Lust, Lies, and Forbidden Ties ✵ h.s.

✵ twenty-six ✵

tw: scenes in this chapter may be uncomfortable to some viewers

Harry's POV

     It was the following weekend, and I had gone out to lunch with a couple of people who had endorsed Gucci, but wanted to see if it was worth continuing to endorse. Of course, Marco sent me to speak with them, and I knew it was because I was good at encouraging people to do things usually. Or, I was when it came to my line of work anyway. The week had already been a long one, so I was looking forward to spending the rest of my night alone. Trey drove me back home from my lunch meeting, my plans for the rest of the day free. It was nice to have absolutely nothing to do, and while my nights weren't always busy, I usually had plans of some sort, but not today.

Trey parked in front of the apartment building, quickly getting out of the vehicle and opening my door. I told him to have a good evening, and reminded him about having the weekend off. He asked if I was certain, and I knew he had a family, so I wanted him to spend it with them. Usually, he worked way more than he probably should have, and while I was looking into hiring someone else on the side, I also knew he enjoyed working for me. It was also probably a good amount of money for what he did, so I was certain that was why he didn't mind missing out on so much time with his family. Of course, anytime his daughters had something at school, I would immediately find a replacement driver, knowing it was important for them to have their father there.

Brushing the thoughts off, I smiled at Trey, telling him to have a great weekend before heading inside. Almost immediately I wanted to change my mind, not even wishing to stay in this current space. It was as if the air had been sucked out of my lungs and I just kind of looked for a long moment before slowly approaching. The receptionist at the front desk was staring at me, seeming to think about whether she should have kicked the woman in front of her out of not. I simply glared at the one in front of the desk, my attention turning to the blonde woman in front of me now.

"Harry."

"I really don't have time for this," I explained smoothly. "I'm so busy."

"You never have time. Can't we just have a little chat?"

"Kristen, really, I don't—"

She grabbed a hold of my shirt, her eyes dark as they stared into mine. Instantly, I was all hers, not knowing what she would do if I went on and continued saying I didn't have time for her. It wasn't until I officially agreed to let her come upstairs that she let go of me, the two of us waiting in the elevator together. We were both silent, Kristen walking into my home once I had unlocked the door and pushed it open for her. She made herself comfortable on the sofa, and I found myself heading over to the kitchen, filling a kettle with water and placing it on the stove easily.

"Come sit, baby," she called.

"I told you not to call me that anymore."

"Oh, please," she pouted, her puppy dog eyes nearly pulling me in, but recalling the reason for our breakup quickly changed that. "I missed you."

"I've been so busy."

"Harry, you've been busy for nearly four years, I think we can sit down and have a little chat."

My nerves were on high alert, and I found myself heading to my room, telling her I had to use the bathroom. It wasn't true, but I went to my bathroom anyway, shutting the door and locking it. I could feel everything in my body was shaking and after everything going on recently, I certainly didn't feel comfortable with my ex-fiancé in the living room. Pulling open one of the lower drawers to the vanity, I grabbed the orange prescription bottle, taking out one of the Xanax pills and managing to break off a fourth of it. I didn't take the pills often, but I had them in case I was literally shaking from anxiety, swallowing it down dry as quickly as I could. Placing the orange pill bottle back in the original place under the sink, I messed up my hair, waiting a couple of minutes for the medicine to start kicking in before heading back out to the living room.