She stared around at her small, elegantly decorated apartment and absorbed the silence. She glanced at the coffee table, and a small box of ripped movie and Broadway show tickets from when she and Salvador went on numerous dates. She was shaking with fury and some fear. Salvador expected respect, and when he was questioned, she experienced his wrath. It wasn’t pretty. She had enough verbal abuse at home. It was another reason why she left. She thought about her parents. The fact that her mother allowed her husband to hit her still to this day frightened Tia Rose. Was Salvador capable of hurting her like that?
I know the answer. I’ve been denying it for months. Of course he is. Look how quickly he dumped me. Now I have no one again. Is being completely alone, cut off from the world, better than withstanding the pain of insults and abuse?
Suddenly the anger and the hatred for his words, his description of her being a coldhearted bitch slowly began to disintegrate. She was single again. Her very first real relationship went down the tubes because of her feelings of inadequacies, her lack of sexual experience, and her body.
She hated her body.
She hated the large breasts, her large ass, and that damn bit of belly that would never flatten. She did crunches and abdominal workouts until she pulled her back out. She wasn’t overly fat, just husky, well-built if she lived in the Renaissance Era. Back then, a woman with her voluptuous, well-curved figure would be considered most beautiful, and the kind of woman every man dreamed of. Women with large breasts and large hips were considered goddesses. Why hadn’t Salvador seen me as a goddess?
The tears rolled down her cheeks as she grabbed the box, the reminder of a man who hardly knew her at all, and who most definitely didn’t love her. She walked to the garbage and threw out the box. She needed to get ready for work.
It was over. Salvador made his choice. If Leza was what he found to be sexually stimulating, then so be it. Today, life changed for Tia Rose. Today, she was once again alone in a world obsessed with emaciated women, dominated by the big mouths with the deep pockets, and she was on the bottom. Her mother was right. A rich handsome man wanted one thing and one thing only. She remembered her mother’s hateful words when she called to tell her that she had found someone.
He won’t stick around, Tia. He wants one thing from you, and I’m sure you gave it up. Why buy the cow when the milk’s for free?
Tia Rose thought about that. The words sunk in immediately. Her mother’s intentions in insulting her weight and her lack of self-control were enunciated with the words, “Why buy the cow”—me—“when you can get the milk for free?” My virginity. My pussy. Well, that asshole never even gave me an orgasm.
She would get through this. Just like she got through leaving Missouri, her broken heart, and her abusive parents. She had to stop with the self-destruction. She was alone in this world. That was the bottom line. There was no sugar-coating it anymore. Alone, miserable, and unloved. Something had to change. What worse could happen to her now?
Chapter 1
Tia Rose was in a hell of a mood. It seemed like her day could get a bit worse after all. As she took the cab, she sat on melted chocolate. At least she hoped that it was chocolate. Disgusted, she tossed the cab driver his fare, told him about the dirty seat, and then proceeded to the front of the office building. She wished she had worn her light sweater. It was a bit chilly. Scratch that, she wished she had worn a black skirt. That would have at least hid the chocolate. She always kept a change of clothes in her office at work. Just in case. So all she needed to do was get past the front desk and hopefully her bosses, Bernadette and Cade Sinclair.
“Good morning, Tia Rose. You are punctual as usual. I hope you don’t mind that I arrived for our meeting thirty minutes early. I have a plane to catch, and I want to stop by the store before I head out.”
Tia Rose cringed with her head lowered, staring at the floor, and pausing in her tracks. Shit, fuck, shit.
Slowly she looked up. Not that she had to. She knew the sound of the very wealthy, charismatic playboy. God, Dante Parrone was gorgeous. He also hung out with only the hottest females around. He complimented her about her green eyes on more than one occasion. But he was only being a flirt, as most millionaires were.
“Oh, Good morning, Mr. Perrone. Um, could you just give me a few moments to settle in?”
“Dante, darling. How are you this morning? Did Tia offer you an espresso or anything?” Bethany Tyler asked. She appeared out of nowhere. I swear that woman can smell money from a mile away.
“Ah, Bethany. You look wonderful as always. No, she didn’t have a chance to. Tia just arrived,” he said.
Tia Rose turned around to head to her office. She bent over to grab the bag she dropped, as she was carrying too much into work as usual.
Is it really bad that my lack of self-confidence has me thinking about the little homemade chocolate biscotti I made yesterday that are sitting in my lunch bag? Oh, dipping it into some fancy coffee from the office coffee bar would be so relaxing right now.
“Tia, I was hoping to meet with you about those designs. Didn’t you mention a whole catalog of new furniture concepts you had?” Her boss, Bernadette Sinclair, appeared from the hallway.
“Oh, hello, Dante. How are you, darling?” she asked then kissed the gorgeous specimen of male on each cheek. It was so French and obviously above Tia Rose’s low standards. All three of these people completely forgot that she was in the room. S
he decided to leave them to their fancy-smancy, rich people talk. Well, in Bethany’s case, wannabe rich person. Bethany saw dollar signs and had no morals or values whatsoever. She’d spread her legs for any man with money, and she’d stab her own mother in the back if it meant Bethany would be in the spotlight and filled with fortune. She was that bad.
Tia didn’t trust her, but unfortunately, Bethany held the position right above her. She was her boss, so Tia had to keep her mouth shut. That was becoming more and more difficult to do lately. That woman really aggravated Tia Rose. She was so pompous, and she had the nerve to continue to steal Tia Rose’s ideas.
Well, I’m too much of a wuss to stand up for myself. Just like what Salvador told me on the phone. I will never stand up for myself. I’m weak and I’m a loser.
She heard a gasp and quickly turned around. Now a few other office workers were standing there. Bethany looked downright excited. Her shit-eating grin was so obvious and huge that Tia wondered what could have possibly made the woman smile that way. One glance at Dante Perrone and his very uncertain expression, and she felt guilty of something. Her boss had her eyebrows scrunched up, and why was she sniffing the air like that?
“Oh, Mrs. Sinclair, don’t worry about the catalogue items Tia was speaking of. I have them all organized and ready to present to you, Mr. Sinclair, and the board. We’re meeting in thirty minutes, correct?” Bethany asked.
“What? How could you have the catalogue when I created—”
“I think you need to go use the ladies’ room, Tia. Perhaps you should have taken a sick day,” she said then chuckled as she looped her arm through Dante’s. Dante immediately pulled from Bethany and gave Tia a very apologetic look. Tia had no idea what was going on, and then it hit her.
“Oh. Oh my God, you’re all talking about my skirt. Oh, there was this cab,” she began to say, but then her boss walked away. The others parted, giggling, and Bethany pulled Dante along with him. Tia could hear what she was saying.