The Arrangement Anthology (36 page)

When I walk outside, I see Gabe smoking at the edge of the sidewalk. I shift around people, cut through the crowds on the sidewalk, and make my way over to him.

Gabe shakes his head. “Did you get thrown out?”

“Nope. I think I did good. I wanted to tell you that I’m done for the night. I’m going to hang out in the city for a while. I’ll check in tomorrow. Have a good night.” I’m smiling too much. I can’t wait to see Sean.

Before I turn to walk away, Gabe nods. His voice follows after me. “You want me to drop you off?”

I turn back. “No, that’s okay.”

Gabe stands and takes a long pull on the cigarette before putting it out. As he walks over to me, he lets out the smoke. “I know where you’re going. Let me drive you so you don’t get mugged on the way there. You can’t go in the subway looking like that.” Gabe shakes his head, like I have no brains.

I’m not dumb enough to deny anything. “Will you tell her?”

“Only if I’m asked, Miss Stanz, and since I already know you’re screwing Mr. Ferro, I think it’s safer if I drive you to his hotel.”

“I’m not screwing him!”

He gives me a look. “Call it what you want, but it’ll get you fired. Wait here. I’ll get the limo.”

Gabe returns to the curb with the car moments later, and then drives me a few blocks to Sean’s hotel. I’m early and really excited. I thought I’d be creeped out and covered in sweat. Instead, I feel pretty good.

Before we pull up, Gabe says, “Something’s wrong with him, you know. More so than with other guys. Ferro did something.”

I lean forward. “What are you talking about?”

Gabe is in line to get to the drop-off. He pulls the car up. We’re next. “It was in the papers a few years back. Plus the guy is
off
. Don’t trust him. I know you do, I can see it on your face, but you’re not an old guy like me. I see what he is. I wish you’d stop this. The guy you were just with is safer than Ferro.”

“What are you talking about? What did Sean do?” I finish my question just as we pull up. The hotel worker opens the door. I hesitate. I want to hear what Gabe has to say, but he’s silent.

I step out of the car and watch him pull away. The floor of my stomach twists and the skin on my neck prickles. I look up at the building. The windows are lit all the way up to the penthouse. I go inside and try to shake off the bad vibe that’s crawling over my skin.

The elevator carries me up and I’m on Sean’s floor. Smiling, I walk towards his room just as the door opens. I stop in my tracks when I see who steps out. I hear her voice, and see her, but I can’t believe it. Part of my brain keeps telling me that she wouldn’t do that to me, but there she is. A million emotions collide until I can’t think.

Mel. It’s Mel. She said she was working tonight. She’s the only other girl at Black’s that will do the things Sean wants. She mentioned a sick guy a few weeks ago. Now I know who she meant.

Sean stands in the doorway with his shirt unbuttoned, holding the door open. His dark hair is tousled and his cheeks are rosy. Images of him and Mel together flash through my mind. I want to scream. I want to walk over there and shriek at both of them, but I don’t move. I’m frozen.

I wish I could rewind and start over. I wish I never met him. In a matter of seconds, I’ve lost my best friend and Sean. It’s as if he feels my eyes on his face. Sean slowly looks up and freezes. Our eyes lock. His lips part and everything seems to happen in slow motion. Mel turns and has the same horrified expression on her face.

Before either of them says anything, I step towards Mel. “How could you!” My hand flies and I slap her in the face. My palm stings as she closes her eyes and takes the hit. Mel doesn’t move.

I glance at Sean, but I can’t even speak. My fists clench and unclench at my sides. I breathe too hard and feel my throat tighten. Tears sting my eyes as betrayal snakes its way into my heart.

I turn on my heel and run.

COMING SOON:

THE ARRANGEMENT VOL 6

*****

THE ARRANGEMENT SERIES

This story unfolds over the course of multiple short novels. Each one follows the continuing story of Avery Stanz and Sean Ferro.

