The Bitter End Read online

  “I stopped by to see if you got your invitation yet.”

  “To what?” I asked her as Ryan walked to my kitchen and Carson turned the lights on for him which pisses me off. How an A.I. can honestly become attached to someone is beyond me but it seemed that Carson liked him as odd as that sounds.

  “Shower.”

  “What?” I said as I looked at her and she walked up with an elaborate invitation in her hand. I took it and flipped the card to see that the writing was gold, real no doubt, and I narrowed my eyes and read it.

  “Fucking kidding me,” I said as I lowered it and stared at Holland.

  “She is having a party, biggest one this year seems like and it is a masquerade ball. Strange for a baby shower but then again she is fucking weird anyway.”

  “She is treating this like it is a graduation or some shit.”

  “Well she is,” Ryan said as he walked back in and looked at me.

  I rolled my eyes and looked at him.

  “Money…purse,” I said and he laughed and walked to the couch and sat down as my eyes followed him with distain.

  “What do you mean?” Holland asked him as she followed him to the couch and sat down to close to him, pulling her legs up and acting all coy. I sat down on the large matching leather couch across from them and looked upward.

  “Carson, light.”

  The room lit up as Carson opened the ceiling up and exposed the skylight to heaven as I called it. I mean you look straight up into the atmosphere at this height. I looked at Ryan and waved my hand.

  “Well?” I asked him and he smiled and looked up at the light raining down on us and I saw his bruises on his neck and so did Holland. She looked at me and smiled pointing at him and I shook my head ‘no’.

  “She is moving up. I mean she was the order in pussy, now she will be locked in, with this kid.”

  I laughed and then stopped as he adjusted his dick in his pants and I caught myself looking. I cleared my throat.

  “So you are saying she is getting a promotion.”

  “Yes, just like that.” He added and I sighed.

  “Nice…real fucking nice.”

  “Very insightful Ryan.”

  I looked at Holland and narrowed my eyes. She looked at me mouthing “what?” and I rolled my eyes at her.

  “Anyway, so when is this bullshit?” I asked. I had read the card and stopped after the “celebrating the arrival” crap.

  “This Saturday,” she said and I stopped breathing for a second.

  “This Saturday? Why so fucking soon? And where is my invitation?” I added and Holland leaned back and shrugged her shoulders at me.

  ****

  I sat in my Father’s study, not unlike I had on many occasions before. When I was growing up this is where he would talk to me about shit. Be it school, or whatever. He often started with “You know Bethany, with your obligations to this family lineage” and end with “your mother would be disappointed if she would remain sober for more than a day.” I hated when he tried to make me feel so small with so much to prove to him. I got it. I was not the boy he wanted. I was the one child who survived a horrible mess of a marriage and an evil union he held onto to for no other reason than to torture my mother and maybe me too. He hates women, all of them I do believe. He always treated me with distain and he ignored Mother most days. He paid attention to the staff who he had dress like porn stars in French maid outfits and their cries would ring out as he fucked them in the large house we called home. Home…what a fucking joke.

  The door opened and a woman walked in, not dressed like a whore as I was used to as I grew up, she was dressed in all black as if a funeral was coming. The dress was buttoned up to the neck and she had a white lace collar on. Her shoes were flat and black as well as the hose she wore. She was still young and pretty, but her red hair was pulled back tightly in a bun and she looked as if she had little to no make-up on. Since Miko moved in, no woman was allowed to pretty herself up on the staff, and that was one thing I thought was funny about her. How ironic seeing she was fucking my Father before Mother died and found it necessary to protect her nest. Fucking insanity.

  I watched as she poured me some hot green tea and dropped a mint leaf into it. It was my mother’s favorite and still a staple in the house as if a left over reminder of her passing. A ghost, as she was the last few years she was here. I held my hand up as she started to place a sugar cube into the cup and she stopped and turned as Miko entered, two dogs following her quickly and she held one in her arms. All white shih tzus, and all annoying as shit. They hated me and I hated them, the little nasty fuckers. She stopped and turned back, staring at the maid, who lowered her head and left us without Miko having to say a word. She is a cunt, the biggest one I had ever known. She had mastered it not unlike my Father had mastered being a sadist.

