Fade - Book cover

Fade

Haley Ladawn

Followed

LILY

His blue eyes. His rough fingers. His naked body.

These were all I could think about ever since I managed to escape that office. Of course, I hadn’t kissed Elliot Santoro. I’m not that dumb.

But had I wanted to?

More than I cared to admit.

It’s all I could think about.

And all my best friend Elisa seemed to care about, as well, right now.

“Did you take a picture?” she asked.

“Take a picture of what?”

“His cock, dummy!” For a smart girl, Elisa could be really stupid.

“No, I didn’t take a picture of his cock!”

“Well, that’s a shame. I could have done with something to brighten up my day. How big are we talking?”

We sat down at Elisa’s kitchen table, each with a takeaway Starbucks coffee, and I did my best to answer her ri–dick–ulous questions.

“Well…not that I’ve seen too many, but it was pretty scary!”

“Listen, girl,” she said, exasperated, “all I’m trying to find out is, was it more like a shoelace or more like a snake?”

I cringed even as I said it: “I think I saw fangs.”

She laughed, and continued, completely unabashed as usual. “Look! If my boss at McDonalds were anything like the man you are describing, I wouldn't take a day off! I'd be right in there making my move!”

“Elisa, the point I’m trying to make isn’t that he was hot, it’s that he was a douchebag!”

“A douchebag with a six-pack and a massive dick!” she shouted back.

I could tell she was considering a couple more job interviews…

“So, he’s standing in front of you, naked, huge muscles…and you dropped to your knees, right? Gave him a blowjob so he’d give you a real job?”

She flashed me her naughtiest wink, enjoying how much this conversation was making me squirm.

“No! I turned around, kept my dignity, and left. And besides, everything about him was kind of…frightening.”

She couldn’t believe me right now. And I couldn’t believe her!

That was the thing about best friends, I guessed. We were built differently for a reason.

ELISA

Wow. My best friend had just left, turning her back on a hot, filthy-rich, and dangerous Italian-American University President.

Lily and I did things very differently. But I had to respect her for sticking to her principles.

“So, that’s it, you just walked straight out?”

“Well…not exactly. I reached for the door handle, and then he was behind me, and…”

“I KNEW IT!” I shouted. “So, this naked Italian stallion mounted you from behind and fucked your brains out, right? I knew there was more to the story!”

“No!” Lily shook her head, exasperated. “I told him, ‘Mr. Santoro, no amount of money could make me be near you for five days a week.’ Pretty badass, right?”

My jaw dropped. I looked at my drop-dead gorgeous girlfriend, with her curvy figure and red hair, and shook my head slowly.

“Badass it may have been, but girl, you need to get yourself some D! And I don’t mean the vitamin.”

She scoffed. “Just cos you’re getting it all the time from your boyfriend doesn’t mean I need it. I’m perfectly happy as I am, thanks.”

Aw, it’s sweet watching her try to fool herself.

It’s not that I wanted to sound like a broken record, but as her friend, I felt it was my job to convince her otherwise.

“Lily, babe, everyone needs it! ALL THE TIME! If you don't get offered this job, I'm going to march you down there and make you strip right in front of me just so I can be sure!”

Sometimes, being best friends with Lily was also a bit like being a parent; she didn’t know what she needed, and it was my job to help her get it.

And right now, what she needed was something Italian, something muscular, and something with another large something between its legs!

Lily and I had been best friends since we were kids. That’s how Connor, Lily’s ex and my step-brother, met. I’d been the one who set them up.

But since Connor died?

It was like Lily had been sinking. All she needed was something to hang onto.

Maybe this job, and this Italian man who was clearly so into her, were exactly what she needed to turn her life around.

And if it was anyone’s job to help her, it was mine!

I’d do anything for her. As best friends, we always had each other’s backs.

Our relationship wasn’t about to change anytime soon!

“Lil,” I began, knowing this conversation could be hard, “since Connor passed, it’s like a part of you has, too. You need to get yourself back out there!

“There are plenty more people in the world who can make you happy,” I insisted, “and you deserve that!”

“I can’t believe you’re saying that—he was your step-brother!”

“So, I knew him as well as anyone! And I know he would have wanted you to be happy.”

I could see, she knew I was right.

“It’s just hard not to miss him, you know?” she said with a sigh.

“I know, babe.” I went over and gave her a massive hug, hoping my strength could somehow pass to her.

I hugged her as fiercely as I could, knowing actions spoke louder than words, and that with this hug, she would know exactly how much I loved her.

We untangled from each other and looked into each other’s eyes, wet with tears.

“Now!” I exclaimed. You know what you need?”

Lily let out a laugh, “What do I need? And please don’t say dick.”

“Well…” I pretended to think about it for a second, just to wind her up, and gulped down the last of my coffee. “No. Right now, what you need is Walmart!”

