by Sadie Black
Contents
INDEBTED
Catch Up with Part One
Newsletter
Voicemail
Delivery
Pizza & Sex
Absolution
Traffic
The Bachelor
Indebted
Find out how the series ends with Indebted Part...
Want more from Sadie Black?
A Note From Sadie Black
About the Author
INDEBTED
Part Two
The Virgin & The Bad-Boy Billionaire
(A BWWM Romance Serial)
First edition. April 12, 2015.
Copyright © 2015 Sadie Black.
Written by Sadie Black.
The right of Sadie Black to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book was published by Sadie Black. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author.
This work of fiction is intended for mature audiences only. All characters represented within are eighteen years of age or older and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. This work is property of Sadie Black, please do not reproduce illegally.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.
Thank you for supporting the hard work of indie authors.
Please note that this is a work of adult fiction and contains graphic descriptions of sexual activity, graphic language, and violence. It is intended for mature readers aged 18 over only. All characters depicted as engaging in sexual activity in this work of fiction are consenting adults, eighteen years of age or older. Blood relatives never engage in sexual activity of any kind.
This is Part Two of the Indebted series by Sadie Black. To catch up on Part One of Indebted, download or purchase from the Amazon store.
“I’ve earned every single thing that I have in this world, and not on my knees.”
Kendra knows what it's like to watch someone work three jobs and still struggle to pay the rent. She has spent her entire young adult life determined to do better. In a few months, the lifetime of sacrifices will finally be worth it. She will be graduating at the top of her prestigious masters program at Columbia, and finally leave her job at the diner to venture into the world of business. The only thing that could make this moment sweeter would be if her mama was still here to watch her cross that stage and clutch that diploma she's given up everything for.
When Matthew Blackwell, the infamous billionaire bad-boy bachelor, shows up out of the blue in her diner asking for a date, Kendra's world is lurched sideways. With girls lined up around the block to be his "next mistake", Matthew could have almost any woman in New York City, or possibly the world. However, Kendra isn't interested in being his flavor of the week, until he hits her in her soft spot... her ambition. Despite her best attempts to keep her distance, Matthew's stunning good-looks and mischievous flare keep pulling her toward him.
Will she unlock the heart of the unbreakable bad-boy or will Kendra become another victim of Matthew Blackwell's reputation?
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Chapter 1
I can’t stop running the scene in my mind, the gentle touch of Brianna’s hand on Matthew’s. The vulnerability in his eyes as he talked about how he hoped I could forgive him, I’m ashamed that I believed I meant something to him.
My head is aching and my throat is raw from spending the entire night in tears. It doesn’t even surprise me that Matthew betrayed me, if anything it just confirms his reputation, not to mention my stupidity for ever trusting him. What I can’t get over is Brianna’s deceit. We’ve been like sisters since high school, and she throws that all away for some guy? It doesn’t make sense. I know money makes people do crazy things, but does she actually believe that she has a future in his life? She knows his reputation as well as I do, she must see that she’s just another conquest.
Then again, he fooled me. After less than a week of knowing him, I thought he was unique enough that I slept with him. Now I can’t concentrate, I can’t sleep. This isn’t what I need when I’m on the verge of completing my masters. With only a few weeks left until the end of the semester, I need to be sprinting to the finish line, not meandering around with this bullshit.
My unfinished research project sits on my laptop, the cursor still flashing angry Morse code messages at me. Snap out of it! Stay focused! It scolds me. After sitting here for an hour, I’ve only managed to write one paragraph, half of which I’ve deleted for being a garbled mess of words strung together. “This is pointless,” I confide to the nearly empty screen, “I’m never going to get this done today.”
Resigning myself to my unproductivity, I finally turn my phone back on after having shut it off in the cab yesterday. My voice mail is completely full, and my screen starts exploding with text messages from both of them. I don’t have the energy to read any of them right now. I dial my voicemail and start deleting the messages.
“Kendra, you need to let me explain...” Matthew sternly tells my phone. Delete.
“Hi, listen, I think you got the wrong idea...” Brianna starts making excuses. Delete.
“Kendra, you’re being ridiculous. Please call Brianna back, she’s a complete wreck!” Oh gee, I feel so terrible for her. She’s upset that I found out about her sleeping with my guy on the side? Poor girl. Delete.
I guess he wasn’t my guy at all. I mean, we never discussed the status of our relationship, or if we even had a relationship at all. Either way, she still knew that he was off limits to her. That much was clear. When I first met Brianna, we were like twins separated at birth. Not in our appearance, Brianna has always been gorgeous in a way that few women can compete with. However, at thirteen she was just a bud that had not yet bloomed into the rose she is today. She was tall and a bit gangly with slightly knobby knees and small breasts.
