Prince Player(165)

“Good.” He sits back down. “You’re dismissed.”

I stand there for a second, staring at him. “One day, you’ll realize that I’m not a child anymore,” I say softly.

“Unfortunately, you are still a child, and you will behave.” Father looks down at his paper. “Go back to your room. I’m finished with you.”

I stare at him, shaking with rage, but I turn and leave. I don’t want to scream at him, because I know it’ll only make things worse.

I don’t know what I’m going to do. Michael is a traitor, an asshole, and a bastard. Father is going to crack down on me harder, probably get some staff members to spy on me or something. I bet he’ll turn off my WiFi or change the password or something like that. And I’m sure Thomas is already taking away my phone.

I’m not letting this stop me. Maybe I can’t do anything about it right now, but I’ll figure it out. I’m smart and a grown ass woman, and I need to get the hell out of this house. If I want to see Gavin, I’m going to see Gavin.

I won’t be used as some political piece by my family, and I won’t be treated like a little child.

I take a deep breath, steady myself, and then begin to plan.





13





Gavin





I don’t hear from Sadie for a week.

At first, I figure it’s just because she’s busy, or maybe because her family is pressuring her to stop seeing me. But her phone goes straight to voicemail and my messages are ignored. I try writing her, and I even send her another present, this time a box with a new computer inside of it, but everything is ignored. There’s no reply. She never comes back on Skype, and she never answers any of my written letters.

I don’t know what the fuck to think.

“Seems pretty obvious to me,” Chuck says. We’re out to lunch exactly one week after I last saw Sadie.

“I’m sure it does,” I grunt at him.

“She got sick of looking at your ugly face.”

I sigh, shaking my head. “Too soon.”

Chuck frowns, sipping his whisky. “Damn. I’ve never seen you like this before.”

“Like how?” I ask.

“Acting like a heartbroken little girl.” He grins at me.

I glare at him. “I’m not fucking heartbroken. I just don’t understand.”

“I don’t know, it seems obvious to me. The girl’s family hates you with a passion. And she’s clearly being controlled by them.”

“Yeah,” I say, shaking my head. “The fucking Tillmans.”

“That’s right. The fucking Tillmans.”

I sip my beer, not in the mood to be out right now, but Chuck insisted. I’ve been moping around too much, or at least according to him I have been.

I’m not fucking moping. I don’t mope. I just want to understand why Sadie disappeared after sending me that text in the morning, just a single word. The night before was so damn good, and things felt really perfect, and then she suddenly just disappears on me like a ghost.

“You have to admit,” Chuck says. “There’s a little irony in this.”

“Guess I don’t see it.”

“I mean, you’ve done this to plenty of girls.”

I can’t help but grin a little bit. “No way. I’m more tactful.”

“More tactful?” Chuck laughs, shaking his head. “Remember that Slovenian model you were dating for a little while?”

“Oh yeah,” I say, grinning back at him. “What was her name?”

“Who cares? She was hot as fuck. But when she wanted you to meet her family back in her country, what did you do?”

“Shit,” I say. “It’s not like that.”

“You didn’t call her again. Cut off all contact. You ghosted her ass so fast.”

“She was asking me for money,” I say, but Chuck isn’t having it. In my defense, that is true. She was asking for a loan so she could start her own modeling company. Plus, she was something of a head case. I definitely ghosted her, but for good reason. I was afraid she’d try and stab me.

“You’ve done this to countless women,” Chuck says. “Not just one crazy model.”

“They all know the score,” I say. “They know they get one night and that’s it. I thought it was different with Sadie.”

“Maybe,” he says, a little softer. “Maybe it was supposed to be that way. But look man, she’s not answering you anymore. She’s gone. Let it go.”

I glance down at my drink, not sure what to say.

I can’t accept that. I’m not some heartbroken little puppy dog blubbering into his beer, but I’m not just going to roll over and die either. Chuck thinks I’m moping, but the truth is, I’m trying to figure out my next move.