CHAPTER 35
Sonnie
I pretended like I was going to come by and see the guys at the office, but when they told security to let me up, I didn’t go to their floor. I went to the floor below theirs, where Samantha’s office was. It was easy to find her. There was a steady stream of people running from her office, close to tears.
I didn’t knock before letting myself in. I just walked in and closed the door behind me, leaning against it for support while staring across the large room at her. She was behind her desk, leaning over it to study something. I recognized photos of myself immediately. “I guess it’s true, then.”
She jumped and looked up at me. “Who the fuck let you in here?”
I watched as she shuffled papers on her desk in an attempt to hide her dirty work. “Don’t bother, Samantha. I already know. If you’re going to moonlight as a journalist, maybe don’t use the same insults you’ve said to my face.”
She rolled her eyes and sank into her desk chair. “Fine. You caught me. Darn.”
I walked closer. “You don’t give a shit that I know? What if I told the guys? You know Drake wants to fire you.”
Her smile sent chills down my spine. “Oh, you poor girl. Drake doesn’t want to get rid of me. This whole thing has brought us closer together than ever, actually.”
“What are you talking about?”
“They’re aware of the game, Sonnie. Someone has to lose for there to be a winner, sweetheart. You got voted the loser.” She stood up and walked around her desk, just to lean against it and cross her legs casually, like she didn’t have a care in the world. “As for Drake… Where do you think he goes when you’re out on your little dates with Cole and Price?”
I would’ve been less shocked if she’d sucker punched me. “I don’t believe you.”
“That’s fine. I don’t give a shit what you believe. All that matters is that you keep showing up and making the world hate you. At least for another couple of weeks. Then, we’ll stage a big, sad breakup. All your fault, of course. The guys will be heartbroken and they’ll mourn their heartbreaks for a while, all while milking the positive attention. Who knows? Maybe Drake and I will have a redemption arc after his horrible, money hungry girlfriend hurts him.”
I shook my head. “No. I won’t do it. I’m out. This is disgusting. You’re disgusting.”
She sighed. “You signed a contract, Sonnie.”
“No, I didn’t. Drake never gave it to me.”
“No, he didn’t. The contract he originally wanted to have you sign was a little too sweet. Paul and I drew up a better one, one that works better for us. That’s the one you signed.” She shook her head dramatically and laughed. “No? You don’t remember? You really should read what you sign. That day at the salon? Why in the world would they have asked you to sign a receipt for services you never could’ve afforded, you idiot?”
I was going to throw up. I’d signed the paper without looking twice. I’d been having so much fun with Rosie I’d barely heard the woman who’d asked me to sign.
“So, let’s talk about the contract you signed. It’s an NDA, of course. Tell a soul about this and we’ll sue you for everything you have. That little shack of a house? We’ll own it. It also mentions a few severe punishments for breaking the contract early. If you break it, Sonnie, you will be sued for that, too. The amount you signed off on is a number higher than anyone in your family has ever even hoped to obtain. You’d never make enough money in a hundred more years to pay it off. So, break the contract and you’ll spend the rest of your life having your wages garnished by me. ”
I rushed over to the small trash can and threw up. My stomach cramped and a wave of dizziness came over me as tears leaked from my eyes. “ Why ?”
Samantha laughed bitterly. “Why? Because you don’t matter, Sonnie. You’re nothing. They matter. Their reputations matter. Sometimes, big fish have to eat a few small fish. It’s the cycle of life and all that bullshit. They needed a job done and we did it. You did it, Sonnie. You helped secure their position as America’s sweethearts for the next decade. Good job, honey.”
“You’re a monster.”
“Careful what you say to me, Bartender Barbie . I have a small collection of photos from security cameras over the city that would have the porn industry knocking on your door. You really do come beautifully. It’s no wonder the guys wanted to sample the goods.” She winked. “You’re a bit of a freak, aren’t you? I like it. It’s too bad you’re trash, or we could’ve gotten along. Have you ever done a threesome with another woman?”
I stumbled towards the door.
“Me either. I’ve only had one threesome, actually. I can’t believe you’re so much more advanced than me. I do understand why you let all three of them fuck you, though. I took just Drake and Cole and it was a wild ride. I was sore for days.” Her laugh was like knives in my back. “Remember, Sonnie. If you try to quit, you’ll lose everything. Your sister will have to put away any dreams of college because you’ll never be able to afford to help her.”
I jerked open the door and ran out of there, just another pitiful person running from Samantha’s office in tears. I took the stairs down to the first floor and sprinted out of their building, sobs shaking my body as I went.
Gia answered her phone right away, a nervous tone in her voice. “Sonnie?”
“It’s true, Gia! It’s all true. It’s even worse than I thought.” I stopped at the side of their building and stepped back into an alley, away from people’s stares. “Gia, I can’t do this. I can’t stay, but if I quit, they’ll sue me. I don’t know what to do.”
