by Anna Lewis
“She couldn’t say no,” her mother says. “She was so entranced by the lifestyle that they were offering her. She was so happy. She said that she had everything that she ever wanted.”
The affair lasted for six months. The three were inseparable, Schiatti’s mother claims. She rarely saw her daughter.
“They wouldn’t let her,” Mara Schiatti claims. “They wanted her to do the things that they wanted. She made no choices of her own. But she had signed some contract. She had no way out.”
No way, except, it seems, for death. That June, Schiatti took her own life in their townhouse, mixing herself a lethal dose of prescription drugs and vodka. She was twenty-three years old. The two billionaires covered it up, Schiatti’s mother claims. She never heard a word from them. They didn’t even go to the funeral.
“They are just waiting,” she says. “Waiting for their next woman to share.”
UPDATE, 9:55 P.M., 3/10/17:
And so, it seems, she’s right. Earlier this evening, Meisner and Hancock were spotted with another woman, heading into the celebrity hotspot, Club Jag.
Later on, the trio were spotted fleeing the paparazzi into Meisner and Hancock’s shared Madison Avenue townhouse. They have not exited. It is believed that this unknown woman has the same agreement with the two businessmen as Ms. Schiatti did prior to her untimely demise.
My heart was pounding in my chest. I really did not know what this meant for me. Or the guys. I curled up on my bed, feeling sick. I really did not, for one second, believe that it was their fault that Giana died. It was something inside of her. Something that was already broken before she’d met them.
I closed my eyes. It seemed that there was nothing for me to do. Nothing but wait, until things died down. Tyler and Jared would handle this—they could fix this. The three of us were not broken, after all.
***
I woke up the next morning, still dressed in the sparkly silver dress. I stretched groggily, and made my way to the bathroom, where I shed the silver cloth like a second skin. I showered, and then dressed in a pair of black yoga pants and a pink cami. I pulled my hair back into a high ponytail on top of my head. I walked downstairs for breakfast.
When I opened the door to the kitchen, I found a blonde woman, sitting at the table. I frowned. She had on a pair of thick, black-framed glasses. Her hair was pulled back into a severe bun on the top of her head. She wore a gray suit with a form-fitting pencil skirt. She wore natural-looking makeup. She could have been a model. She stared at me, her face completely blank.
“Where’s Albert?” I asked. “And Jared and Tyler?” She sighed heavily and gestured toward the chair across from her.
“Have a seat, Miss Jones,” she said.
“Alright…” I said, unsure of what was going on.
“I’m Hallie Stern,” she began, her voice almost monotone. “I’m the publicist for Mr. Meisner and Mr. Hancock’s company. I represent their image. Currently, it does not look good. Ergo, I must fix things so that it does. So that it looks squeaky clean.”
“Okay…” I squinted a little as I tried to get where she was going with this. What did this woman expect of me? And how much did she know about my relationship with Jared and Tyler. With a sinking feeling, I realized that she probably knew everything.
“Right now, it appears that Mr. Meisner and Mr. Hancock lure women into lascivious three-way relationships, and then, ultimately, to their deaths,” she said.
“I don’t think that’s the case.”
“Well, that’s not what the public thinks.”
“They don’t matter.” I shrugged.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Miss Jones,” she replied smoothly. “The public does matter. Image matters.” She arched one of her perfectly-plucked eyebrows as she parked an elbow on the table. She placed her chin in her hand, studying me closely.
“So, what do you need me to do?” I shrugged. She paused, sighed heavily again. She pulled out a document from a folder on the table.
“I have a contract here,” she said, placing a small stack of papers on the table and sliding it toward me. “It details all of the support that Mr. Hancock and Mr. Meisner will give you in order to begin your life anew.”
“What?” It felt like she’d just slapped me.
“They will pay for your housing, your essentials, travel costs, and any necessary schooling that it will take for you to get your life restarted. Anywhere that you want,” she said. “Anywhere but New York.”
