-JOANNE contd.“What the fuck are you on about?” My voice wasn’t loud, but it was stern enough to prove that I was mad.What the hell did she mean? ‘What else do I want from her?“I mean, yeah, I deceived you; I fabricated your name in my contract, the signatures, and everything. But look at you; you look better than me. You look like you’re actually enjoying your life here.” She proceeded to end her words with another eye roll.“Are you serious right now?” I scoffed.“You know me better than anyone, so yeah, you should know when I’m serious.”I shook my head. “No, Bailey. I thought I knew you, but it turns out that I don’t, not one bit. I lived with a snake, and I didn’t even know about that.”“A snake!” she laughed, her bright red lipstick menacingly matching her red leather skirt. “Thanks to this snake, you’re living a fancy life and out of our crappy old life at Bronx.”“Where the hell are you getting at?” I squinted.What the fuck was she trying to say?“I’m not trying to get any
JOANNE—I was crying furiously in my room, my chest heaving up and down as I tried to conceal the tears.Bailey had made no attempt to feel sorry for me. The door was pushed open, and Theo walked inside. "What did she say to you?" He entreated. I shook my head.“I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have let you meet them,” Theo said ruefully.“It’s okay,” I added. “It’s not your fault. Thank you for letting me meet her.” I wiped my tears.It instantly gave me more room to never stop feeling sorry for her.She has hated me for years.And I’ve been here all along, thinking she didn’t deserve any of these.When all she was scared about was snatching a life she thought I was enjoying,.“I’m sorry, they’ve been sent back,” Theo added.I wiped my tears and took a deep breath.Theo and I remained quiet and just let our thoughts settle in with the silence. Maybe me, because I couldn’t tell what he was thinking as he glanced at me once or twice.“It’s all going to be okay,” he sighed."Hopefully,” I mumbl
JOANNE-The day was getting darker; rain clouds had seeped into the evening sky and immediately transformed every bright-looking cloud into a figure of gloom.The air had gone cold, and I found arms constantly getting wrapped in front of me.Hardy had left the hotel room, telling me to stay intact and not to go out because he would be back.I listened because I never wanted what happened last time to happen again.I started to move around the room again. It was a one-bedroom hotel room with a queen-sized bed at the centre, a small water dispenser at one end, and a cute drawer sitting on the bed.The room was quite small but looked cosy and fancy; it had high walls with an eccentric light blue paint on its walls. A warm chandelier light hangs directly above the bed, and some nightlights surround the corners. Just four feet away from the bed, there was a glass door that held a three-person balcony behind it. Opposite the balcony was a walk-in closet, and at the centre and other ends of
-HARDY-I walked out of the closet, fully clothed, to receive a text from Theodore.I immediately called.“How is it?” I asked.“She’s not revealing who sent her,” Theo continued.This Leilani bitch.I sighed.“Of course she won’t. We’ll let her go, but we’ll keep her on track. She’ll go to whoever sent her.” The only reason I’m here all of a sudden is to make the Dickhead culprit tail me.I brought Joanne here with me, unguarded and careless.Whoever it is, I knew they must have seen me leaving the mansion with no guard, no Theo, and just me and Joanne.I just have to make them believe I came here for a stupid vacation and not read my line about making Joanne bait.But I know I will take a vacation when I make one. It wouldn’t be in this crappy one-bed room with a woman I never want to spend time with.“Of course, I’ll make sure we don’t fail this time,” Theo’s voice says on the line, assuring.“Yeah—I paused when I noticed Joanne’s head poking out of the bathroom's parted door and
-JOANNE I woke up the next morning to meet the chilly air and my naked body buried inside the roughs of sheets and Hardy’s body.I tried to move, but his grip around my body was crazy.I tapped his hand multiple times to let go, and when he finally did, I broke through and hurried to the bathroom.I was feeling extremely tired and needed something to eat.We both hit it off last night without even having dinner.If I had known we were going to have such amazing sex that would take every ounce of energy in me, then I would have eaten like a python.I looked at my reflection in the mirror in front of me and breathed out a smile.Why was I smiling?It was somewhere because I was feeling good about myself and the sex, or maybe it was because Last might keep replying in my head.I was being shameless, and I didn’t mind it.The man holding me hostage, who could basically ruin my future if he wanted to, had one great sex with me, and suddenly I was feeling great about myself.I picked up on
JOANNE—I let out an explosive gasp and felt as if every drop of blood in my body rose to my face and accumulated around my nose; my heart was as heavy as my head, and I was about to sprint somewhere, anyplace away from the intruder who had grasped my shoulder. His grasp tightened on me, he took my other shoulder in his other hand, and the hotel lights turned back on immediately. “Joanne..” A familiar voice called softly.I turned around swiftly to see Trevor looking at me with a small smile.“Ah..” I let out an inaudible sigh of relief as I brought my hand to my chest.“Goodness. You scared me,” I could feel my blood vessels functioning well again.“I’m sorry,” He took his hand off my shoulders. “I didn’t mean to, I saw you and was about to approach you when the lights went out. And I should have said something when I grabbed you, I just didn’t think fast and didn’t want you to run around in the dark”I nodded and let myself catch my breath.I cast a furtive look about before retur
—HARDY“I leave you for one minute and you go on go to throw yourself at some man—“I’m sorry?” Joanne turned to look at me as we both got back into my hotel room and she slowly let out a scoff.“You’re joking right?” She blasted.“Does it look like I am?” My voice came out as hard as I wanted it to be.“I had no idea Trevor was here and throw myself at him?” I scoffed.What was it to him if I actually threw myself to him.“Sure you had no idea. And why the hell is he here?” I scoffed.I only came here to let Lisa’s killer see me loose and tail me.“I don’t know,” Joanne shrugged.She looked clueless and as I watched those eyes looked at me like it needed someone to answer. I let myself breathe.Even if I was making Joanne bait. She deserved to know at least the truth that someone was onto her.“Joanne” I called and she turned and gawked at me like calling her name had made some part of her soul crash and burn.Ignoring her response, I carried on. "The purpose of this operation is to
JOANNE-I opened my eyes to see a white surface and the smell of flowers meeting my nose. My body felt like peace, and my mind was as bland as my thoughts.I blinked rapidly before fully opening my eyes and taking in the white ceilings above my eyes.“She’s awake” Hardy’s thick voice filled the air, and I quietly turned to meet him talking to another man.I slowly started to sit up, only to be stopped by Hardy.“Do not get up,” he said.I ignored him and slowly sat up, taking in the room in front of my eyes.I glanced at the door to see a plate above and the word VIP room written above it.Suddenly, I noticed the IV attached to my hand, and the memory of feeling sick and throwing up came rushing back. I realized that I must have passed out, and I was in a hospital or some other kind of medical facility. The pieces of the puzzle were slowly coming together in my mind.The man Hardy was talking to left the room, and Hardy walked up to me.“What are you doing?” He spat. “I told you to no