Tempting BAD: VIP Spin Off (11 page)

I drove with my heart on my sleeve and my stomach in my throat; I found the hidden key under the urn and let myself in. I quietly crept up the stairs toward his bedroom and that’s when I heard him.

He wasn’t alone.

I watched for the second time in my short life, another man that I loved with everything—with all my heart—fuck some other woman in front of me. I shook my head, wanting to break free of the memories that held me together with a padded lock, but I couldn’t.

They were all the same.

Even Landon.

It was as if he felt me because moments later, he looked over at me, not expecting to see me. His face showed every emotion in a matter of seconds, the very same emotions I was sure I had just shared with him, without him even seeing it.

I stepped back.

“Fuck, Brooke!” he shouted, pulling out his wet cock, from
her
.

“Landon,” she yelled back at him. “Who is this?”

I inherently smiled. “She doesn’t know who I am?”

“Of course not! Why are you here? I’m his girlfriend.”

It was like taking a bullet to the heart. My love for him was splattered all over his bedroom walls, smearing its way down, right along with my dignity and pride.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t… I didn’t… I gotta go.” I turned and ran out of there so fast you would think I was on fire.

He caught me around my waist when I was mere feet away from my car. I turned myself around and went at him. I hit him with everything I could conjure up.

I hit him like he was my father.

I hit him like he was my mother.

I hit him like he was the meaning of the word love displayed in front of me.

I hit him like I hated him.

I hit him for every thrust I saw and witnessed.

I hit him for every emotion that was pouring out of me, leaving me dead and bleeding.

I hit him like he was my worst enemy.

I hit him for every lie and deceit.

I hit him for every, I love you.

I hit him…

I hit Landon.

“Jesus, calm down!” he sneered, grabbing at my wrists and locking me in place on the hood of my car. My legs were spread and he stood in between them, holding my arms down and my body from being able to move.

“Fuck you! Oh wait, she already did that, didn’t she, Landon! You fucking liar! I love you, you said, you’re the only one for me, you said, please be with me, you said, my soul mate, you said. All fucking lies! You’re just like my father! I knew it. I knew I couldn’t trust you!” I viscously spewed.

“That’s not true. I’ve wanted you for two fucking years, Brooke, for two years! You told me to move on, you told me that you didn’t love me! You did this! Not me! YOU!”

“It didn’t take you long to find someone else, did it? Huh? Was I that easy to replace? Someone who you claimed was your everything! Your one and only! You fucking lied! I hate you! I hate you so fucking much because you made me believe you. You made me believe in you!”

“Oh my God, Brooke, calm down,” he irrationally soothed, trying to control my thrashing body.

“Just go! Just go back to your
girlfriend
! I bet you’ve had her on the sidelines all this time, huh? I bet she was your other woman! You’re a fucking liar!”

“If you don’t calm down I’m going to—”

“You’re going to what? Break my heart? You already fucking did that, liar!”

“I’m not going to stand here and defend myself to you. I know in my heart that I didn’t cause this, you did. I’m not your fucking play toy, Brooke. I moved on because you told me to. Don’t you remember that day on the beach? I was pretty much groveling at your feet, just like I always had, and you turned me away, just like you always did, and now you come to me with this shit! Are you fucking kidding me?” he roared, shoving me away from him and stepping away from me.

My body shook from the adrenaline, bowing my head in hurt and loss. “I can’t believe this… I can’t believe I was coming to tell you that…” I finally looked up at him, spent and completely exhausted. “It doesn’t fucking matter, nothing does.”

“You’re broken, Brooke; you’ve been broken since that night. I can’t put you back together. I never could and I was drained from trying.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I never wanted you to save me. I don’t need to be saved.”

He scuffed. “You’re right about that… you can’t rescue something if it doesn’t know it’s lost.”

I jerked back, shocked and bewildered.

“I’m sorry you had to see that. I would never want to purposely hurt you. You have to know that,” he honestly proclaimed and a huge part of me wanted to believe him.

“There’s more, Landon, it’s not just his mistress anymore… there’s more,” I blurted, needing to tell someone. Needing to tell him. He was the only person I could tell, the only person that knew the truth.

His eyes widened. “What?”

“I found this card and it looks like some high society escort service; it was hidden in his safe,” I wept with tears streaming down my face. “The same safe that has his wedding anniversary as the code.”

He pulled at the back of his neck. “Jesus Christ...”

I shook my head, not wanting to say anymore. “Just go…” I whispered. “Just go back to your
girlfriend
, go back to your life.”

“Brooke,” he murmured, stepping toward me.

“Don’t.” I bowed my head again. “Don’t make this any harder than it has to be… please…” I proclaimed, crying. I cried so hard that my chest hurt and my eyes were raw.

