10. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Tatum

The look of shock mixed with terror on Devon’s face is something I will cherish for the rest of my days. It’ll never get old. Not in a year. Not in ten. It’ll be the one and only thing to pass before my eyes when I’m on my deathbed. It’s pure fucking perfection.

It is the exact moment she knows she’s screwed. When she knows I have the upper hand. When she knows she’s in for a weekend she will never forget—and not because she’s going to have fun. What is going through that pretty little head of hers?

Am I going to force her to spend the weekend with me alone? Or will I rat her out? I bet both scenarios have gone through her head, and she has no idea which I’ll choose. I’d thought about which would be worse for her, and the answer is simple. Me .

Spending the weekend with me alone is the worst kind of torture for her.

We’ve gone back and forth for years giving each other shit. She pretends she doesn’t know why I hate her guts, and I let her. She’s well aware of what she did to me, and if lying to herself is what gets her by, fine. For now. I’ll throw it all in her face when it’ll hit the hardest. I’ve kept my cards close to the chest, biding my time. I knew I couldn’t be rash with this. It had to be just right. Seems all my patience has paid off.

And as I stand here now, in front of her, knowing I own every inch of her body for the weekend, I get the very best idea.

A three-point-five million dollar idea.

Owning Devon for the weekend, making her do whatever I want, isn’t the ultimate payback. She was going to do this with a stranger; of course she can tolerate me. We spend time together anyway. Not as closely as we will this weekend, but she’s had practice being around me. So, I need more. I need to hit her where it’ll hurt the most.

Though we haven’t been close in years, I still know her. People change, but they don’t change that much. And I’ve had the luxury of being around Devon every damn day. Watching and waiting.

Devon is a romantic at heart. Deep down, she wants nothing more than true love and a perfect family. She wants a husband who will give her the freedom of independence. Children who will respect her enough to do the right thing so she can let them be who they are. She wants to be free as a bird, yet still have everything she wants waiting for her at home. Because Devon is fucking selfish. No matter what she’s given, it’ll never be enough. I would have given her the goddamn world, but that didn’t stop her from doing what she did to me. And if the world isn’t enough for her, then nothing is.

I was wrong thinking forcing her to spend the weekend with me is the ultimate payback. How could I be so stupid? The way to get back at her is to break her heart. Destroy it. Crush it. Shatter it into pieces so small she’ll never be able to put it back together. And when she thinks it’s irreparable, I’ll pick up some of those shards and tape them together.

And then I’ll shatter them again.

“Surprise,” I say, stepping into the room and closing the door behind me.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” she stammers, stepping away from me. She cants her head to the side, looking beyond me as if she expects someone to come in and save her.

I move closer.

“Are you looking for someone?”

“Why are you here, Tatum? Is my father with you? Dane? You c-can’t take me to them. I signed a contract. I—”

Does she… Well, it seems Devon thinks I’m here to rat her out.

Her mind would make her think that. Because why in the world would I, someone who hates her, spend so much goddamn money on her? Because that’s how petty I am.

“You think I’m here to take you home?” I ask with a raised brow, taking another step closer.

“Why else would you be here?”

She holds my gaze, and I don’t show her any of my cards. If there’s anything I perfected in life, it’s a blank, careless expression. It’s the only way to get by in the business world. I inherited a fantastic poker face from my father.

I hold her gaze, waiting for her to make a move. To say something. To run. I see the exact moment she realizes what’s going on. The second everything clicks into place. The instant it all comes together. Her eyes widen imperceptibly .

“No,” she breathes out, those perfect lips of hers turning into a frown.

I hate to admit it, because I hate her , but she has the most beautiful fucking lips.

Full and pouty, but heart-shaped. And they are so goddamn soft. Don’t get me started on the color. The light blush pink likely matches her nipples that I bet are even more beautiful.

I take another step toward her, bringing my hand up to cup her cheek. “Yes, baby. You’re mine for the weekend.”

“Why—” She slaps my hand away and steps out of my reach. “Why would you do this?” she hisses.

I grin at her. There are so many things I could tell her. So many games I could play with her. So many directions I could take her in. But I decide to keep my mouth shut. Because what I want to say will ruin everything.

Why did I buy you? Because nothing in life is certain but death, taxes, and that payback is a fucking bitch.

It’s a good thing Dane didn’t make it into the auction. Someone must’ve been looking out for me by pulling him away. Or maybe this will turn to shit, and I’ll regret it. For now, I plan on having my fun. I can’t imagine what Dane would have done if he saw his sister up on that stage. Lose his shit and get himself carted off and banned, that’s for sure. He’d have made a scene and not only embarrassed Devon, but me too .

Dane and I were going to take our girls to a club. Drink. Dance. Party. Go back to a hotel and do things that would make porn stars blush. Have fun in the limo on the way there. Take turns with all of them, even using all four at the same time while the other watched. Wouldn’t have been the first time we shared girls or swapped them. But my plans for the night have since changed. Devon and I are taking a long drive to my penthouse in Chicago. As long as I have her back at the club on Sunday night, I can take her wherever I want. Driving to Chicago means I have roughly forty-two hours alone with Devon in my penthouse.

Forty-two hours to make her believe I’m a changed man. That I don’t hate her guts. That I’ve forgiven her. That she can trust me. That she can open her heart to me. That we belong together.

I need to win her heart, and that means I have to be nice—genuinely nice. So, I have to be careful.

This weekend is only the beginning because I won’t stop when this weekend is over. I’m good, but I’m not win-over-the-girl-I-hate’s-heart-in-one-weekend kind of good. Thankfully, I know where she lives. I’m best friends with her brother. Hell, I spend more time at their house than I spend at my own. I have my own room. My own parking spot. I’m in her life all the damn time. This weekend is going to be the start of something new. This weekend, I’m going to prove to her that I am different. So different she won’t want me to leave.

I’ll have her head over heels in love with me in less than a damn week. That I am certain of.

And I only foresee one issue—Dane.

He’s my best friend, and I care about the guy a lot. If he ever finds out what I’m doing, he’ll kill me. I’ll have to play this smart. Put on a show for him too. I don’t like the idea of lying to him, but it’s what needs to be done. He doesn’t know the extent of my hatred for Devon. I’ve done well to hide my anger toward her. Dane just thinks we grew apart after the breakup. He asked me once what happened. I told him I didn’t want to talk about it. That was the end of it. I can only assume he didn’t ask Devon. She wouldn’t have told him the truth anyway. Despite what he would have been told, Dane would struggle with picking sides. Which is why he likely ignored it. He chose to look past it so he wouldn’t have to choose. Not that I agree with it. His sister is a goddamn liar, but that’s not his fault. There isn’t anything he can do about it either. She’s basically unmanageable. You ask her to do something; she does the opposite. There isn’t a single ounce of respect in that girl.

I can’t imagine Dane would approve of me dating Devon because of our past. He’d worry things would get messy between us all. If I were him, I wouldn’t let me date his sister either. Not now. I was a different man at nineteen. But all this just means it needs to stay quiet until I figure out a way to deal with Dane.

Because even if it’s the last thing I do, Devon Kensington is going to feel the same pain she put me through five years ago.