Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23638 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23638 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
But I won’t let Zane humiliate me. I sniffle one last time and then raise my chin defiantly. That man just insulted me, pissed me off, and thoroughly disrespected me in front of others. I’m not going to let that asshole get the best of me because who is Zane Cathcart to treat me this way? No one should be doing that. Slowly, I place my napkin on the table and leave the restaurant with my head held high, even though my entire world has just fallen apart.
11
Zane
* * *
I button up my shirt and toss a jacket over my shoulder. It’s cold outside, but I feel warm because anger will do that to you. It’s been a full week since I discovered the reality of my life, and rage still bubbles in my chest. I’ve been trying to calm myself with punishing workouts, yoga, and meditation, but all that is worth shit. The only thing that works is alcohol, and I’ve been drinking myself into a stupor each night this week.
But my friend Todd called me up and persuaded me to meet him at a bar in Hell’s Kitchen. Fine. With a grim look, I get into my Uber and within minutes, I’m dropped in front of a decent, if unassuming, looking place.
Todd is already inside and seated at the bar when I arrive. There’s an Old Fashioned on the counter, and I pour the drink down my gullet in one gulp.
“Damn man, rough week? It’s only Wednesday.”
I shake my head, the black strands messy. “You have no idea what I’ve been going through. It’s been hell.”
Todd looks sympathetic. He’s a handsome motherfucker, and often likes to enjoy two girls at once during Sanctum events.
“What happened?” he asks. “Something at work?”
I snort.
“Hardly. Do you remember I told you about that private hunt I asked Sanctum management to arrange for me? The Virgin Hunt? Well, I paid six figures for that fucking event, but the women weren’t virgins at all. I was duped.”
Todd stares at me for a moment and then bursts out laughing, nearly falling off his chair. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
I shake my head, misinterpreting his words.
“Yeah, right? I thought it would be the first time these girls were taking dick, but I found out that they’re fucking whores.”
Todd just shakes his head again.
“No, no, that’s not what I meant. You thought there would be actual virgins? Dude, this isn’t a Jane Austen novel.”
I stare at him.
“Yeah, but I paid six figures. I mean, what the fuck was I paying for?”
He shrugs.
“I have no idea, but you’ve got your head screwed on wrong if you think anyone’s going to be able to procure a dozen virgins for you. Fuck, you’d have to go to a remote village in Siberia or Kathmandu or something. Girls lose it early these days, like at fourteen. What’s wrong with you?”
I stare bitterly at the bar.
“It’s just what I wanted.”
Todd rolls his eyes. “Good luck with that. Unless you turn into a creep and find some teens, you’re SOL, my man. Besides, it’s not like there’s even any way to tell if a girl’s a virgin. She could break her hymen playing volleyball or going horseback riding, but that doesn’t mean she’s had dick in her.”
I snort.
“Yeah, whatevs.”
My buddy merely shrugs.
“You’re being childish, my man. I hate to say it but it’s pretty ridiculous. I mean, what are you, living in the Victorian era or something? It’s weird you’d even expect women to be pure. If anything, I prefer a woman with experience because she knows what’s she’s doing and how to keep a man happy in bed.”
My lips are a flat line.
“I expected Sanctum to deliver. I paid for it.”
Todd shrugs his broad shoulders.
“My guess is that they didn’t take you seriously because your request was so out there. No one in their right mind would expect actual virgins at the hunt.”
I snort.
“I guess I’m not in my right mind then.”
Todd chuckles and claps me on the back. “I could’ve told you that a long time ago.”
“I still want my money back.”
My buddy just shrugs.
“Listen, you have so much that the cash really doesn’t matter. Come on. As one businessman to another, we both know that the money is nothing. But is there something else on your mind?”
Suddenly, I realize that I don’t care about the club at all. My thoughts are really on Jemima, and a frog creeps into my throat.
“There is a girl,” I admit in a low tone. “Jemima. I fucked her the night of the hunt, and we’ve been going strong ever since. But she told me she wasn’t a virgin last week, and we haven’t spoken since.”
Todd nods thoughtfully.
“You miss her?”
I jerk my chin, suddenly miserable.
“Yeah. I’ve been an ass, haven’t I? Fuck, of course she’s not a virgin. She’s so gorgeous and luscious, of course men have been after her for years.”