Free Beautifully Broken by Bethany Bazile Page B

I continue, hoping
to ease the self doubt I see in her eyes. “You’re an attractive woman you
deserve someone better, trust me.” a smile plays at her lips. “No hard
feelings?” I cock an eyebrow at her, offering her my hand in truce.
    She
begins to giggle at my playful flirting, “No hard feelings.” She surprises me
by disregarding my hand and wrapping her arms around me for a hug.
    “If
it doesn’t work out between you and this woman call me,” she whispers into my
ear as the door slides open. And of course my luck continues as I peer over her
shoulder to see Ella frozen in shock at our embrace. Alice pulls away, winking
at me as she scurries out the elevator. “Hey Isabella,” she chirps her mood
unmistakably taking a turn for the better.
    She
stares at me with her mouth agape until the doors begin to close again. I stop
it from closing with my hand, raising a brow in question at her. She shakes her
head obviously refusing to be in the same elevator car as me. I let the doors
slide shut, closing my eyes and letting out a heavy breath towards the ceiling,
trying to ease the tension building in my chest. Ella is going to take an
innocent hug and turn it into something lecherous. I wanted to grab her arm and
pull her into the elevator but I wouldn’t overstep. I had already fucked up
what we had and I didn’t want to cause her any further distress.
    It’s
almost laughable how I’ve already been in two very awkward situations in the
five minutes since entering the building. I get off the elevator on the floor
leading to Lucas’ office. His secretary buzzes me right in as soon as I enter
the reception area.
    Lucas
is on the phone and promptly makes an excuse to hang up. “What do you want
now?” he sighs rubbing his head.
    “I
just came to tell you I’m leaving. You can keep your half of the company. As
much as my dad wants to see you out of the company I couldn’t care less. As
long as I never have to see you again, I’m satisfied.” At the door I could hear
him get up from his chair behind me,
    “Just
like that, you give up?” he asks.
    “I
don’t give up. I just don’t fight for things that won’t benefit me. Me staying
here trying to get this company doesn’t benefit me in any way.”
    “When
are you leaving?”
    “Saturday”
I answer.
    “You’re
not even going to visit Anna?” the pressure in my chest is immediate. Like
someone has their hands wrapped around my throat. Since I’ve been here he’s
never once mentioned my mother to me. How he can even have the balls to ask
that question is beyond me.
    “No.”
I say snatching the door open.
    “She
wants to see you” he shouts at my retreating frame. I slam the door loud enough
to make his secretary flinch as I storm out his office.
    If
his precious Anna wanted to see me how come she need Lucas to relay the
message. It was public knowledge that I own MADD Pulse if she really wanted to
see me she would have long ago. This is some kind of ploy to make sure my
father and I leave Lucas and his dad alone.
    I
walk to my car in a haze not remembering how I got there. Before I know it I’m
driving in front of the home my father and I sold to get away from all this
madness. At the time we needed a fresh start away from the happy family that my
mom and the Fields’ had become.
    After
the police pulled me off Lucas I was arrested and spent the night in a holding
cell. I blew off graduation, opting not to walk. My dad’s connections got me
into a college in Florida so we left within two weeks. Replaying all the days
my mom would spend at the Fields after Lucas’ mom died, I had assumed she was
trying to help them get over their grieving period. All along she was warming
Mitchell Fields bed and filling the gap Lucas’ mother had left in his life.
    I
drive a couple blocks up and stop in front of the Fields’ house. She’s one of
them now. Anna Fields. She had her happily ever after behind those walls with
the family she handpicked for