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MORE ROMANCE BOOKS BY H.M. WARD

DAMAGED (A Novel)

SCANDALOUS

SCANDALOUS 2

SECRETS

THE SECRET LIFE OF TRYSTAN SCOTT

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The Arrangement

Vol. 6

H.M. Ward

www.SexyAwesomeBooks.com

Laree Bailey Press

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2013 by H.M. Ward

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form.

Laree Bailey Press

First Edition: April 2013

THE ARRANGEMENT

Vol
. 6

A note for e-readers:

This volume is 121 pages in the print edition (trade paperback). Please be advised that the number of pages may appear to vary based on your e-reader, making this volume appear to have more or less pages due to the size of your screen.

CHAPTER 1

Heart pounding, I press the button for the elevator a million times, but the doors don’t open. My body is surging with too many emotions. It feels like I’m going to fall to pieces. I hear them behind me. Sean’s voice rings out in my ears, but I don’t want to listen. Nothing they say will fix this. I feel like there’s an axe in my chest and I’m bleeding out. The sense of betrayal is strangling me and muddying my thoughts.

I don’t wait. I run toward the end of the hallway and shove through the door. I’m in the stairwell.
Before I know it, I’m running down the stairs as quickly as possible. Just as I fly down the first set of steps, the door bangs open. Sean is standing there, shirt open, and breathing hard.

I stop. Time freezes and I wish to God that we never met. His
eyes lock with mine. His lips part like he’s going to say something, but I don’t want to hear it. I’m done. No, it’s past that. I can’t bear this. I can’t take the lot I’ve been handed. It’s strangling the life out of me. As it is, I can barely breathe. The moment shatters when I look away. I’m running, heart pounding, flying down the stairs. My hand grips the railing hard as my body whirls around when I reach the landing. My heels are slowing me down.

Sean’s voice rings out behind me. “Avery, wait!”
But I don’t stop.

Footfalls follow c
lose behind me growing louder and louder. There’s no going back, not after this. Mind racing, I try to decide what to do, where to go. They both know the places I run to when I’m shaken, when life has brought me to my knees. My heel catches the edge of a step wrong and I stumble forward. My arms flail in front of me and I catch my balance.

“Damn it, Avery! Stop!” Sean is closer, so much closer. If he t
ouches me, I’ll scream. Emotions are building inside of me and the only thing that keeps me from shattering is that he isn’t touching me. He can’t touch me. I can’t stop.

The balls of my feet smack each step, barely touching it as I fly down another flight. I’m huffing. Hysteria is closing in around me. I feel it slick over my skin like a sn
ake. I can’t choke it back down. I can’t banish it. Sean calls out again, but I don’t stop.

Just as I’m about to round
another landing, there’s a loud crash behind me. Sean stumbles forward after jumping from the stairs above. He curses as he lands and his knee buckles, knocking him toward me. The momentum sweeps us into the wall.

“You have the shittiest timing,
” he huffs. Sean’s body is crushing me into the wall. He takes a deep breath and straightens, but leaves me trapped between his body and the wall. A hand rests on either side of my head. He leans into me. “It’s not what it looks like.”

I don’t want to h
ear it. “I know what I saw.”

I try to twist away from him. My heart is slamming into my ribs and my brain is telling me that
it’s going to break if I stay here.
He can’t touch me. I have to leave. I have to.
Frantic, I try to twist away from him and duck under his arm, but Sean’s hand juts out and grabs my wrist.

“Let me go,” I growl. My voice is so low. I’m going to snap. I feel
my mental rope—the one that holds me together—coming apart string by string.

Sean
leans in close to my face. “No. You’re wrong and if I let you go, I’ll never see you again. Walk up the stairs, Avery.”

I shake my head and try to pull away. “
Go fuck the rest of my friends, and leave me alone.”

“Avery.” There’s a warning tone in his voice, but I don’t care.

I dig my nails into his arm and try to pry my wrist away. “I said leave me alone!” I scream the words in his face. They echo through the stairwell. The vibrations bounce back at us.

