Wrong then Right (A Love Happens Novel Book 2) (42 page)

She muttered under her breath while double checking the deadbolt on the front door, unlocking then locking it again, her mind easing only slightly as the loud metallic sound echoed through the quiet house. Window by window, she completed her task, never finding a single one unlocked or tampered with. Nightlights were placed strategically throughout the main and upper levels, giving off just enough glow to cut through the darkness, and after checking the garage door one more time, still closed and secure, she slowly walked upstairs to the bedrooms. Several of the stair treads, covered in the original walnut hardwood, creaked under her feet and while her realtor had been quick to assure her it was an easy fix, Ali had left them as is.

“You had him right in front of you. And this is not the time to play hard to get.” She laughed out loud at the absurd thought. It wasn’t as if he’d been flirting with her. It wasn’t as if he had asked her out to dinner and she’d coyly declined, liking the thought of the chase. And it sure as shit wasn’t as if he’d asked her to join him in a
welcome to the ‘hood
one night stand, although that would have made this whole thing a hell of a lot easier. She was in way over her head here. Talk about underestimating her powers of feminine persuasion. She couldn’t even handle a basic conversation with him without getting tongue-tied. How many times had she said the word fine, again? Freaking pathetic. What in the world made her think she could pull this off, anyway?

Mumbling under her breath, she walked into the small guest bedroom. The windows were secure, as they had been when she’d checked a few hours ago, and she glanced at the ornate iron bed dressed perfectly with crisp linens covered in a pretty coastal theme of shells and starfish. Ali knew full well this room would never have guests, probably never even have another set of eyes laid on it, but this was the first home that she had just for herself. If she wanted insanely expensive, peach colored fish on a bed that would never be slept on, then so be it. Years of not being allowed to spend a single dollar over the budget, even on something as necessary as groceries, did that to a person. The memory of what had happened to her one cold winter day, when she had spent eighteen dollars over her household grocery budget, flashed through her mind as she entered the spacious master suite.

She had paid a price that day, for those eighteen bucks. And it didn’t have a thing to do with money.

“That’s why you have to do this, Ali.” She said the words sternly, staring at her reflection in the huge master bathroom mirror before stripping off her white shirt, the pale pink tank underneath coming off just as quickly. Her shorts landed on top of the other two pieces as she placed them neatly in the wicker laundry basket, knowing that by lunch tomorrow they would be clean and folded, tucked carefully into her dresser drawer. There was a semblance of safety that came with order, even if it was a false sense of security.

Reaching in and turning the shower handle to hot, she pushed the button for the steam feature and caught her sideways reflection in the mirror. Squeezing her eyes tightly shut didn’t change the sight that greeted her when she opened them a second later. Walking closer to the mirror, the steam just beginning to blur the surface, she touched the puckered skin on her right hip. Felt the slightly raised scar spanning almost four inches long from front to back, the ugly arcing slash still pink in its newness.

It was a cut meant not to kill, but to hurt. A permanent warning. One Ali had heeded.

“That’s why you have to do this,” she said fiercely, her body now completely obscured by the steam on the mirror. The whispered words were convincing in their desperation as she stepped into the hot shower. “It’s only sex. Sex in exchange for your freedom.”