refused to believe that everything she and Dillon had shared had been a farce. “He’s a liar and a soulless dick,” Vince shouted, pushing his hand through his hair, agitated. Penny winced and wiped at her eyes, ashamed that she still wanted to talk to Dillon, to see for herself if he’d truly done this despicable thing to simply hurt his brothers. “We warned you. Why didn’t you fucking listen? What is it about Dillon that makes women lose their minds?”
Penny wisely remained silent and simply cried in the darkness. If either could tell she was crying, neither was inclined to comfort her, not that she expected them to. She’d screwed up. “I’m…” she didn’t know what to say. Her throat closed as she struggled to find the words that would convey how she’d felt — how he’d made her feel. God, for a blinding — and glorious — moment she’d thought she was falling madly, deeply and inexorably in love with the bad boy. Now, she just felt sick to her stomach for being so naïve as to think that she would be the one to tame the wildest Buchanan. Chubby Penny. The one who never got asked to school dances or admired for anything other than her brains. Sure. That made total sense. She wiped at her dripping nose and for lack of a tissue, had to wipe her hand on her pants. What a colossal mess she was in. Oh, Papa, I never should’ve taken the deal. What am I going to do with myself now?
It seemed an eternity before the brothers dropped her unceremoniously off at the apartment without so much as a terse goodnight and as she finally climbed into bed, each sore muscle reminding her of the scorching sex she and Dillon had had mere hours ago, she shuddered under the blunt force trauma of a bleeding heart. She felt broken — shattered into a million pieces and left to die — and there was nothing left but to weep into her pillow like the sorry loser that she was. Dillon didn’t want her and she didn’t know where she stood with Vince or Nolan. Good gravy, they could barely look at her but it hadn’t mattered; she’d seen disgust in their eyes. Would they ask her to pack her things? Clearly, she was in breach of contract — she quaked at the ramifications — but why’d they bring her back to the apartment if they were planning to kick her to the curb? But did she want to remain their girl? How could she? Regardless of how Dillon felt, she knew she’d given her heart to him and she didn’t know how to function as if nothing had happened. She closed her eyes and moisture seeped from the corners to wet her pillow as she hugged it tight, breaking inside from the pain and heartache.
#
“Stop pacing you’re giving me a headache,” Nolan said to Vince as Vince wore a hole in the Audubon carpet. He lounged against the overstuffed chair, drumming his fingers lightly against the fine fabric. The situation with Dillon had gotten out of control but how did one stop a runaway train? Their sins were legion — the Buchanans excelled in debauchery not good deeds — but seeing Penny so destroyed plucked at a chord deep inside him that rang a little too closely to regret for his tastes. “Your anger is clouding your judgment. Stop plotting your revenge for a second and listen to me.” Vince stopped but rewarded Nolan with a dark scowl. “We need to decide what the hell we’re going to do about Penny.”
At the mention of their succulent, yet soiled plaything, Vince snarled. “She broke the rules. She must pay the consequences.”
“Come now brother, you and I both know Penny was no match for Dillon’s charm. More sophisticated women than Penny have fallen for his honeyed words and been left broken-hearted for their troubles. Should we truly punish her for being outmatched? We’re the ones who should accept the blame. We didn’t prepare her adequately.”
“He did this on purpose.”
“Of course he did.”
“ So what are we going to do about him? Put him in the ground?” Vince