  “Bethany,” she said as she sat down and the dogs growled at me.

  Miko clicked her tongue and the two at her side sat down and looked at her as she smiled at them. She started to pet the one in her arms and then looked at me as the smile faded.

  “Miko,” I said and she tilted her head.

  “You need money I would assume?” she said and I sighed and leaned back in the large leather chair. I swear every piece of fucking furniture in this house is too big. Meant to intimidate and scare people, or maybe it is an extension of my Father’s dick. Who knows.

  “I have an account of my own,” I said and she leaned back and petted her dog.

  “Oh yes, an endless supply of play money. It must be nice to have everything handed to you from birth.”

  I sighed and decided to not take her bait. She loves to reel me in, fluff my feathers and then try to harm me. I am not giving a shit about it today. I am here on another mission.

  “Is Father home?” I asked her and she grinned and leaned up, looking at her nails, which were too long in my opinion. Nails like that are meant for one thing…skinning babies and eating them. In fact the idea of her being a mother is ridiculous.”

  “He is out, I am here. What do you need from him, Beth?” she asked me and I raised an eyebrow.

  “Nothing. I was just saying hello.”

  She laughed and it echoed. She quickly covered her mouth and looked at me.

  “Hello?” she added and it did sound ridiculous and it was also a lie.

  “Well, I mean that and I wanted to know about this Saturday.”

  “Oh, well.”

  She stood up and dropped the dog to the floor as it yelped. I watched it limp to the other two and felt sorry for it. She would surely drop my future brother, or sister on its head rendering it useless. Great. She walked to the large desk and tapped her fingers on it then picked up an envelope and walked back to me, holding it out to me and grinning.

  “It seems your invitation was not sent out yet. Pity,” she said and I smiled and jerked it from her pale fingers.

  “Holland told me, she received hers.”

  “I simply have to clean up the staffing here. It seems we have some who have no business serving your Father’s needs.”

  “I will be here,” I said as I stood up and she watched me walk to the large wooden doors.

  “You will be such a lovely sister, no kiss for Mommy?” she said as I stopped at the door and then quickly left with that haunting thought lingering in my mind.

  ****

  I cried in the car for a while as the driver sat there in front of my Father’s large home. I finally caught my breath and lowered the electronic barrier between us.

  “Home, Miss Beth?”

  “No. I want to…I need to shop. Downtown, please,” I said and I hit the button as the black window between us rose and he disappeared. I pulled my phone out and sighed as I pressed the number that was now my drug.

  “Beth.”

  “I will be downtown at Saks in 45 minutes.”

  “And?” Ryan said.

  “Be there or not, I don’t fucking care.”

  I pressed the butto
n on my phone and knew he would be there, he always came when I called him no matter what he was doing or where…or who. How lucky and utterly pathetic.

  Chapter Six

  The Heart of the Enemy

  “Move your fucking hand.” I growled as Ryan tried to steady me against the wall in the dressing room. The girl outside the door tapped on it lightly and leaned in as she heard some banging noises.

  “Can I assist you with anything?”

  “Fucking off!” I said as Ryan pushed upward and I could feel his hard cock inside of me. There has to come a point where this will become old, as people have with me before. The only person who had survived this long in my world is Holland and she serves many purposes. Friend, easy lay, club buddy. You name it she is my go to bitch but Ryan? Ryan is a revenge fuck. He is all of the aggression I have had built up in me forever and I get to treat him like shit and he fucks me better than anyone has ever come close to doing it. In fact he is the best but he will NEVER hear that from me. With his ego, which I have to assume is why he lingers with me, he will never leave. I am prey to him and until he breaks me (of which he will never do), he will try to stay. My game is to break him, hear the words ‘I love you’ and then cut the rope. Don’t think I am a cunt, well…I am I guess but trust me Ryan is too.

