All the odds were stacked against them. They were never supposed to be together. Finding out that Rhett was actually a billionaire just confirmed it.
One of them had to be a grownup and do the right thing. The thing that was best for both of them. She glanced one more time at her suitcase, at all the clothes strewn around her bed. Just a few minutes ago she’d been contemplating what to weed out, what she wouldn’t need, if she actually needed clothes at all, considering she’d spend most of her time naked… god, it hurt.
With trembling hands, Bella reached for her phone.
CHAPTER 17
Rhett
“So, let me get this straight. It’s because I have money that you won’t come this weekend.” Rhett gave his head a shake. He had to have the worst damn luck in history.
“I can’t be like my sister.”
“You’re nothing like your sister.” Rhett barely resisted the urge to curl his fingers around his phone and crush it in his grip. Seeing as that would be completely counter-productive to actually finishing his call with Bella, he managed not to.
“Still. I can’t. You didn’t tell me that you’re a fucking billionaire, Rhett. I can’t do it. I can’t keep seeing you. Everyone is going to say that it’s bad. We already knew that just based on the fact you were with my sister and now, you’re banging me, and our parents would think that’s completely off the hook inappropriate-”
“I don’t care what people think.”
“Yeah- well- I do. I care that people don’t call me a gold-digger or a money-grubber just like my sisters. I’ve always cared. I’ve always made my own way. I don’t want someone to give me a free ride. I want to have my independence. I want to work. I want to feel like the things I have in my life were earned, not given to me because I was scamming them off of someone.”
“But you aren’t scamming anything off of me.”
“Still. I know what’s going to happen and where this is going to end up. I- I can’t do it.”
“But you knew that I had money before.”
“Not like that. You didn’t tell me. Honestly, I can’t believe my sister. She had it made, because that’s exactly what she was going for. I can’t believe she fucked it all up and I mean that in the nicest sense.”
“Wow. So, one sister only wants me for my money and the other sister refuses to be with me because of it. Like fucking wow. I just can’t win.”
“This isn’t your fault. I- it’s me.”
“Isn’t that what everyone says in a breakup.”
This time, it was Bella’s sigh that drifted over the phone. “Honestly, I don’t know. We aren’t dating though so this isn’t a breakup. We were just having some fun. That’s all this was. I thought we both knew that. I thought we were both adults. Don’t prove me wrong.”
“You know what?” Rhett’s ire rose and since his chest was caving in and his heart splintered- again- he wasn’t able to keep the biting tone out of his voice.
“What?” Bella sounded just as crushed and he almost felt bad. Almost. Maybe that would come later. For the moment, his anger was definitely clouding his vision.
“This is just bullshit. It’s ridiculous. You say that we’re both adults, but you’ve always been so afraid of what people are going to say about you that you can’t even take a step in either direction without worrying about how it’s going to look. About who you’re going to piss off because you like that. I’m honestly surprised that you don’t want everyone to know about us. That you don’t want to keep doing this. It would piss your parents off big time and that’s basically what you live for, isn’t it?”
The low grumble over the phone was definitely exasperated. There was absolutely no doubt about it. “I’ve told you before. That’s not who I am. That’s not how I’m made. I needed to take a break from my family because I wanted to be a decent, honest person. I’ve never agreed with them because I’ve always wanted to do the right thing, even if it was hard and that pisses a lot of people off, my family included. How I look, how I dress, where I live, those things were for me. I don’t do things just to make them angry, even though you clearly think so. I thought you would have learned after our first argument that I get really pissed off when things like that are suggested.”
“I…” Okay, now he really did feel like a grade A asshole.
“No. Seriously. Just save it. We’re both pissed and nothing good is going to come from that. This was never destined to work. We had some fun. It was good while it lasted. The first time was definitely a mistake. The second time was supposed to be closure. Everything after that was just bonus. It was what we both needed. Let’s just remember it that way. I had a great time, for the most part. I think you did too. It’s not going any further, so let’s just let it go before either of us gets hurt.”