I cried as I heard his steps walking away from me.

And I cried even harder when I couldn’t hear them anymore.

My sister and mom spent months planning the wedding. They were a dynamic duo. It didn’t take them long to get everything in order for the big day. It was an intimate wedding with seventy-five guests, mostly just friends and his family.

She looked gorgeous with her white silk dress and baby bump. She was six months pregnant and walking down the aisle at nineteen; she was glowing. My mom cried the entire time as I expected her to, as did my sisters. Alexis had turned twenty-two and about to finish her junior year of college. Lauren was twenty-four and progressing nicely in graduate school; she wanted to be a psychiatrist and help people. I never asked her why she chose that career, but part of me knew I didn’t have to.

I never expected them to grow up. To me, they were still little girls that wanted my attention. I was the only man in their lives for so long, even when my dad was alive. I knew they were my sisters, but they felt like my daughters and right now, one of them was officially married.

The baby, my baby.

“If you ever hurt her… emotionally or physically, I will kill you,” I stated to John, whose face read of a man that believed me wholeheartedly.

“I love her. I would never do anything to hurt her.”

I nodded, believing him.

“She’s not as strong as she seems, John. You need to take care of her.”

“I know, man, I know. She’s told me about her childhood.”

“Her childhood?” I questioned, taken aback.

“Yeah… she told me about your dad and what happened.”

“What did she tell you?”

She remembered?

“John, honey,” my Mom interrupted. “Your bride is looking for you. She’s in the backroom.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Hill.”

She smiled. “Honey, I’ve told you, you call me Mom.”

“Right… Mom.” She hugged him and he excused himself.

She turned to me. “Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

“Mom, has Liv ever said anything to you about Dad?”

“Dad? What do you mean?” she asked, concerned.

“Just about what she remembers.”

“No, baby, let’s not talk about this today, okay? Please… it’s your sister’s wedding. It’s a happy day; let’s not have him ruin it.”

I nodded. “Yeah… you’re right.”

She grabbed my face. “Are you okay?”

I smiled, calming her. “Of course.”

“You did good today. Devon, you make me so proud to call you my son, baby, you always have. I can’t express to you how much I love you and how much I appreciate everything that you do, everything you’ve always done. God sent me an angel when I had you.” She kissed my cheek and walked away.

And I wished more than anything that she could have taken my fears with her.

I watched her for months without her knowing. I learned her mannerisms, her demeanor, what she looked for, and what she wanted. I learned about her clients, both men and women. I studied everything and anything that I could find. She was one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. I was mesmerized the second I saw her face for the first time. I knew in that moment that she was my future.

I knew that she was my happiness.

I knew that she carried the lifestyle that I craved, and I knew that I wanted the life that was promised on a black business card with three simple letters.

VIP.

The women she surrounded herself with were gorgeous and perfect. They were flawless to a T. They exuded a confidence that you only read about in magazines or saw in printed ads that were photoshopped to give the allure of perfection.

VIP was real.

I wasn’t lost, I didn’t need to be saved or rescued. I wanted to control everything around me, I wanted the power to not hurt or cry or even feel a fucking thing other than what I felt when I was in Landon’s arms.

Safe.

Secured.

Loved.

I didn’t care if it was for a day or for a night, a weekend, or a month. I wanted the feeling that sex gave me, the reassurance that came with every moan, every orgasm, and every thrust. It was the thirst for the feeling of being the only girl in the world.

The promises of life.

It was a new world that I wanted to jump on board, and celebrate.

It was a new beginning, where I experienced the beauty of the sunrise and the sunset.

The new day.

The new me.

Past. Present. Brooke.

I had researched everything I could about The Madam; I stored the knowledge like it was the goddamn SATs. There was very little information, but everything I found was another piece of the puzzle, another clue to the maze, another solution to the problem that I knew would be fixed as soon as I signed on the dotted line.

Sex was the only time I ever felt whole and I wanted to bottle that feeling up and store it away. I wanted to live and breathe it and have it be a part of my everyday existence. I didn’t care about my family or my friends or Landon.

For the first time in my life, I wanted to do something for me. I wanted this chance to be who I truly believed I was.

I was made for a life of pleasure.

I was made for sex.

I was made to be a goddamn…

VIP.

I had only ever slept with Landon. And I knew that if I was going to become a treasured jewel, I needed to bring out the big guns. I needed to put on a show and pretend to be something I so desperately wanted.

I could taste it and feel it.

It was mine.

All I had to do was show The Madam.

And it was the performance of a lifetime. I learned about my sexuality tremendously over the last few months, soaking it up like a sponge. Learning what made me tick and what caused me to boom. It was fun.