As I speak
, I twist and fall to the floor. Sean can’t hold me. My wrist comes free. I jump up and just as I start to run, he grabs me by the waist. I scream as I’m whirled around and hurled over his shoulder. My dress gets hiked up insanely high. Sean holds onto my legs at my thigh and tightens his grip. I kick and slam my fists into his back, but he doesn’t let go. Sean turns and starts back up the stairs. The movement makes me stop flailing. I hold onto him, afraid of falling over the edge of the railing and down the center of the staircase.

He can tell I’m afraid.
“You should have walked back up the stairs.” That’s all he says before his walk turns into a run. I bounce on his shoulder and cling to him like I’m going to die. A terrified scream rips from my throat. Sean finally hits the top landing and pushes back through the door. We’re in the hallway and headed toward his room.

Mel’s voice rings out as we approach
. “Awh, shit. She’s going to kill you when you put her down. You know that, right?”

Sean moves fast. He shoves past Mel and we’re in his room. I hear the door close behind me. Mel leans against it and shakes her head before turning away. I want to scream at her, but
just as I start to talk, I’m jostled. Sean’s hands are around my waist. He lifts me from his shoulder, and tosses me on the bed. I yelp as I fall through the air and land on the mattress.

I dart upri
ght, but before I can move Sean jumps on top of me, pinning me down. His face is too close to mine. His touch burns like acid. I writhe and try to break free, but I can’t. I kick and scream. Sean watches me with those irritating blue eyes.

How could he be so cold? How the fuck could
he do this to me, then drag me back here like it doesn’t matter?

Sean’s looking down at me. I can feel his eyes on the side of my face.
“I’ll let you go, but you have to look around first. Look at the room, Avery.” Sean’s voice softens.

He watches me
, but I don’t want to look. I stare at him defiantly. Anger is consuming me. Every muscle in my body is corded tight, ready to snap. My vision flickers at the edges and spots of red burst behind my eyes like fireworks. I’m so angry that I’m shaking.

My mind keeps replaying the past few weeks. They streak by like a
movie that’s playing too fast. I see Sean’s face on the day I met him, that smile, then the kite hitting his head, and I remember the feeling of his lips on my body, and it’s too much. I can’t take it. Every thought, every memory is toxic. It’s killing me. The urge to run shoots through me again. I lean forward like I’m going to say something and spit in his face.

Sean takes a deep
breath and lets it out slowly. He wipes my saliva away with the back of his hand. “I deserved that, but not for this.” His hands slip into my hair on either side of my face. He tilts my chin up and meets my gaze. “Please, look around.” The way he says it is so frail, like he’s given up.

I
t rips through me, but I can’t calm down. When his hands fall away and he stands up, I jump off the bed and run straight at him like a crazy person. My fists bang into his chest and I’m screaming. Words fly out of my mouth and I don’t even know what I’m saying. They tangle with tears and all logic is lost. I can’t think. I wish to God that I couldn’t feel. “I didn’t want this! This wasn’t supposed to be my fucking life! And you and your goddamn demons! I have my own! I can’t live like this! I can’t!

“
I’m falling apart. It’s killing me. I’m drowning and there’s no way to stop it. When I fall asleep at night, I feel the water around my neck, cold like a metal noose. Every night the noose grows tighter and tighter. I wish I never met you! I’m not falling for your screwed-up shit anymore. I don’t care how you feel. I don’t care what I see!”

When I turn away from, Sean I’m shaking. There’s a tremor that runs down my spine. It swallows me whole. My face
is damp with cold sweat. I close my eyes hard and try to focus my blurring vision as I move across the room. I’m leaving. They can’t stop me.

Sean says nothing. He watches me step toward the door without a word.

But Mel is there. She moves in front of the only way out, blocking it. She folds her arms over her chest and she shakes her head. “You are
not
leaving until you turn around.”

“Get
out of the way.” My jaw locks and my eyes narrow. My fists tighten at my sides. Her eyes drop to my hands before returning to my face.

“Do you plan on punching the shit out of everyone who cares about you?”