“Excuse me?” I folded my arms across my chest.
“We need you to leave,” she said, finally being blunt.
“This is what they want?”
“This is what they need.”
“Wait. Let me talk to them.”
“You are not to have any contact with either Mr. Meisner or Mr. Hancock henceforth.”
“You’re joking.”
“No, Miss Jones. You will find that I am quite serious.” She shot me a look that was essentially a throw down. This woman was not to be toyed with. I wasn’t having it, though.
“I want them to tell me,” I demanded. “If this is what they really want, then they can tell me. To my face.”
“That won’t happen,” Hallie Stern replied. “They have left the city for a few days. While I get things to cool down. Once I’ve done some damage control, they will return in order to do the talk show circuit, and then they will tell the public that this is not at all true. Which means, that they can’t be lying. Which means, Miss Jones, that you can no longer be here.”
“Oh, so you’re the trash lady, huh?”
“If you wish to use that particular euphemism, sure.” She slid the paper over to me. I was fighting back tears. I didn’t want to cry in front of this woman. She seemed barely human. As hard as I tried, a hot tear slipped down my cheek. I stood up from the table, fleeing up the stairs to my room. I flung myself down on top of my rumpled comforters. I sobbed, my chest heaving. I heard the click of her heels on the steps, down the hall. I turned over, sniffling, to find her standing at the door, her arms crossed over her chest.
“This happens all of the time, Miss Jones,” she said. “Men move on, and women leave.” She threw the contract down on the bed. “Sign your name on the line, and then you can go anywhere you like, and do anything that you want.” I sniffled, sitting up. I picked up the contract.
As I stared at it, unseeing, I began to think. They wouldn’t have left this woman unless they really wanted to get rid of me. Otherwise, they would be here. With me. Might as well, I thought. My heart hurt as I began to read the terms and conditions of my immediate removal.
***
I got off of the bus in the Village. In my hand, I had a suitcase full of clothes from the walk-in closet at the townhouse. I would leave them with Jacki. I couldn’t take anything with me. I didn’t want any more than I already had. I now had half a million dollars, wired into my bank account. I could go anywhere. Be anyone. So long as I left New York City. But…not yet. I walked down my street, heading for the apartment that I shared with Jacki. I needed a friend at that moment. Hallie Stern had agreed to let me go home for the night at least.
I ran up the stone steps to the front door of our building, walking quickly down the mildew-smelling green carpet in the hallway to our front door. I had to knock, since the sub-letter had my keys.
Jacki opened the door. She was wearing a light pink shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants. She said nothing, just threw her arms around me. I had let her know via text that I was on my way. And why. I sobbed into her shoulder. We stood like that for a while.
“Come on,” Jacki said gently. “Let’s go inside.”
“They chose their reputations over me,” I said, sitting down on our ugly floral couch.
“Oh, Honey,” she said. She sighed. “I shouldn’t have told you to go.”
“No, it’s not your fault,” I said.
“I didn’t think you’d get hurt.”
“I didn’t think I woul
d, either,” I replied. “But they were so wonderful. Both of them.” She looked at me and smiled.
“Well,” she said. “You got to have a little bit of a Cinderella story. Not many people get to have even that.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “That’s enough for me.”
“What’s next?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “As per the agreement, I have to leave New York City.”
“No!” she gasped.
“Yeah. They made me sign a contact,” I explained. “They give me money to go start over somewhere new.”
“You can’t leave!”
“I have to.”
We hugged.
“At least stay here overnight,” she insisted. “We have to give you a proper sendoff.”
“Okay.” I nodded. I knew what that meant. We were going to have a proper Girls’ Night In.
Jacki and I spent the night watching rom coms and drinking two-buck chuck. We ordered real New York pizza, and got a side of French fries for good measure. The next morning, I took my suitcase, which was packed with my own clothes, not the ones from the townhouse, and left the apartment. I walked over to the curb, watching for a cab. I was headed to New Jersey. I was going to stay with my parents while I applied to colleges. I was going to get a fresh start.
