Banging Reaper (Pounding Hearts 1)

I sigh and rake my fingers through my hair. “Can’t you just say it’s a mistake? Is there any way for me to deny the funds?”

Ashley and the other girl share a look and then they both shake their head. No doubt they think I’m weird and stupid.

“Did he pay the full amount? Everything is coming out of his bank account, not mine?”

They nod.

“You can’t just fix it as a technical error? A bank error?” I ask, growing more and more desperate.

“I’m sorry…” the girl helping me says again and I know any other question I ask them, that’s the answer I’m going to get: I’m sorry.

“Okay, well, thanks for your help anyway.” I force a smile at them and then hurry out of the office.

Shit. He did it. I can’t believe Chase did it. There must be an explanation for this though. There must be. Because if there isn’t then I totally misjudged him.

I thought I could trust Chase.

Chapter Eighteen

Chase

I think I have seen almost all of Avery's emotions so far, from horrified shock to p

ure joy. The stony, emotionless face she shows me after she gets in the car is a new one. It's startling to say the least.

“Hey beautiful?”

She shuts the door too carefully as she gets in. Her body is completely stiff, and she wraps her arms around the backpack in her lap. I have a bad feeling about this.

“Mind getting us to my apartment? I want to talk.”

Fuck, she wants to talk, not we need to talk. Fuck.

I slip the Impala into gear and pull away from the curb. Goosing the throttle, I edge into traffic.

“What about?”

And she is so quiet I have to look over to see if she is even breathing.

“Avery?”

“Just take me home, please.”

Shit and double shit. I’m betting right now I’m about to get the ass chewing of my life, and for the life of me I have no clue what I did wrong.

That ride home is uncomfortable and silent. I try pressing her for what’s wrong but it's not until I get her out of the car and into her apartment that she shows any emotion at all. And holy fuck she’s pissed.

“What’s going on? Did Ethan do something?” I ask, walking into her apartment.

Sebastian is waiting for us to take him home. Home, that's what it feels like when Avery and I go there, home with our little black fluff ball.

Avery

I bit my tongue the entire ride to my place and clenched my hands so hard my nails dug painfully into my palms. So much anger bubbled inside me, it took every ounce of strength I had to keep from unleashing on Chase in the car.

How could he do this to me? How could he?

I can’t even look at him, just the sight of him looking confused is upsetting. It’s so infuriating that he’s acting as if he has no idea what is wrong. Like he didn’t just pay off four figures worth of my debt without my permission. Like we just didn’t discuss me not wanting his money.