“You don’t care about me.”

She throws her head back and laughs. “You’re such a wreck that you can’t tell your ass from your elbow right now. The man asked you to look at the room and you can’t even do that. Your brain left your body the minute you stepped out of that elevator. Or was it earlier when you were fucking Henry Thomas? Maybe you left your b
rain with him?”

My jaw drops. It hangs open
, but I don’t breathe. I thought she was my friend. I thought Mel cared about me, but she doesn’t. Betrayal winds its way up my throat and chokes me. I want to punch her. I want to scream at her, but I can’t say anything. Then, when she brings up Henry, it’s like a verbal bitch-slap.

“You were with Thomas?” Sean’s voice is behind me.

I don’t turn. I don’t answer. I stare at Mel like she’s a traitor.

Mel’s tiger eyes bore into me. “You can think whatever the
hell you want about me and you’re right. I’m a slut. I’ll do whatever I have to do to survive, but there is no way I’d betray you. Open your goddamn eyes, Avery, and look around.

“
Look at me. Do I look like I’ve been working? Is my hair all messed up like yours? Am I covered in sweat? Is my dress wrinkled? Does the room like we had sex?” I stare at her. My eyes flick over her dress and her hair. She looks pristine. It still doesn’t mean anything. They could have showered. She could have hung her dress.

Mel unfolds her arms and
steps toward me so we’re nose to nose. She knows I don’t believe her. “Turn around.” She pushes my shoulder and I turn about half way. I can see the room out of the corner of my eye. My pulse is pounding in my ears like a distant drum.

Papers. There are papers everywhere. There’s an open briefcase on the desk by the window.
Pens and papers are all over the table. There’s a pizza box with a few half-eaten slices on the floor in front of the television. The flat screen is flickering. An old movie is playing. The bed is made and the only place that’s rumpled is where Sean put me a few minutes ago. My eyes sweep the room, taking it in.

“No,” I say. “I know what I saw. I know what you do, what he wants. So
, Sean was working before you came—”

Mel stands next to me and cuts me off. “
Cut the crap, Avery. You know the truth. You see it. Nothing happened here. If it did, you know that man wouldn’t be thinking a logical thought for the rest of the night. Besides, I still smell like a spring daisy.” Mel lifts her arm and shoves her armpit in my face. “Sniff.”

I swat at her and step away. “Stop it, Mel.” I don’t want to believe her, but I smell her deodorant
and her perfume is still there. It’s not mingled with sweat. She didn’t shower. I finally see it, and the thought sinks in slowly.

Nothing happened here.

My mind knows, but my heart is stuck. I can’t let it go. I don’t know what to do. I stand there, staring. I don’t look at Sean. I know what he looks like. I know how good he smells. His scent hit me hard in the stairwell. I know his after-sex scent and that’s not it. My eyes move across the room, searching for any indication of sexual activity, but there isn’t anything. It looks like Sean’s been working and Mel’s been eating.

Mel leans against the wall and folds her arms across her chest again. She glances at Sean and then back at me. “Avery?” I don’t answer. “Say something.”

I feel like I’ve been sucked into the center of a maze. I can’t find my way out. Exhaustion, fear, and humiliation are all vying to dominate me. It’s like having cymbals banging into the sides of my head over and over again. I’m ready to collapse. Every ounce of energy I had is gone.

Swallowing hard, I turn to her
and pick at the only bone I can find. There’s too much emotion and no release. I can’t deflate. I need to fight. “You should have told me. Black gave you his information days ago. You should have said something to me!”

For the first time, Mel looks awkward. “I wanted to, but I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t tell Black no and—”

My pointer finger is in her face. “You still should have told me. I can’t take this, Mel. I can’t. I don’t know how you do it, but I can’t.” I shut my mouth and shake my head. I can’t talk to her. I can’t face Sean. It’s too much.

“I have to go.” My emotions are fried. I don’t trust myself anymore, and I can’t do this. I’m out the door before they can say another word
, and this time no one follows me.