As I watched for a cab, I heard a car horn. I looked the other way. There was a black town car idling down the street. Jared and Tyler were standing beside it. I frowned. What could they possibly want? I mean, they were the ones forcing me out of my hometown. I sighed and walked toward them, wheeling my suitcase along behind me.
“What? You couldn’t just kick me out of New York?” I snapped. “Now you wanna help me or something? Get me on my way faster?”
“No,” Jared said. “We came to get you.”
“What?”
“We want you to come back,” Tyler replied. “We never should have let you go.”
“How could you do that to me?” I felt tears threatening. “You had your trash lady wait for me to wake up, so she could kick me out.”
“We are so sorry,” Tyler said, his voice husky with emotion. “We will spend forever making it up to you.” I looked deep into his eyes, and I could see that he meant it. A tear slid down my cheek. He reached up, wiping it away with his thumb.
“Please come back,” Jared said softly. Jared never said anything softly. He was the rough one—Tyler was the one with the soft edges. Now I began to cry in earnest. I had been up half of the night, hoping for a moment like this one. It was, like everything else associated with Jared Meisner and Tyler Hancock, too good to be true. I shook my head, sniffling.
They both misunderstood the gesture, looking like they had been slapped, their faces falling. Tyler looked down at his feet, and Jared looked pained.
“Of course I’ll come back,” I said. They both looked at me. I sobbed, launching myself at both of them. They both pulled me into a hug. We stood there; I don’t know how long.
“We should get a room,” Jared whispered into my ear. “People may talk.” I looked at him sharply. He grinned wickedly. Tyler laughed.
Epilogue
We made it back to the town house on Madison Avenue. It was silent inside, populated by nothing but the sunlight, streaming in through the large windows. I glanced around, expecting Albert to come and greet us. I glanced at the guys.
“We gave Albert the day off,” Tyler explained to me. His hand was at my waist.
“That was awfully presumptuous on your part,” I said darkly. “What if I said no?”
“Not presumptuous,” Jared replied, taking my hands in his. “Hopeful. We were hopeful.” I smiled at him. He pulled me into an embrace. I kissed him passionately. I then turned to Tyler, kissing him with equivalent fire.
Jared pulled my shirt up and over my head. Tyler spun me around, sliding my pants down over my hips. I lifted his shirt over his head, then began to undo the fly of his pants. Meanwhile, Jared began to guide me toward the living room off to the side of the foyer. They pushed me toward the couch gently. I landed softly, wearing only my bra and panties. I watched, a grin on my face as they removed their clothes.
They sat down on either side of me, their hands running over my skin. Jared kissed the column of my throat, while Tyler kissed my shoulder blade. I closed my eyes, just letting myself enjoy the moment. I had thought that this was over. The major changes that had happened in less than an hour were overwhelming. I had gone from mourning the loss of something that I now had back.
Tyler unsnapped my bra, and I pulled it off with wild abandon, throwing it on the carpet. Jared removed my panties. I was already wet in anticipation. Tyler’s hand was on the flat of my stomach, while Jared ran his finger over the slit of my vagina, teasing me. He looked at me.
“What do you want?” he asked me, his voice smooth.
“Both of you,” I demanded.
“At the same time?” he asked, and I could feel Tyler smile against my neck. He nuzzled me with his nose.
“At the same time,” I replied, nodding emphatically. Jared grinned as Tyler pulled me toward him. He parted my cheeks, entering me from behind. Jared spread my legs, entering me from the front. I wrapped my legs around his torso, throwing my head back over Tyler’s shoulder. Tyler kissed me on the cheek as Jared cupped my breasts in his hands. I felt, in that moment, completed. They began to move, reaching a shared rhythm. I moaned, feeling Tyler’s breath against my neck. I opened my eyes to find Jared watching me with a smile.
“Come for us, sweetheart,” he said, rolling my clitoris between his thumb and forefinger. The sensation caused me to writhe with pleasure.
