Nothing Left to Lose (Guarded Hearts 1)

He flinched, so he obviously got the point. “Right, whatever you want,” he answered as he snatched the note from my hand and shoved it into his pocket.

“Thanks, I’m glad we understand each other,” I replied, staring him down for a couple of seconds before I left for my floor. My rage was simmering on a slow boil, and I knew I wouldn’t be getting much sleep as I stewed on what an uncompassionate jerk Mike was. When I got to my own room that I was sharing with Dean, I noticed that he was already in his bed and sound asleep.

As I shrugged out of my clothes and slipped into my own bed, I knew then that I was in for a sleepless night as I worried about the girl I was hopelessly in love with.

Chapter Thirty

~ Anna ~

I sighed as the door to my hotel room clicked closed. As soon as I was on my own, I missed him; I didn’t want to spend the night alone at all. I’d lied and reassured him that I wouldn’t dream tonight, but I knew that wouldn’t be true. I was probably in for a bad night tonight, but I knew that it was only eight hours and then I’d be able to see him again. That thought was comforting.

I sighed and headed to the bedroom, slipping out of the dress that my mother had commissioned specifically for this event. Smiling to myself, I slipped the shoes into the bottom of my travel bag so I could keep them; there was not a chance I was giving those back. When I had on my pyjamas, which consisted of a pair of boy shorts and the T-shirt that Ashton wore yesterday, I climbed into the cold bed. It was so weird lying on my own, the bed felt too big somehow, I had too much leg room and no one was crushing me. I laughed quietly to myself and thought about my evening.

I’d had an incredible night tonight, and although things were going to change now that people would know who I was, I wouldn’t have missed this party for the world. Seeing Ashton in that tuxedo had given me many new fantasies to think about. I pictured his face as I had walked down the stairs to meet him. The way he’d looked at me made my heart flutter erratically. I had never seen anything more heart-stoppingly gorgeous in my life than Ashton Taylor standing there with that familiar smile on his face. He’d certainly given all of those celebrities a run for their money tonight; he was undeniably the hottest guy in the room. I sighed contentedly and pulled Ashton’s T-shirt up to cover my nose so I could breathe him in while I fell asleep, hopefully that would be enough to stop the dreams.

Pressing tighter against the wall, I silently pray he won’t see me. I am going to pay for disobeying, I know this, but still I stand there, motionless, instead of running back to the yard and pretending that I hadn’t moved from where he’d told me to wait.

As I peek around the corner of the wall and into the lounge, I see Carter standing with his back to me. At his feet, someone is on their knees. “Please, I’m sorry, it won’t happen again,” the guy begs, his voice breaking through fear.

“Not good enough, Mario. I lost two mil in coke because you couldn’t keep your f**king dick in your pants long enough to make the f**king exchange!” Carter growls, his voice hard and angry. He moves to the side, and I see the guy on the floor. I recognise his face but know nothing about him; Carter always keeps his business away from me. A gun resides in Carter’s hands, his favoured silver pistol with the ivory handle. It is his preferred gun, he tells me this often. Mario’s eyes flick to me for a split second, and I freeze. Carter, seeing Mario’s attention diverted, turns and looks at me. Anger crosses his face before his usual loving expression masks it.

“What are you doing here, Princess?” he asks, waving his hand for me to go to him.

I gulp. “I’m sorry, Carter. I just needed the bathroom,” I explain apologetically, walking over and taking the hand that he is offering.

“It’s okay. Take a seat there, I’m almost done,” he instructs, nodding towards the couch.

I gulp and obediently sit. Mario’s shoulders loosen as some of the tension leaves him. Clearly he thinks he is safe now that I am here, possibly thinking that Carter won’t kill him in front of me. Obviously, he doesn’t know Carter very well.

“I’m sorry, boss, it won’t happen again,” Mario apologises.

Carter nods in response, bringing the pistol up and aiming for the middle of Mario’s face. “I know,” he states as he pulls the trigger.

As the shot rings out, I whimper and try to look away, but I can’t. It is the single most disgusting and horrifying thing I have ever seen in my life. In an instant, half of Mario’s face disappears to be replaced by a bloody, soft, ragged, oozing mess. His body twitches a couple of times before falling backwards to the floor, making a loud thump.

Carter touches my face. I can barely breathe. “Princess, I told you to wait outside for me,” he coos lovingly as he leans in and kisses my cheek.

“I… I know, I… I’m sorry,” I stutter.

“Hmm, it’s no problem. I missed you anyway,” he purrs as his fingers move to the zip of my dress, tugging on it gently. While he slides the straps of my dress over my shoulders and kisses the side of my neck, I can’t focus on anything other than the pool of blood that is forming under the dead body. “Mmm, you are so f**king hot. I love you,” he whispers as he pushes on my shoulders, guiding me to lie back onto the sofa. The buttons pop on his jeans as he wrenches them open before settling himself on top of me. “Do you love me?” he asks, slowly lifting the skirt of my dress so that the material bunches around my waist.