“I’m not a whore. You bastard!” I look up, meeting his harsh eyes.

“No? Then what are you?” he questions.

“I’m a business woman. A very good one.” My temper was quickly elevating.

“Yes you are a very good one. The best Lucia. You suck cock like no one else.” His hand grabs ahold of my chin painfully hard. I cry out from the pain he is inflicting on me.

“Camden has been researching over a year for a marketing firm for us. What I want to know is, why you? Why would he want a fraud like this company? And with you, a slut, for its marketing director?” He laughs.

“Leave. I don’t need you or your business,” I say through gritted teeth. This is the first time in the last decade anyone has made me feel like a whore and I’m not stopping him. I’m letting him continue his verbal assault on me. I’m disgusted with myself. I want to go home and scrub my body raw, to erase Heath from my memory. This man is not the man I spent those wonderful moments with in Georgia. He is a gross, disgusting person, who gets his kicks by beating other people down. No wonder he couldn’t find a woman for the weekend. I smile on the inside. I don’t want him to know that I am finding this amusing in any way.

“But you needed my cock, didn’t you? Perhaps you need it again.” Keeping his hold firmly on my face, he moves his other hand down to cup my center, fondling me through my clothes. His touch instantly taints the memories of my weekend with his filth, and then shame, as he moves his fingers up and down my folds, pushing my panties up inside of me. I feel sick.

“I’m going to find out whatever it is you’re hiding and when I do, trust me, I’m going to destroy you.” With that, he lets me go, staring down at me with even more disgust than before.

Fuck him. He isn’t any better than I am. I bend down and yank the chain off of my ankle. It’s difficult to break at first. I tug until it releases. As soon as I feel it break free, I clutch it in my hand, before heaving it at him, hitting him in the chest.

“Fuck you. You lowlife son of a bitch, don’t you ever touch me again. Now get out.” I feel like I’m on repeat with these men, only this time I mean what I’m saying. I want this scum gone from my life. I need to rid my body and my mind of him. He bends at his waist, picking up the anklet, tossing it in the air with a cocky smirk on his face. He circles in the opposite direction of my door, dropping the bracelet in the garbage can on the side of my desk. The clink of the gold, along with all those stunning diamonds has me closing my eyes. No more words are exchanged as he leaves me trembling and wondering if both he and Camden are not the ones who are playing me. And if they are, what the hell do they want?

***

“Twice in one week? Only this time I’m seeing your… What the hell happened?” Lola screeches. I skyped her the moment I walked through the door into my home. The minute Heath left, I called Mitch and Leo into my office, filling Leo in on everything. He made a few wise ass remarks about my escorting that had me laughing, until I told them both about Heath threatening me. The three of us agreed we do not need their business. However, we still need to tread lightly, even with Camden. I tried to explain to both of them I trust Camden; that this is not only my life, but theirs as well and I will not let it go to hell. They both have been faithful, loyal friends for years – I will not do anything to betray them. Then, I called Colin, giving him the night off after Leo demanded he was driving me home.

And now, here I am, crying out of control at the mess my life has become.

“Luca, what happened?” I drop my head with a heavy sigh, trying to regain my composure.

“Lola, for the first time in years I feel like I don’t know who I am. Like a ghost has awakened inside of me. One I had no clue was even there. I’m tired, frustrated, scared, and helpless.”

“Talk to me. What happened?”

And I do. I fill her in on the day’s events. I even tell her all about Heath and I mean all of it. “Well, damn, Luca,” she mutters when I finish my story. After a pause, she continues, “Listen, the Luca I know would never let a man control her. You need to own this shit. Own yourself with both of these men. Camden is right about you and that ring. You know it as well as I do.

“Now, I don’t know him at all, but I do know you and there is no way in hell you would give up anything for anyone if you didn’t trust them. So, you keep your mouth shut about Heath. You let Mitch and Leo deal with him. You know they can handle him. You take some time off of work for you, and I don’t mean time off like those weekend trips you take. I mean time off to get out and have some fun. If you have tons of great sex, great, call it an added bonus. But do something different, damn it. No contracts. No strings. Let loose and soar. Camden’s a pilot with his own plane. Go somewhere together. Your team can take care of Divider. Hell, as organized as you are the damn company could run itself.” Maybe she’s right. The thought of leaving all this behind even for a few days might be what I need.

“Your right,” I say on a whim.

“Repeat, please?” Lola croons in a poorly fake English accent, making me smile rather easily.

“You heard me.”

“Yeah, what the fuck ever. Seriously though, Luca. Your nice little tidy life is on one of those roller coasters that feels like it will never end, but so what. Fuck ‘em, girl. And I don’t mean literally. Take that cold iron heart of yours and make it the hot melting point of your body. Open the damn thing up and let yourself be suffocated with other things besides jewelry and designer dresses and shoes.” Her head is bobbing up and down as if she has all the answers in the world, and in this moment, she does. She has my answers.

I cannot promise her I will be able to take my mind off of the things I’m so used to receiving. I can however try. That’s what I do after I disconnect my session with her. I will try. I just pray to god my gut is steering me right, because if Camden is out to destroy me like my intuition is telling me Heath is, I may never recover. I only hope that during these few days I take off the guys can figure out what exactly Heath has up his sleeve, while playing nice with their charismatic wit and charm. The man is way too smart for his own good. Any slip up and he will be onto them, but I trust them to be able to fix this.

I need to stop thinking about the cluster that is Heath and focus on Camden and what he expects out of me, except, nothing will feel right again until I know why Heath is so dead set on destroying me.

***

“Oh, Annie. What would I ever do without you? I owe you big.” I’m not even the slightest bit embarrassed that I called her in a pinch about what to make for dinner tonight. Thank god Annie is full of ideas when it comes to cooking, unlike me.

“Not a problem, but could you tell me why Mitch and Leo are huddled in the boardroom like two dumb ass wanna-be football players?” I look down at my phone, resting on my counter, just to make sure it really is Annie I’m talking to. She sounds distraught. My dear friend feels left out.

“I’m sure they are going over all the contracts, on top of taking over my schedule for the rest of the week, Annie. Or who knows with those two. Maybe they really are strategically planning out their fantasy football thing-a-ma-jig they do,” I tell her, trying to make her laugh or at least smile.

“Whatever you say, Luca It’s your company.”

Her abruptness stops me mid-step in my kitchen. “I’m sorry, Annie. What is it you would like to know?” Annie is one of my best friends. I understand completely where she is coming from. I would feel the same way as she does, but she doesn’t have to act like a bitch about it.

“You can fill me in when you return. Enjoy your pizza.” She hangs up before I can say anything else.