Go after her husband,” she says, turning and walking off. “I’m fucking out. I don’t care. Kill me if you must, but I am out.” She flips me off and walks away.
“She didn’t know?” Chloe asks.
I turn to her scheming face. “No. She didn’t. You just lost the best thing that ever happened to your business.” I watch as she deflates in front of me, then my guards take both of them and lead them away.
“What do you want me to do with them?” Sydney asks, watching as they go.
“Get the papers drawn for them to sign all their assets over to me.” I hand her the form that lists everything I need. “And make sure Jesse understands that he’s lucky to be alive. Show him that.”
Sydney nods and walks away.
I look to where Theadora went and walk the opposite way.
It’s the right thing to do.
Even if black and white are fuzzy right now.
It is the right thing to do.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Theadora
I follow Ruby, it’s all I can think to do right now. I don’t need to go back to my room because I literally brought nothing with me, and I want my phone back.
“It’s nothing, really.” Ruby brushes a hand away from her face as they try to ice it.
“You’ll still be paid, Ruby. They will be paying for this for a very long time.”
Her eyes find mine, and I step forward and clutch her hand.
“We are going home,” I tell her.
She manages to smile, but it doesn’t last long. “You can stay with me until you are better if you want.”
“I have a home.”
“I know, but you need someone to look after you.”
“Sir will provide everything. He doesn’t approve of his girls being hurt,” Sydney says.
“Just me?” I snap at her.
Sydney has enough guilt to actually look away from me.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” I look back at Ruby. “You can stay with me. I will look after you. I have no job now, anyway.”
Sydney starts mumbling and then turns to look at us. She passes me something, and when I see it’s my cell, I almost sigh in relief.
“The plane is ready to escort you home,” Sydney states.
Ruby manages to sit up, clutching at her ribs as she does. I help her stand, as does Sydney.
“Will anyone else be on the plane?” I ask Sydney, who looks up to me as we help Ruby to a wheelchair and start pushing her out.
“No, just you two.”
“Good.” When we walk out, I spot Chloe, her eyes are filled with tears as she kneels with her hands on the ground. I look away, not caring nor wanting to know what else they have gotten themselves into. Their drama and my sister’s drama have fucked with my life, and I have done nothing but try to help the both of them.
As we get to the plane, I turn to help Ruby up and see Atlas standing off on the beach staring at us. My eyes narrow and I contemplate flipping him off, but instead I look away and climb the plane’s stairs, having had enough of everything.
I need to get the fuck off this island.
After two days, Ruby asks to go home. I take her, and we say our goodbyes after exchanging phone numbers. I don’t hear from Atlas or even his sidekick for the first week. I search for jobs and have absolutely no luck. When I check my bank account to see how much I have left to get some food, I drop my phone to the floor.
The balance reads there is over twenty thousand dollars deposited in my account.
I have never had that amount of money in my life. I work, and I pay my bills, then I repeat.
Atlas’s plane was my second ever plane ride, and the first was only due to Chloe not showing up to a meeting, which I had to attend in her place. Otherwise, we would have lost one of our most influential clients.
Calling Atlas’s number, he answers on the first ring.
“You put money in my account?” I practically yell at him through the phone.
“Theadora. Good afternoon. No. I did no such thing. Why would I when you owe me a debt?”
“So, if it wasn’t you…” I hang up, not finishing, and search the transaction. In the receipt area, it reads one name—Nicholas.
I start searching for him. He is easy to find, even without a last name. Bringing up his Instagram profile, I see that he has tagged himself in one of his hotels in my city, so I make a call.
“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.
I blame lack of sleep—that has to be the reason my mind is allowing this to happen.
Because common sense has gone straight out the window, and in its place stands me, a stupid girl who makes crazy decisions regarding good looking bad men.
Atlas Hyde being at the top of my list.
Actually, he’s the only man on that list.
His kisses come in hot and fast while his hands circle and touch everywhere they shouldn’t. But like being caught in the ocean, I can’t seem to catch a breath unless it’s with him, and he is swallowing me whole.
“Theadora.”
“Hmmm…” is all I can manage to get out as he grips my ass cheeks and pushes me back so my ass hits the top of my couch.
“You can’t hate me when I leave,” he says, trailing kisses between my breasts. “I will leave, and you can’t hate me then.”
“I already hate you,” I tell him, my hands touching his hair. “It makes it easier.” My lips touch his, and I feel his smile on them.
Why am I such a sucker for him?
What is so special about Atlas Hyde that I can’t seem to say no?
Yes, he is good looking.