“Tell me everything that happened.” Gia listened as I rambled through the interaction with Samantha and swore viciously. “I’m going to kill every single one of them.”
Sucking in a few harsh breaths, I pressed my back against the cool stone of the building and took a moment to regain my composure. Crying wasn’t going to help anything. I just had to figure out what I was going to do. “I don’t want to go back there. How am I supposed to keep a straight face?”
“You’re not. Even if the contract is real, Sonnie, nothing in it says you have to pretend to be happy.” Gia growled and a door slammed on her end. “I’m going to the airport now. I’ll be there in a few hours.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much, G.” I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth to still the wobble of my lips. “I’ll see you soon.”
Something Gia said sent me back inside the building I’d just run out of. I took the elevator up to Samantha’s floor again without anyone making eye contact with me, and then threw her office door open with so much force it slammed into the wall behind it.
Samantha jumped out of her chair, clutching her chest. “What the hell?!”
“Give me a copy of the contract.” I marched across the office and stopped just on the other side of her desk. “Now.”
Samantha glanced over my shoulder and swallowed. She hadn’t expected me to come back or be so angry. She was thrown off. Just like a bully, when someone fought back, she was suddenly weak and pathetic.
“Give me a fucking copy right now or I’ll go straight to the media. You can sue me all you want. I’ll make sure you’re not the one garnishing my wages, though. I’ll ruin your life on my way out, Samantha, and you’ll be lucky to get a job in a bar when I’m done.”
She jerked open the desk drawer to her right and yanked a file folder out. Thrusting it at me, she glared. “You won’t be able to get out of it.”
I snatched the file and smiled at her. “He’ll never remarry you. You can think what you want, but the way he looks at you and speaks about you shows a disrespect and disgust that can’t be faked. Even if he does take pleasure in fucking you, you’ll never be anything more than a secret tryst he’s embarrassed to own up to. Enjoy it.”
I spun around and marched back out of her office, a surge of adrenaline and anger sending me up to the top floor. I found my way to a copy room and made three copies of the contract before going to the largest office at the end of the hall. It was Drake’s, but I knew through listening to the three of them talk that oftentimes they worked in the same office space.
I sucked in a huge breath and glanced over at Drake’s secretary, thinking she’d want to clear me before I entered the big boss’s office, but she just glanced away quickly and acted like she hadn’t seen me. Shaking my head, I pushed the door open and stepped into Drake’s office for the first time.
The massive luxurious space paled in comparison with the three men sitting around Drake’s desk. The afternoon sun was casting a pretty glow around the room and the guys looked otherworldly. They each lifted their head to look at me and wide smiles stretched across their mouths.
“Hey!” Drake stood up from behind his desk, grinning at me. “This is the best surprise. What are you doing here?”
I put my hand up when they all stood up and moved as if they were going to come my way. I didn’t want them near me. Seeing them was hard enough. I knew that if they touched me, I’d lose it. I took the copies of the contract I’d made and let them flutter to the floor between us. “I can’t quit, according to this paper, but you should each know that I don’t want anything to do with you outside of our planned dates. As a fan of Trio’s baked goods, congratulations on securing your reputations. People love you. It’s great. And all you had to do was sign away the life and future of one stupid bartender. Great job.”
Cole snatched up one of the copies and glanced over it. If I hadn’t been sure before, the way his shoulders sank as he looked back at me confirmed that Samantha hadn’t been lying. “Sit down and talk to us, baby.”
“Go fuck yourself.” I sucked in a sharp breath and balled my hands so tight that my nails dug into my palms. “If it’d been just me you sacrificed for your own good, it still would’ve hurt and I would’ve been angry, but I’m a package deal with Rosie. What you three did is going to directly affect her. For that, I will never forgive you.”
“Just wait a minute, Sonnie. Please, talk to us. It’s not—”
“It’s not what?” I glared at Price. “It’s not true? Look at the contract I was tricked into signing. There’s nothing I want more than to get the fuck away from you three but I can’t. If I leave, I’ll be sued. If I try to fix my image, I’ll be sued. If I say a single bad word about you, I’ll be sued. I am legally bound to you until you’re all done with me and start the next phase of your plan to become the heartbroken dreamboats who were hurt by the evil bartender bitch. Only then will I be allowed to go back to whatever crumbs of my life left over. I thought…
“I thought you three were different, but it doesn’t matter what I thought. It only matters what you did. I didn’t have much before you guys, but I had something. You’ve ruined my life. I have to figure out how to raise Rosie and face her when I explain the choices that left us here. Thank you for that. Thank you for proving I was right to not want to trust you.”
They each made moves to come after me but as I slipped out of their office door, Samantha was slipping in, her face pale. I didn’t want to see them together so I made a run for it.
Before I got too far away, I heard Drake’s deep voice boom out through the office. “What did you do?”