Page 43 of Hunter's Revenge
When I get in the little area I’ve sectioned off for Sebastian’s bed I see a new bowl of food has been put out for him.
Malik. He did this.
My gosh. Could this man be any more perfect?
But what will happen when I see him again?
How am I supposed to act?
What should I say?
It was he who sought me out last night. One look at him standing on that balcony at the restaurant, and I knew what he wanted.
I felt what he wanted well before he touched me, and like an addict hooked on their favorite drug, I wanted more and more and more when I gave in to him.
Malik was my first one-night stand.
I haven’t been with anyone since Gage. Before Gage, I was a virgin. That was why catching him cheating on me on my birthday, of all the days, hurt so
much more.
He ripped out all the love I had in me for him in such a way that I still can’t feel bad that he died in what could only be a brutal and horrific killing.
I release a little breath and gaze out the sliding doors in the sitting room as if the picture-perfect scene outside can tell me what to do next.
The moment is disrupted when I hear my phone ringing. The ringtone tells me it’s Dru.
I thought my phone was upstairs, but it’s down here. Somewhere. I follow the sound to the coat stand and find my purse with my phone chiming inside.
Quickly, I reach into my bag and grab the phone, answering before it can switch over to my voicemail.
“Hi,” I say first.
“Hey, there.” From the sullen tone of her voice, I know something’s wrong straightaway. Dru has never been good at keeping things from me.
A lump forms in my throat. The only thing that could be wrong is the thing I want the most right now to fix my life.
“What’s up?” My voice sounds faint, shaking as if it’s on the edge of the wind.
“We didn’t get the loan, Gwen.”
My body collapses in on itself, and I sink into the wall, sliding down to the floor. Although I sensed the problem could only be that, I feel like I’m going to die.
“Gwen, are you there?”
“Yes. I…here.” I swallow past the lump now swelling in my throat and take several deep breaths. “Thank you for trying.”
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t get it. The bank said that my earnings weren’t high enough for the loan to be fully approved. My additional income from our business wasn’t stable enough either. I really am so sorry.”
“It’s… it’s okay.” It’s not okay, but I don’t know what else to say. Every scenario of what could happen next is flashing through my mind, and it’s all bad, bad, bad.
“Gwen, listen to me. Please hear me out.”
“I’m listening.” I take another set of shallow breaths.
“We have forty-one thousand. I just wired it to you. What you need to do is call Conrad’s office and offer to pay that amount now. Ask if some arrangement could be made to pay the rest in installments or at a later date.”
I’m listening to her, but I don’t know if that will work. In fact, I doubt it will. On my last encounter with Conrad, he made it clear he wanted full payment with no exceptions. That was why I freaked out.