Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 64917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
The words landed like a hammer.
I kept my face still.
“That’s right,” Hampton shared, watching me like a hawk. “Your daddy put GJ away. And now his outlaw father has decided to cozy up to you. Why? Because you’re a piece to play on the board. A pretty little queen he can move to get close to the judge who ruined his son’s life.”
He paused, tilting his head. “You didn’t think it was real, did you? That a man like him would look at a girl like you and see anything but leverage?”
My chest burned, but I didn’t flinch.
He smirked. “And in case you thought Daddy might save you from all this… don’t count on it. I’ve got your father in my back pocket. Every man has a weakness, and his just happens to be a woman. An affair. A secret he’ll never want exposed. I keep him safe, and in return, he keeps me happy.”
My hands curled into fists at my sides.
“You stepped into a man’s war, IvaLeigh,” Hampton explained, standing now, towering over me. “If you were smart, you’d get out. Take some time off. Study abroad. Paris, Rome, anywhere but here. Leave before you get chewed up.”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t move. I kept my face calm, flat, even though inside I was crumbling.
He studied me a moment longer, then smiled like he’d already buried me. “Be a good girl and get out while you can,” he ordered, and brushed past me out the door.
The second the latch clicked shut, I collapsed.
I threw myself onto the bed, buried my face in the pillow, and sobbed until my chest hurt. Every word he’d said replayed in my head—pawn, leverage, affair, war.
Was it true? Was Gonzo only with me because of my father? Because I was a means to an end?
I couldn’t stop the images—his arms around me, his lips on mine, the way he’d said I was his. All of it twisting now, poisoned by Hampton Stanley’s words.
The door banged open. “IvaLeigh?” Darla’s voice carried in, followed by her perfume. She tossed her bag onto her bed and looked over. “What the hell happened to you?”
Her presence—her laughter, her careless world—made me want to scream. She had Collin. She had her games. She hadn’t had Hampton Stanley tell her she was nothing but a pawn in a war she couldn’t survive.
“Nothing,” I choked, swiping at my face.
“Doesn’t look like nothing,” she pressed, eyeing the puffy redness around my eyes.
I sat up, my jaw tight. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t be here.”
She blinked. “Okay? Where are you going?”
“Home,” I said, shoving my books into my bag. The zipper jammed, and I yanked it hard, angry tears burning again. “I need time away.”
Darla frowned. “Over what?”
I ignored her, grabbing clothes, toiletries, shoving them into my suitcase without caring how they fit. Every second in that room with her made my skin crawl.
By the time I wheeled my bag down the hall, I didn’t look back.
My parents were surprised to see me that night.
“Sweetheart?” my mom said, stepping forward to hug me as I dragged my suitcase through the door. “What are you doing here?”
“Just needed a break,” I choked out, forcing a smile. “Things are hard at school, had a bad test. And I… I just needed to come home for a while.”
Her eyes softened, pity and relief mixing in her gaze. My dad watched from the study doorway, his expression unreadable.
“You can stay as long as you need,” Mom said quickly, pulling me into another hug. “Your room’s always yours.”
“Thanks,” I whispered, letting her hold me together for a moment before I pulled away.
That night, in my old bed with the familiar quilt, I stared at the ceiling until the words in my head turned to fire.
Pawn.
Leverage.
Ruin.
I picked up my phone, fingers trembling.
I know who you really are now. I won’t be a pawn in your game anymore.
I hit send before I could take it back.
Then I powered the phone off and shoved it deep in my drawer.
And for the first time in weeks, I slept without his arms around me.
I’d never felt emptier.
Chapter 16
Gonzo
The text landed like a round in my chest.
I know who you really are now. I won’t be a pawn in your game anymore.
Blue bubble. Delivered.
Oh the blow was definitely delivered. I stared until the words blurred and the world narrowed to the width of that screen. The roar in my ears wasn’t my bike. It was blood finding places to pound where fists couldn’t. I hit call before my brain caught up. Straight to voicemail. I called again. Same.
A third time and I forced myself to stop. Men like me didn’t beg into empty lines.
I typed:
Where are you?
The bubble remained without a read response or delivery notification.
I waited.
No response.
I typed:
Tell me who came to you.