I snort when I remember how I met her in the school bathroom, using up all the paper towel to fill her empty training bra. She asked me if I could tell it was stuffed, and I had to laugh. Her shirt looked like it was pulled over two fat donuts, all wide around the sides and flat on across the front. She crinkled loudly every time she moved her arms. When I told her that she might be better off using toilet paper instead, she practically emptied all the stalls.
I knew from the beginning that Brianna had a wild streak, but I’ve watched it billow out into a mushroom cloud of self-destruction over the last few years. She’s always loved the spotlight, the cat calls, the relentless boys trying to convince her that they were worth her time. Once she met Joe I thought she had settled back down.
I’d never seen her get so serious about anyone before, dating him for the last two years of high school, I thought she’d gone back to the conservative girl I once knew. However, after he strung her along and even talked about marrying her, he suddenly up and left her for some college girl. It shattered her heart and thrust her back into her wild ways full force. Whenever I tried to talk to her about any of it, she just shut me down. That’s when she started telling me the same tired line she still says now: life is for fun! You’re only young once!
I’m ready to shut off my phone a
gain, sick of dealing with the endless messages all starting the same way when I hear a different voice.
“Hello, Miss Cole This is Twila Phillips from Bravark Marketing Incorporated. I’m calling to set up an interview, at your convenience, for an opening in our Advertising and Campaigns department. If you could return my call, as soon as possible, at 555-84473 extension 298, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Miss Cole.”
My phone almost drops from my hand. Bravark Marketing is one of the countless companies I sent my resume to after Matthew’s party. I was hoping to capitalize on my meet and greet with the head of so many marketing firms, but never actually expected to hear back from any of them.
I need to call her! Listening to the message again, this time with a pen in hand, I attempt to write down her name and phone number. My racing heart and sweaty palms make me miss a few of the numbers, so I have to listen to it for a third time before I’m confident that I have all the information down right.
Taking a few deep breaths, I try to steady my fingers to dial the number and my stomach squeezes inside me as the phone rings.
“Bravark Marketing Incorporated, we turn ideas into loyal customers, Twila Stewart speaking. How may I help you today?” Wow, that’s a mouthful.
“Hi, this is Kendra Cole. I received a phone call yesterday? In regards to setting up an interview? For the Advertising and Campaigns department?” I know I sound wishy-washy, as if I’m asking her for a favor instead of setting up the first step in my career.
“One moment please.” I’m listening to cheesy ambient music before I have the chance to respond. “Thank you for holding, Miss Cole, I have openings for interviews tomorrow at 2:30 or Thursday at 4:15,” she informs me. So much for an appointment at my convenience.
“Thursday will be fine,” I try to sound confident.
“Very well, I’ve scheduled you in for 4:15 on Thursday April 2nd.”
“Thank you.”
As soon as I hang up I start jumping like an Olympic gymnast on a trampoline. I can’t help it, I’m so excited! I can’t wait to call Brianna... oh, fuck, that’s right. That won’t be happening today. Maybe never. I know from how my heart hurts at just the thought that I could never just cut her out of my life for good, even if she did hurt me. Still, I won’t be getting a hold of her anytime soon.
There’s no time to sit and wallow about that! I have a job interview to get ready for! I plop down in front of my laptop to start researching. Not on my paper that’s nearly due; that’s on the back burner for the time being. Bravark is a fantasy career for me. I’m not leaving this chair until I learn everything that I can in order to make that fantasy my reality.
Chapter 2
My gurgling stomach reminds me for the fifth time in the last half hour that I haven’t eaten anything for nearly a day. There hasn’t been enough time to rummage something up from the cornucopia of left-overs and bottles of pickles littering the fridge when I have a career to plan. Satisfaction washes over me, letting me forget my rumbling tummy for a minute as I look at my neatly compiled portfolio sitting on the edge of my flimsy Ikea desk.
Laid out on my bed is a professional but stylish blazer, a conservative pink blouse and a knee length skirt for my interview. After phoning each of my top three references, and being reassured that they are ready to sing my praises if they get a call from Bravark, I’m starting to feel optimistic about my chances. I’ve just spent an hour looking up tough interview questions and practicing my answers in the mirror. It felt kinda silly, but if it helps me land this job I’ll talk to myself in the mirror every day.
My apartment buzzer lets me know the pizza is finally here. Not a moment too soon, my stomach reminds me with another growl. I hit the buzzer and wait by the door, holding it open with my foot while I look around the apartment for my purse. When I look back to the open door, Matthew is standing on the other side, looking rather angry. Like he has a reason to be the angry one?
