The Seduction(27)

How could I be so stupid?

“I told you. Nobody turns me down. She’s begging for it, just like I said she would.”

The snippet of conversation I overheard echoes in my mind. His voice, so cavalier and cruel.

Who was he speaking to? How could he talk about me that way?

I’ve never done anything even close to that. I’d come so close to giving him everything. Letting him do all those things to my body. It was so freeing, to give myself up to the sensations I’d been dead to for so long. He never made me any promises, but I thought our connection was real; that the charge between us meant something. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Was this just some fucked-up game to him?

You were just a cheap slut. A filthy whore for him to use.

I finally pull into my garage and sit there, sobbing helplessly in the dark. The pain in my chest is unbearable. I feel so humiliated. After I heard what he said on the phone, I didn’t even have time to grab my clothes or purse. I’m wearing nothing but one of Vaughn’s shirts, that I found over the back of a chair as I bolted out the back door.

The fabric smells of him, taunting me with memories.

Oh God, I wanted him so much. I would have done anything he asked; totally surrendered to the moment and that dominating glint in his dark eyes.

It was a lucky escape, I tell myself miserably.

Finally, my sobs subside and I get out of the car. My phone is ringing. Thank god I’d left it in the car -- Vaughn, I know before I even check the screen. I decline the call, but seconds later, it starts ringing again.

I can’t face talking to him, so I just switch the ringer off, fumbling for my keys as I climb the steps to my apartment. But when I reach the front porch, there’s someone waiting for me.

“June?” I ask, recognizing Ashcroft’s nurse. “What are you doing here?” I hope she doesn’t notice I’m only wearing a man’s shirt.

She steps into the light, and I can see she’s been crying too. “Are you OK?” I ask, my own problems pushed aside. “Come in, please.”

I unlock the door and open it for her, but she shakes her head. “I can’t stay. If they find out I’ve been talking to you...” She looks nervously around. “I’m going to my sister’s tonight. She lives in Atlanta. I should be safe there.”

“Safe from who?” My head is spinning. “What are you talking about? Who would find out?”

“I have to tell you something before I go,” she whispers, dropping her voice. “He made me promise to tell you.”

“Ashcroft?” I try to follow.

June nods. A car passes by and she startles, drawing closer to me. “He’s dead,” she tells me, wide-eyed. “He died tonight. They say it was another stroke.”

“Oh God, I’m so sorry,” I say. “But, I don’t understand. Why are you here? Do you need to talk to the office--”

“No!” she yelps. “You can’t trust them. Don’t trust anyone.” She grips my arms, her expression full of fear. “They’ll come after you now. They won’t stop for anything.”

“Why? June, you’re scaring me.” I try to pull away, but she’s holding too tight. “Nobody’s going to come after me. I’m just a paralegal. I’m nobody.”

“Not anymore.” June swallows. “He named you his heir. In his final will, Ashcroft left you everything. Five hundred million dollars.”

What?

My mouth drops open in shock. “I don’t understand. I saw the paperwork. There’s got to be some mistake.”

“He made a new version, one you never saw. His kids won’t stop until they destroy you,” she says, fearful. “There’s already a plan. I don’t know what, but you can’t trust anyone!” June breaks away from me. “I’ve already said too much. Just be careful!”

She bolts, skittering down my steps and into the night.

As her car headlights recede into the dark night, I try to get a grip on things, but after the night of wild pleasure and crashing disappointment, everything blurs into a terrible mess. I let myself in, exhausted, and sink to the floor with my back against the door.

Vaughn. Ashcroft. The money. It whirls in my mind until I can’t see straight anymore.

Five hundred million dollars, and I’m the only heir? June must have been mistaken. It’s impossible. It has to be.

And then my phone starts to ring, piercing the dark silence. I brace myself, and answer.

“Hello?”