Chapter 9

The Aston Martin tore down the Long Island Expressway, the engine roaring as Dolph pushed the car well past the speed limit.

The atmosphere inside the leather-lined cabin was suffocating. The air pressure felt heavy enough to crush bone.

Dolph grips the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were completely white. His jaw was clenched tight. He was using the extreme speed to burn off the terrifying realization that he had lost control and kissed her back.

Jaelynn cradled her throbbing right wrist with her left hand. The silence was unbearable.

"Where are we going?" she asked, her voice quiet.

Dolph didn't turn his head. A cruel, vicious smirk twisted his lips.

"Do you really think one kiss is going to buy you the protection of the Valentine family?" he mocked, his voice dripping with venom.

He didn't stop there. He took a knife to her deepest insecurities. "You chased Gordon around like a pathetic lapdog for years. Everyone on the Upper East Side knows you're just the bankrupt, broken toy Gordon threw away."

The words hit Jaelynn directly in the chest.

All the blood drained from her face. Her lips trembled. The insult was so precise, so cruel, it felt like he had physically gutted her.

She bit down on the inside of her cheek until she tasted copper, forcing the tears back down her throat.

"I don't care about feelings anymore," Jaelynn fired back, her voice turning to ice. "I only care about money and power."

That sentence seemed to trigger something violent in Dolph.

He slammed his foot on the brake pedal.

The Aston Martin's tires shrieked against the asphalt, leaving thick black marks as the car violently jerked to a halt on the shoulder of the highway.

Dolph unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned across the console. He grabbed her chin, his fingers digging into her jaw.

His eyes were pitch black, filled with a terrifying rage. "If you're selling yourself, don't act like you have any pride left," he snarled.

"You are nothing but a toy to me," Dolph said, his words designed to destroy her. "Something to use to piss Gordon off. When I'm bored of you, I'll throw you in the trash where you belong."

Jaelynn stared straight into his furious eyes. She forced her mouth into a broken, ugly smile.

"As long as the price is right, I'll gladly be your trash," she whispered.

Dolph let go of her face like she burned him. He looked disgusted.

He threw the car back into drive. He didn't speak another word for the rest of the trip. He drove straight into Manhattan and slammed on the brakes outside a random, dirty subway station.

He didn't look at her as she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out.

The moment she closed the door, the Aston Martin sped off, disappearing into the city traffic.

Jaelynn stood alone on the dirty sidewalk. Her legs gave out. She crouched down next to a trash can, buried her face in her good hand, and sobbed silently, her shoulders shaking with the weight of her humiliation.

When the tears stopped, she wiped her face. Her eyes were hard and empty. She knew this was the price of the transaction.

She walked down into the subway and took the train straight to Brooklyn.

She knocked on Adrianne's door. When Adrianne opened it and saw Jaelynn's swollen wrist and exhausted face, she started crying.

Adrianne rushed to the freezer, grabbed a bag of frozen peas, and wrapped it around Jaelynn's wrist.

Sitting on the lumpy, cheap sofa, Jaelynn calmly told Adrianne everything. The kiss, the rejection, the cruel words.

"He's a monster, Jae. You have to stay away from him. We'll find another way. You can get a job," Adrianne pleaded, wiping her eyes.

Jaelynn shook her head. She pulled out her phone and opened the photo of the ICU bill Artie had sent her. "I don't have time to work for a paycheck, Adri."

Jaelynn opened her banking app. She took the last few hundred dollars she had hidden away and transferred it to a cheap moving company. She hired them to go to the Upper East Side penthouse and pack up her room.

"I'm never going back to that house," Jaelynn stated. "I'm done being Artie's victim."

Miles away, in a luxury high-rise in Manhattan, Dolph sat in a dark room.

He stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows, a glass of amber whiskey in his hand. The floor around his chair was littered with cigarette butts.

Boone pushed the door open. He looked at the mess and frowned. "Are you out of your mind, Dolph? Actually messing with Gordon's ex?"

Dolph downed the whiskey in one swallow. The alcohol burned his throat. "I'm just teaching a gold-digger a lesson," he said coldly.

Boone raised an eyebrow. "You almost broke Gordon's arm on the court today. That didn't look like you were just 'teaching her a lesson'."

Dolph slammed the heavy crystal glass down on the table. The sharp crack echoed in the room. "Mind your own business, Boone."

Back in Brooklyn, the movers dumped three cheap cardboard boxes in the middle of Adrianne's living room.

Jaelynn used her left hand to rip the tape open. Inside were a few old books and framed photos of her mother from when she was younger.

Jaelynn picked up the photos. Without a second thought, she threw them directly into the trash can. She was cutting all ties. She was ready for war tomorrow.