Echo (Bleeding Hearts #1)(19)

My voice was flat and totally unconvincing. Nicole collapsed onto a stool as her head fell into her hands. “What have I done?”

“What are you talking about?” I took a seat beside her and rubbed her back. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

She looked at me through bleary eyes and shook her head. “I should have stayed home with you today,” she whispered.

“Nicole, I’m okay, I swear it.” I mustered up a smile for her benefit. “I… I wanted this. It’s like a game. But seriously, I am tired, though. So would you mind if I went to bed?”

“No.” She stood up and grabbed her keys. “You should get some rest. I have errands to run anyway.”



***



I woke to pitch black, and the foreboding sense that something was wrong. When I opened my eyes and saw nothing, it only served to confirm it. I moved my hand to my face in panic when a voice across the room froze me.

“Leave it on,” he said.

Every instinct inside of me told me not to. That I was being stupid earlier when I said I didn’t want to see. Because now, I definitely needed to. To know who this man was. The man that was clearly stalking me.

“I changed my mind.” I reached for the cloth over my eyes.

Before I could remove it, a hand wrapped around my wrist and pulled my arm back into my lap.

“Again,” he said. “Not your decision to make. I agree its better this way.”

“What are you doing in my apartment?” I asked. “My roommate will be home…”

“She’s out with a friend,” he replied.

“How do you know these things about my life?” I croaked.

He pulled me against his chest, smoothing his palm up and down my back as held me close. It was a gesture of comfort, one I really didn’t understand.

“I wanted to check on you,” he said. “To make sure you were alright.”

This time it was regret in his voice, and I wanted to laugh and tell him how ridiculous that was. To pretend he cared about my welfare at all.

“I’m fine.” I pulled away from him, curling my knees into my chest. “So just do what you came here to do.”

He sighed. “That is all I came here to do, Brighton. I was rough with you today. And although I liked the things I did with you very much, I want you to know I would never take things further than that. I’d never really… hurt you.”

Something about the way he said those words, so wracked with emotion, made me believe him. But it changed nothing between us, and I wasn’t dumb enough to think it did. This man was a monster, and I needed to remember that. To remember the reason he was here, in my bedroom, and the pain he had caused my family.

“With that being said,” he continued, the weight of the bed releasing as he stood. “I gave you an order, and you disobeyed me. I will have to punish you for it. There is no leniency in this agreement, and you need to understand that. But I will allow you some time to recover. We’ll meet again on Thursday.”

He leaned down and brushed his lips against my cheek, and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not feel anything. I wanted to stay numb or angry, because that’s what I thought I should feel.

“Until then…”

His footsteps carried him from the room with a soft click of the door behind him. I waited a full minute until I removed the blindfold. There, on the table beside me were two dozen blood-red lotus flowers.





Chapter Eight



“Brighton?”

I glanced up at Nicole, who was staring at my untouched cereal in front of me. I didn’t know how long it had sat there, but it was soggy now.

“Are you okay? You’ve been acting really strange the last few days.”

I snorted, because she was one to talk. Her face had been a little pale the last few days, and after our encounter the other night, she’d hardly said two words to me. It didn’t bother me since my mind was otherwise preoccupied, but I did wonder why our friendship had become so tense.

“I’m okay.” I gave her a weak smile as I stood and scraped the contents of my bowl into the garbage. “I just have some family stuff going on.”

It was a lie, but I was sure she would believe it. She never shared anything too personal, and it worked for us. The last thing I wanted was someone asking questions about my family.

Her cell phone rang, and she frowned before hitting ignore. Something else she’d been doing a lot lately. My curiosity got the best of me as she walked back to the coffee maker, and a quick glance at the name surprised me. Ryland was calling her, and the fact that she chose to ignore him made me wonder if there was something more going on between them. I tried to swallow the sudden bitterness that coated my tongue as I walked to my room.

I didn’t have any claim on him, of course. It was ridiculous for me to feel any jealousy at all. A man of his caliber would most certainly never date a girl like me, and even if he wanted to, I couldn’t. I had my blackmailer to deal with now, and it would be that way for the foreseeable future. I made myself a promise right then that I was going to stop thinking about Ryland Bennett.

Today was Thursday, which meant I had something more important to worry about. Something dark and terrifying waiting for me inside a hotel room. He had promised me punishment, and I didn’t doubt I would be receiving it. But what he planned to dish out, I had no clue.