  He laughed as he grabbed my wrists and held them up over my head. I held onto his waist tightly with my legs. He slowed his pace as he moved his cock in and out of me and the gentle moment was confusing to me. We had not fucked once without some sort of beat the shit out of you mentality, so as he leaned in and kissed my lips I allowed it for a second and my back arched as he moaned inside of my mouth. I bit into his lip and it started to bleed. He hissed and slammed his pelvic bones against mine and dug his nails into the skin on my wrists. I looked up as the orgasm started slowly in my lower abdomen and then fanned out. It was more intense than it had been before and I found myself whispering his name which made him come even harder as he buried his sweat drenched face into my shoulder and said my name too. I stopped breathing. In fact time stopped all together and it was not until the lock clicked and the girl stepped in with her manager that I dropped down, pulling my skirt down and smiling as Ryan zipped his pants up and turned to them both grinning as usual. The manager cleared her throat and tried to speak but his bulge in his pants was distracting her and I pulled money from my purse and walked up to both of them. The manager hesitated but the clerk took her bribe and grinned as Ryan eyed her and it annoyed me. Why? I am not certain, but I let it leave me as quickly as it sprang up. Then the manager stared at me.

  “This is not appropriate.”

  “You know my Father?” I asked her and she shut up quickly.

  “Take the money and consider it a bonus…please,” I said as he reached up and took it and I glanced back to Ryan who was still eying them like meat.

  “Ready?” I asked him and he finally looked at me.

  “So, have a good day,” I said as I stepped past them and Ryan followed me. The clerk barely let him pass without brushing against her a bit and I sighed and looked at my watch as he stepped out and adjusted his tie. He looked back and whispered “call me” as he tucked a piece of paper into his pocket and then looked at me. Bother me? No, why would it?

  I walked to the counter and leaned in to see the rings in a row and Ryan stepped up next to me and let his fingers rub my exposed skin on my arm. I stepped over and broke contact with him and then tapped lightly on the glass with my gold fingernail. The attendant stepped up and looked at me and grinned. I eyed the ring and then he pulled it out and placed it front of me like an offering to the gods. I smiled and picked it up, letting the lights in the store play off of the red ruby and diamonds. I shook my head slightly as I realized I knew where I had seen this ring before, it had been the first fantasy my mind embellished on about Ryan, the ridiculous one where he repelled onto my balcony like some action hero and shit. I laughed a bit and set the ring back down onto it cradle. Ryan tapped the counter with his black card and I turned to look at him as the attendant took it and I crossed my arms on my chest.

  “What do you think you are doing?” I asked him.

  “You want it, don’t you?” he said as seductively as he always is.

  He stepped closer to me and took my hand in his, lowering it to his hard cock. Evidently he was not done with me yet and I would not be complaining. The “endless” thing is actually for the amount of times he can fuck you in a day. So far I think seven was our record. Today we had only been at it twice so it was early. He pressed my fingers against his cock through his pants and I squeezed slightly as he sighed at my lips. I stared into his eyes.

  “I can afford anything I want. You do not have to buy me shit,” I whispered to him and he grinned at me and looked down as I rubbed his cock.

  “I know, I just thought you….I….I….” he started to say and then he came and I smiled as I felt his cock twitch behind his zipper. I then licked my lip slowly as he watched me and the clerk returned with his card and handed it to him as he turned a bit flush and dizzy.

