Chapter 1

The wedding was close, and the stress at work had left my boyfriend with a certain kind of difficulty in bed.

He told me over and over that it was because he was carrying so much for me, running the company on my behalf, that the pressure had gotten this bad.

As it happened, my best friend ran a counseling center, so she introduced him to a therapist.

He didn't want outsiders knowing, said it was humiliating, but then said that for my happiness, he was willing to try.

So he went every day.

Until one time, when I dropped by on a whim to go shopping with her, and found the whole counseling center empty.

And the door to her office wasn't quite shut.

Inside, I saw her in a tight pencil skirt, swaying and posing right in front of my boyfriend.

He was staring at her with that filthy look on his face. "You're so sexy, so irresistible, even if I really did have a problem, you'd have cured it."

She sat down right in his lap, leaned in slowly, and brushed her lips against his. "It's settled, then. On your wedding day, we get your wife drunk, and the two of us take the wedding night."

He laughed. "Sure, baby. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you."

I put my phone away. I didn't go in to catch them in the act. I turned and walked out, and sat down on a chair in the break room to steady myself.

This office building was mine. This floor was Melinda's to use for free, and this was how she used it, tangled up with my boyfriend.

I sent my personal assistant a message. "Revoke Melinda Butler's office lease."

1.

The break room was at least forty feet from Melinda's office.

The gap in the door wasn't wide, but the sounds she was making still carried all the way over.

I even heard her ask, again and again, "Herman Gilbert, who's better, me or Nellie Pruitt?"

Herman answered between breaths, "You, obviously. Next to you, Nellie's like a dead fish."

I was a dead fish?

And yet every single time, I'd been the one trying my hardest to please him.

So this was what I was to him. This little.

About three minutes later, the office door opened all the way.

Herman came out fully dressed, spine straight.

Melinda's stockings were gone now, and I could see the bruises on her knees. She must have been kneeling just now.

"N-Nellie?"

Passing the break room, Herman finally saw me, and the color drained from his face, his eyes full of panic and fear.

But he hid it well. It took him only a second to pull himself back together.

Melinda was quick too, hurrying to point at the bruises on her knees. "Nellie, I fell and hurt my leg, and Herman helped me into the office. While he was here, I did a little therapy session with him."

Herman came over fast, sat down beside me, took my hand, and asked, "Nellie, what are you doing here?"

His hand around mine turned my stomach, but I didn't pull away.

I gave him a mild smile. "I came to go shopping with Melinda, but I'm suddenly worn out. I don't feel like it anymore."

Both Herman and Melinda let out a breath.

Melinda sat down on my other side, her smile gentle. "Then rest up first and we'll go another time! But Nellie, there's something I need to ask you. The unit above mine sprang a leak, so my place isn't livable right now. Could you take me in?"

Herman, though, said, "That's not really convenient, is it? Why not stay at a hotel."

He was doing it on purpose, playing it clean in front of me.

Because they both knew me well. They knew I'd say yes.

But I only smiled. "It really isn't convenient. A hotel would be better."

The smile froze on Melinda's face.

Herman went blank too, but he didn't say anything.

Melinda's eyes reddened fast, and her voice caught. "But Nellie, I saw a story in the news recently. A girl living alone had something terrible happen to her at a hotel."

Herman jumped in at once. "There's news like that? Then we can't take any chances. Here's what we'll do, I'll decide for Nellie. Melinda, come home with us tonight."