PROLOGUE

OLIVIA CABELLO

My chest rises and falls with an erratic intake of breath.

The Manhattan city lights shine from outside the glass-ceiling windows in this penthouse, reaching all the way inside the room, to me and to the man standing in front of me.

He picks his shirt from the floor and my eyes linger on the muscles on his shoulders, the tats on his arms, down to his lean waist.

Ryat Winchester, first son to the Winchesters who own the whole of Manhattan, has always been handsome.

Blessed with emerald eyes- so dark and intriguing, a body built like a Greek god, messy dark brown hair and a chiseled jaw that could cut through cheese; he was Manhattan’s most eligible bachelor for a reason.

I’m still sore since he was inside of me a few minutes ago but that doesn’t mean I don’t want more of Ryat Winchester tonight. I’ve wanted more for two years.

We meet on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at exactly ten pm. Once he gets what he wants from me which is sex (hot and steamy sex if I might add), he leaves. Nothing more, nothing less.

Lately, I’ve been wanting more and secretly I think he wants more too.

“Ryat”, I purr his name nervously.

He doesn’t cast me a glance as he picks his phone from the floor, turning it on and going through his messages.

“I’ve been thinking… maybe you could stay for the night?”

He never stays for the night.

Never. Ever.

His eyes move from his phone to me in seconds, his jaw already ticking.

“What’s this about Olivia? You want more money? Is that it?”

I scoff.

“Does it always have to be money? I stopped taking money from you a month ago and now I just want…”

My emotions curb my throat as he takes lengthy strides towards the bed, towards me and I’m shaking a little beneath the covers.

“You want what, curvy?” his voice comes out harsh.

“Is it bad for you to spend just one night with me? You don’t have to leave every time we have sex like I’m some stripper you found on the streets.”

His hand picks a loose tendril of my dark hair, tucking it behind my ear.

This is the Ryat I fell in love with. The Ryat who is gentle with me and actually sees me more than an object he can use every week.

“You are a stripper, Olivia. Are you forgetting that? Are you forgetting you’ve been spreading your legs for me every time I get you on this bed? See you on Tuesday, curvy. I want those legs even wider for me when I see you again.”

I’m not a stripper. I gave my virginity to you two years ago.

His lips land on my forehead.

Then he pulls away, walking towards the door with his phone in hand.

“Got a bit delayed with something, Tyson. I’m on my way”, Ryat speaks into the phone.

Delayed with something. Not someone. Not me.

A minute later, the door closes behind him and I am left in the penthouse picking the pieces of my slightly broken heart.

I don’t even get to cry and be miserable in this empty nine million-dollar penthouse when my phone rings somewhere in the room.

I get out of the bed and I find my phone hidden in a pile of my clothes.

Mom’s number and her face covers my entire screen and I pick it up with my heart in my mouth.

“Mom-.”

“W—where are you? Where were you, hija! I told you to look after your father while I was gone! I told you I would be gone for only ten minutes and you left him alone? Why, Liv? Why?”

I left because Ryat called me to meet a bit earlier than scheduled. Dad said he would be fine.

“Mom? Mama, calm down because I don’t understand a word you are saying. Can you give dad the phone maybe he might-.”

“This is all your fault! Your father… Liv, your father…”

My heart pounds at the sound of her voice cracking.

“Mom, what happened to dad? Mom, where’s dad?”

“We are in the hospital!”

No.

No.

“H-Hospital?” I stutter.

“He had a heart attack, Liv. I found him on the floor… I don’t know how long he was lying on the floor but Liv… he-he wasn’t moving and the doctors… the doctors have said nothing yet.”

“I’m on my way, mom. I’m coming.”

Guilt eats me as tears sting my eyes.

I left my father alone and came to meet with Ryat thinking I would get my fairytale ending by confessing my love for him.

Now my father is…

Five minutes later, I’m in a cab headed to St. Anne’s hospital.

Ten minutes later, I’m running to the hospital in heels and a face full of ruined makeup.

I spot my mother sobbing while my best friend Jules, consoles her.

“Mom, I’m here. I’m here. Everything is going to be okay.”

My mother’s tear-stricken face turns to me, her eyes gloss over me, my state, my makeup and my hair and disappointment covers her features.

I smell of sex, I look like I just stepped out from a hooker’s bar downtown.

“Nothing is going to be okay, Liv. The doctors say your father needs to undergo bypass surgery immediately. Otherwise, we might lose him.”

“We won’t.”

I won’t let dad die. I need him. I need him so much.

“Where are we going to get two hundred thousand dollars, Olivia? Even with insurance, we can’t afford that kind of money. We need to clear the bill before the surgery starts. What are we going to-.”

“Ryat”, I whisper.

Ryat Winchester has that kind of money.

Ryat Winchester will help me. I am sure of it.

Sharp pain pricks my right cheek and it takes a minute to realize my mother has just slapped me.

“Are you still that stupid? You have been one of Ryat Winchester’s whores for so long that you’ve become this stupid? Everyone knows what you are, Liv but I kept quiet because I refused to believe you would stoop this low.

Your father is in this state because you left him for that man and now you think that Ryat Winchester will help you? You are nothing to him, Olivia! Wake up!”

Hot fat tears line my cheeks but I still speak.

“He… he will help me. If I ask for his help, he will help me and dad will survive this.”

“Ryat Winchester is getting married, Olivia! He has no time for you or your problems.”

Her words hit me like a bucket of acid to my face.

“He is not… “

He is not getting married. He’s not engaged.

“It’s all over the news. Ryat Winchester is set to wed Irina Buchanon in the next few months.”

“No.”

It comes out as a pained hiss.

“This is all your fault and all you can think about is a fairytale that will never exist instead of thinking about your own father?”

I take a few steps back muttering a ‘no’ over and over again.

When reality hits me back, I look at my mother and whisper what I believe to be the truth.

“Dad will survive this because I’ll get the money from Ryat. He’ll help, he cares about me.”