  “Thank you,” he said as he held onto the counter and I fluffed my hair and looked in the large mirror behind the counter. Ryan caught my eyes for a moment and it was the first time he looked different to me. Not so cocky, not so Ryan…just, a person. A guy who was looking at a woman and enjoying what he saw. I cleared my throat and pushed it from my mind as the clerk started to close the black box. Ryan stopped him and then took the ring and placed it on my finger, right hand of course. I looked down and stared at it and then he lifted my hand and kissed the ring as if I was royalty. Perhaps to him I am. I doubt there is a Queen in waiting, higher on a thrown than I am here in New York. My Father has assured me of that. He made me a target for any man who wanted ultimate power and for that I fucking hate him even more than I already do. It is because of this that I will never know if someone truly loves me. Small price to pay for inheriting the world I would guess.

  ****

  I stood in front of the mirror as my personal seamstress measured me and played with the fabric of the dress I would be wearing to the largest party this side of Hell: Miko’s elaborate masquerade ball to celebrate her pregnancy. Fucking ridiculous on so many levels I hate to even start complaining about it but it is Miko, the bitch who had white Arabian horses shipped in to “run” wild in the field behind them as she married my father. Yeah, that was nice. Or the boat she commissioned to carry all of the guests on a seven day cruise for the honeymoon. Did I mention the guest list topped 5000? Well it did. Again, ridiculous. She is so good at spending my father’s money it seems she was born to do it. I mean her nails are painted with gold, not fake…but real gold. She loves to adorn her eyes with jewels too. I guess it all depends on her mood and how much she wants to spend on what day. I would not be shocked if her pussy tasted like money. Not one bit.

  I hissed as the seamstress poked me with the needle on my side and I instinctively smacked her face and she stepped back from me.

  “Really?” I asked her and she started to cry.

  “Oh for fuck’s sake. Finish it and leave,” I said as she returned to working on me and Ryan tapped his wine glass behind me with his nails.

  “You look bored, why don’t you go play?” I asked him and he caught my stare in the three mirrors before me.

  “Well, dresses are best to me on the floor or pressed up around the hips,” he said and the seamstress tried to ignore him. I laughed as I usually do when he gets all dirty.

  “I could say the same for pants.”

  He stood up and walked up behind the seamstress who was on her knees beside me. He looked down and touched her hair and she looked up at me and I took a breath.

  “Money is power but sex is control.” He suddenly wrapped his hand up into her hair and she hissed slightly. I stepped down and looked at her and then at him.

  “What makes you think she would just fuck you, Ryan?” I asked him and got onto his knees behind her and slipped his h
and up onto her breast as he held money in his hand. She saw it and then placed her hand on it and took the money like a whore. I tilted my head as he reached down in between her legs and started to press his hand against her pussy which I was sure was becoming wet as mine was watching him. Then he pulled her head sideways and started to kiss her neck and I did what I did not expect to do.

  “Stop,” I said and he did. He let her go and she stood up and stared at me.

  “I will place $10,000 into your account and you will never come back here. Do you understand me?”

  She nodded and left us quickly as Ryan stayed on his knees and watched me with curiosity.

  “Beth?”

  I turned and tears ran down my face and I suddenly knew something had come to pass, something I dreaded. I loved him. Me. Cold hearted Bethany. I loved him. The greatest whore of New York City. Fuck me.

  Chapter Seven

  Understanding True Power

  I kicked him out and had not talked to him for three days. The party was quickly approaching and I could not bring myself to call him and ask him to be my escort. In fact I was so tempted to just toss up my black book and let it land on anyone, anyone would do. I certainly could use a distraction. I need that now. I wake up thinking of him; I go to bed thinking of him. I step out thinking I see him hailing a cab, walking across the street, calling out my name. When I close my eyes, I see his face, eyes, lips. I feel his heat against me, his cock inside of me and regardless of my failure to ward off love; I have found myself fingering my clit to orgasm a few times since I told him to leave. He must think that his game with the seamstress pushed me over the edge and how I bounce back from this with him is beyond me. I had told him that day that he bored me and it was over and in my mind I know I need to stick with it but my heart says otherwise. My heart tells me that I may have met my match here and it pisses me off more than anything else.