Yes, he makes my body sing every time he touches me.
Yes, when his lips touch me, I feel like I’m on fire, and the only way to put me out is with him. Only him.
“I’m sure it does. Now how the fuck do I get these jeans off?” He pulls at them, and I step back. Getting rid of them, his gaze tracks my movements, and when I look back up at him, I see the bulge that I felt against me.
“We shouldn’t do this,” I say, shaking my head and backing away. My jeans are off, in a pile on the floor, but my hands and my body aren’t touching him now.
The spell is broken.
“Theadora.”
“Oh, we for sure shouldn’t do this,” I say, shaking my head and looking away.
“Theadora, look at me.”
I do. My eyes find him, and when they do, I almost weep at the sight.
“Come here, Theadora.”
My feet start moving toward him like I have no control, and when I reach him, he wastes no time pulling me back to him, and my body feels him. Everywhere. Because he’s completely naked.
“I don’t like you.”
“I’ll stay. I’ll stay after,” he says, reassuring me.
Lips so soft take mine. There’s no hardness in his touch as he places me on the couch and removes my shirt. Atlas’s lips move from mine. His body weight presses down on me. I can feel him between my legs, but he doesn’t move. Instead, he shifts one of his hands between my legs and starts to rub while his lips touch my breast, his tongue circles my nipple, and I have to remember I don’t like this man who’s pushing all the right buttons. When he moves lower with his mouth so he is between my legs, I have to remember that it’s just sex. And that his mouth isn’t sent from the gods, and that he can’t be the only person who can pleasure me in this way. Even if I have never experienced anything like this before with anyone but him.
Does he feel the same about me? Am I different? Or, am I like all the others he’s been with?
Lost in my own head, his mouth touches me between my legs, my hips buck at his warmth. He chuckles but holds my hips in place, and pretty soon, I have completely forgotten about why I hate Atlas, and instead want him to keep moving.
He does so without any encouragement from me, and I enjoy every second of it.
His mouth does this thing to my clit that has my hips bucking, and he has to grip me harder to keep me in place. No man has ever done this to me, and I have never felt this way before.
Everything about Atlas has my heart pounding in my chest, and my body reacting to his touch. Then I start second-guessing and doubting my behavior, when I know my reactions don’t match my constant feelings of loathing for this man.
My hands grip the couch, and soon my body is shaking as an orgasm like I have never had rips through me. With my eyes squeezed shut and my lips glued together, I don’t want my scream to break through.
“You can scream. I like it when you scream.”
I’m too busy riding my own wave to pay Atlas any sort of attention.
My hips are pulled forward, and my eyes spring open as he hovers above me, his cock in hand as he positio
ns himself at my entrance.
When he looks at me with those stormy amber eyes, I think right then I’ve fallen in love. But then I realize it’s just fantastic sex and snap myself right out of that shit.
Before I can second guess myself, I pull him down, and he smirks before he kisses my chin and slowly works his way down to my neck while he slides into me. My breathing halts for a few seconds when he bites my nipple. Once he’s fully seated, I start to move with him, my legs wrapping around his waist and my nails digging hard into his back.
Atlas Hyde fucks me like he does with everything in his life.
With determination, strength, and a passion that is only reserved for things he loves.
Pity I am not one of them.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Theadora
Atlas is asleep, and I am wide awake as he lies next to me on my couch with his arms wrapped around me and our bodies close to one another. We didn’t speak after the fantastic sex, because what is there to say? ‘Thanks for the sex and the mixed feelings you give me, you can leave now.’
Gosh, what have I done?
He moves slightly next to me, and I try to move out of his grip, but he holds me even tighter. Gripping me to him even more as he sleeps.
Atlas is a man who shows next to no emotion. But when you do get a glimpse of those very few other emotions—not the usual anger—you get lost in soaking it all in.
“Atlas,” I say his name, hoping he will wake. I do not plan to lie here, not when all I can think about is what he just did to me and how much I damn well enjoyed it.
His arm that’s wrapped around me has a tattoo of a girl licking a gun. I lift it, but he won’t let me move it.
“I said… I was staying,” he says. “So… I’m staying.”
“I need to move, Atlas. I have to use the bathroom.”
He grumbles something in my hair and lifts his arm reluctantly. Pulling away from him, I stand and head to the bathroom to clean myself up and brush my teeth, then change into an oversized T-shirt before I walk back out. When I do, I find him in the same spot, his eyes are closed, and a soft snoring sound leaves his mouth. I sit on my other couch and tuck my feet under my ass and stare.