“Please do,” Tyler murmured against my neck. I laughed as I panted. My skin felt electric as the endorphins surged through me. I felt my orgasm building in the core of my stomach. Jared began to move his hips faster as he teased my clitoris. I began to cry out. They continued to make love to me, their combined rhythm reaching a frenzied pitch. I couldn’t hold out any longer as I began to fall apart at the seams, the muscles of my vagina spasming around Jared’s penis. I cried out, arching my back against Tyler. He held me tightly, his arms wrapped about my waist like iron bands. Jared moaned, burying his face against my neck. Tyler cried out against my shoulder blade.
We lay there, all of us entwined, connected. It was a perfect moment, one that I wished I could keep, encapsulated. One that I could return to at will. Again, I couldn’t believe how lucky I was.
“We’re so lucky,” Tyler said.
“We are,” Jared agreed. “How did we get so lucky?”
“How did I?” I asked, leaning back against Tyler as my breathing began to slow. Jared leaned in, kissing me on the lips. Tyler buried his face into my hair. “What are we going to do?”
“Do about what?” Jared asked, frowning.
“The admiring public,” I said mockingly, laughing bitterly. There would always be people to judge this. To judge us. Jared cupped my chin in his hand and looked me confidently in the eyes.
“Forget them,” he replied. “We’ll go somewhere. Somewhere far away. We can run the company remotely, and we can live out our lives in peace.”
“Where will we go?” I asked, my heart feeling full.
“Somewhere tropical,” Jared said, glancing to the side as he considered it.
“Definitely tropical,” Tyler agreed. I laughed.
“What?” Jared asked, feigning being wounded.
“Typical billionaires,” I said. “Run away from all of your problems to a tropical island.”
“Oooh,” Jared said, and looked over at Tyler. “Let’s buy our own island.”
“Yes,” Tyler agreed. “I’ll contact a real estate broker in the morning.” I realized that they were serious. For them, it really was as simple as that—just deciding that they wanted something. They could make it happen with a few phone calls to strategic people.
“I want to choose,” I said.
“Really?” Jared cocked an eyebrow.
I nodded. I wanted to be as involved as possible. I sniffed.
“I also think that I want to go to college,” I said.
“Okay,” Tyler said. “That sounds good. What do you want to study?”
“Business,” I replied. “I want to help you guys.” They both looked at each other and smiled.
“Perfect,” Jared said, instantly all business. “We can get you started as an intern of some kind, and then you can work your way up as you get your degree.”
“What about the private island?” I asked.
“One thing at a time,” Tyler replied. “We want you to be happy.”
“Also, if you work at our company with us…” Jared began. “That would be fantastic. We could have you as a partner at the firm within a few years. We could go to our private island when things get heated.”
“That sounds perfect,” I said. I felt completed. They both wrapped their arms around me, both of them touching their foreheads to my cheeks. We were at the beginning again, about to walk through life together, the two of them holding my hands. The world stood at our feet. We would be able to take it on. I closed my eyes, feeling the beat of my own heart. It beat for them. Both of them.
THE END
= Bonus Book 16 of 20 =
Claimed by Dragons
Scarlett had seen plenty of things over the past twenty-five years of her life and most of it didn't thrill her like it probably should have. After all, she lived in England. You couldn't walk twenty feet without tripping over something that had been built hundreds of years ago, even thousands of years, for example. What did surprise her was the fact that there was a man across the pub where she was enjoying her Friday night post-work beer who was very clearly staring at her. Scarlett liked to think she was pretty enough to attract men but she had had rotten luck with it ever since she was fifteen and started caring about them. Scarlett definitely didn't mind being looked at but she wasn't the only girl at the bar and there was no guarantee that it was her the man was looking at. That was until the bartender came over with a fresh drink (and Scarlett's favourite, at that) and told her it was from the gentlemen in the corner. Scarlett blushed as red as her name and tried not to look at him. But she couldn't help it.