Of course, he isn’t just happy with ruining what was the best day of my life, after giving myself to him. Now he has to take the wind out of my sails when I just landed the best job opportunity of my life too? Is there anything that this guy doesn’t want to take from me? Is there any moment that he can’t destroy?
“I’m not interested in what you have to say.”
Every muscle in his clenched jaw is stiff. “Kendra, give me three minutes. If you still don’t want to hear me out, then I’ll gladly leave you alone.”
“I don’t have three minutes for bullshit, Matthew. There are much better things I can do with that time.”
“You know, for such a smart girl, you’re making a really stupid mistake. I never thought you’d be the type to create drama and jump to crazy conclusions.”
I feel my jaw square up as I grit my teeth. “Are you going to stand here and tell me that I didn’t see what I saw? Come on Matthew, I’m not some naive little girl with stars in my eyes. Your games aren’t going to work with me.”
“My games? Kendra, do you make it a habit to make wild assumptions based on conversations you eavesdrop on? You have no idea what you’re talking about. You couldn’t have this more mixed up.”
“Fine, enlighten me.” Opening the door, I step aside, letting him in my tiny apartment. I wonder if he’s ever been in a place so small? He looks so out of place in here, with his designer shirt and Armani shoes. Self-consciousness washes over me when I realize that I’m still wearing the same clothes he saw me in yesterday. The ones I cried myself to sleep in last night. My puffy eyes betray my tough facade.
He stands in my hallway, looking so large and imposing in my modest space. He looks out of place because he doesn’t fit in here, I realize. He doesn’t belong in your apartment, and he doesn’t belong in your life. “Your three minutes are counting down now.”
He finally looks me in the eyes and sighs.
“Look, you don’t have to explain how you got involved with Brianna, I’m happy for you two and hope it all works out.” I know he can hear the bravado in my voice. I can’t even look at him, I don’t want him to see how much he’s crushed me. I won’t give him the satisfaction.
“I already told you that you have it all wrong.”
“Oh do I? What part of you two holding hands and talking about breaking the secret to me am I misunderstanding exactly?” The words drip off my tongue like acid. “You’re right I was eavesdropping and I heard you, Matthew. I heard you tell her that you hope I can forgive you for falling in love with Brianna.”
“Not everything in life is on one side of a hard line or the other,” Matthew growls. “If you heard me say that I’m in love with Brianna then you need to work on your spy skills. I’m not in love with Brianna. I was confiding in her, and she was comforting me.”
“I bet. Well, I hope you’re feeling better. Your three minutes are over. Please leave.”
“Why do you have to be so fucking stubborn!” He searches my ceiling for answers, looking exasperated when he finds none. “The apple doesn’t fall very far, I guess.”
“What are you talking about? What does that even mean?”
My buzzer rings again, “I think you should go, I have things to do.” I walk over and let the pizza guy in.
“Kendra, listen to me. Listen to someone for once. I was talking about falling in love with you. Not with Brianna. Not playing games. Just about falling in love with you.”
I stop breathing.
“I went to talk to Brianna about it because she knows you better than anyone. I didn’t know how to tell you or if you’d even accept it. I didn’t want to scare you away.”
He’s in love with me? I try to remember exactly what I overheard him and Brianna saying yesterday. Does this make sense? Were they talking about him being in love with me? Why was she holding his hand? Didn’t he say he hoped I could forgive him? For what? Loving me? I don’t think so.
There’s a light knock at the door, and we both stare at it without moving. The next knock is louder, and Matth
ew opens it. He takes one glance at the young, haggard looking delivery guy and pulls out his wallet.
“Put your damned money away. I don’t need it! Do you think I’m an idiot? You thought I would buy that? I watched you two cuddled together, and I heard you say that you didn’t know if I’d forgive you. You should’ve worked on your story a bit more before driving all the way over here to bother me.”
“Kendra, I wasn’t cuddled up to her. Brianna held my hand for a minute when I was telling her about my parents. When I said that I hoped she could forgive me, I was talking about my mother.” His voice is like cool steel.
“I, uh, I just need $37 for the pizza. It doesn’t matter to me who pays for it.” The young man tugs at his shirt as he waits awkwardly at my door.
“Just wait a sec, I’m gonna grab my purse.” Matthew takes a fifty out of his wallet and stuffs it in the kid’s hand in exchange for the pizza box.
“Thanks, man.” The kid looks over at me and then back to Matthew sympathetically and gives him a nod, “good luck.”