LILY

Sometimes, Elisa really could put her foot in things. But other times, she knew exactly what to say.

And the most important thing about best friends? Best friends know exactly when a tradition is necessary, like our Walmart shopping sprees.

Elisa was pushing our shopping trolley around the corners of the aisles like a speed skater! She’d always been an adrenaline junky.

I had to run just to keep up!

Other shoppers stared at us as we giggled like little kids.

“OOH, popcorn!” Elisa skidded our trolley to a halt and turned to me with a devilish grin.

“Salty or sweet?”

“Both, obviously.” Technically, I was still on a diet, but after that interview, I’d earned myself a day off.

“Wow, someone’s got a big appetite. You could say greedy. But only greedy for food, I wonder? Or are you really greedy for the love of a good man?”

I rolled my eyes, as a grandmother walking past looked at Elisa like she may have just taken years off her life.

“Just the popcorn for me, Elisa,” I said sharply.

“We’ll see…” she responded, determined still to tease me. “Ooh, what’s in this aisle, I wonder?”

Elisa turned another corner with the trolley, its wheels squeaking against Walmart’s shiny floor.

“Would you look at that?” she said cheekily. “This aisle sells condoms. What are the chances? Now, how big did you say that Italian stallion Elliot Santoro was? XL, or XXL?”

I laughed, even though I was trying not to. This girl really knew how to push my buttons, but I loved her all the more for it.

This sort of thing was way out of my comfort zone.

Elisa’s mind, on the other hand, was absolutely filthy and always had been. She’d always had older boyfriends, and she never felt any shame in telling me exactly what she got up to with them.

I knew more about Elisa’s life between the sheets than I knew about American history.

“I don't suppose Elliot has a sexy Italian brother, does he?” Elisa asked, hopefully.

“I don’t know, I’ll ask him the next time I see him,” I replied sassily. “Which will be never.”

“Lily James! You are the most stubborn girl in the world,” Elisa chided.

I laughed, shaking my head. But then, my smile fell. I felt it. A tingling along my neck. A sixth sense telling me something was up.

Someone was following us.

I turned around slowly, trying to remain calm, and caught a trailing leg out the corner of my eye, dashing around the corner.

Was I going mad?

Sometimes, you just get that feeling, and sometimes, you have to trust it.

Sometimes, the universe is trying to help you out of danger.

The skin continued to prickle on the back of my neck.

A second later, my phone buzzed in my pocket, scaring the life out of me and making me literally jump in the air.

My hands shook as I took my phone from my pocket.

UNKNOWN NUMBERI can’t stop thinking about u…
LILYwho is this?
UNKNOWN NUMBERForgot me already?
UNKNOWN NUMBERMaybe I need to give u a better show next time…
LILYseriously who is this?
LILYim gonna block this number
UNKNOWN NUMBER$69 an hour.
UNKNOWN NUMBERThe job is yours.
UNKNOWN NUMBERWe can do this the easy way or the hard way.
LILY😠
LILYthe answer is still NO Mr. Santoro
LILYgood luck getting someone new to fill the role
UNKNOWN NUMBERBig mistake.

Now, this was getting seriously weird. First, I had the feeling I was being followed, and then, out of nowhere, the man texted me.

How had Elliot Santoro gotten my number? And what did he mean by “big mistake?” Was that a threat?

I felt like I ought to be scared of him. But for some reason…the idea he was going to pursue me even more made me wet between the legs.

And in the middle of a Walmart, that’s saying something.

“What is it?” Elisa asked, curious.

Clearly, she could see from my expression I was feeling a lot of things at once. I still couldn’t get over the fact he was seriously offering me $69 an hour.

What a ridiculously obvious sex reference.

But also…that was a lot of money for an internship.

Maybe, if I could control myself, if I could keep the President at arm’s length…maybe it would be worth it.

“Earth to Lily,” Elisa said, waving a hand in front of my face. “Something the matter?”

“No,” I said, trying to shake it off.

But I knew, one way or another, I would need to respond to Elliot sooner rather than later.

***

Elisa dropped me off, and I was barely home for five minutes when I heard a loud knocking on the door.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

Elisa must have forgotten something.

I ran back over to the door and flung it open.

“What did you forget—?”

The words caught in my throat before I could finish them.

Standing before me, filling the entire doorway, drenched from head to toe from the pouring rain, was Elliot Santoro.

Had he somehow gotten taller? Had his frame somehow gotten even more muscular?

For the first time, I properly noticed the tattoos on his hands as he clung to the doorframe with force.

“Mr. Santoro!” I exclaimed shocked. “What are you doing here?”

He flashed me a sumptuous grin filled with straight white teeth.

“I told you made a mistake,” he growled. “And now it’s time to pay the price.”

Pay the price?

Why did that sound so threatening? And why did a threat make me so weak at the knees, so short for air, so wet between my thighs?

What was Elliot Santoro about to do to me?

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