As I packed away the last detail of this room that I had made mine over these last few months, I breathed a sigh of relief so deep that it was almost painful. Ashley’s words had shaken me to the core, but I had trusted them. They were said with a venom I had assumed she was capable of but had never been a witness to myself. This business could make a girl into a woman overnight, and there’s a psychological smear that goes along with such a transformation. Girls out here wore them like war paint. It was almost a form of protection. A lie you tell yourself when getting out of bed every morning and preparing to be in other people’s beds all day. You tell yourself that you’re different. That you can—without fear—handle the damage of the job and that your ability to feel very little is a plus instead of a giant minus. These lies are critically important. They’re everything.

I knew Ashley had taken the damage in stride just as I had all these years. But eventually it all catches us with you. And then there’s the pain and the anger and a desire for revenge that confuses you. Fucks with your perception of the enemy.

Because after all, you did this to yourself.

I saw that anger in her eyes and knew that it was a reflection of my own. Only, she wanted to lay claim to my battles and fight them herself. She had been betrayed by Aiden and now he had to suffer the damage of two women she was learning to love—me and herself.

“Are you done, Spence? We should probably bring this stuff over to the storage place,” Ashley said, leaning against the doorframe.

We were staying in a hotel while we searched for the right apartment. Ashley wanted a place near a park with at least two bedrooms. She didn’t have to tell me why but I knew it was because of Maggie. And I wanted a place closer to my family with big closets. Ashley and I both had enough clothes to fill an entire store. So, we were going to take our time and make sure we were both happy. We had more than enough money to get it right. For once I wanted to get something right.