Mr. X (The Company Book 1)

“True love will never end, for it is immortal.” – Clarissa Wild

Jay

Thursday, September 26^th, 2013. 4:48 p.m.

I survived.

I made the choice to live in freedom and now I must accept the consequences.

It was not without a cost.

People know me now. They know I’m the daughter of the politician who was killed by his own blood. I hear their whispers everywhere. The man whose daughter made a sex tape and sent it to the media without shame. The man who raped a hooker and beat her to death. Of course he wasn’t guilty. It was X’s plan all along to ruin him beyond redemption.

Knowing he succeeded makes me smile, even if it cost me my privacy. It was worth it. My father will never be able to make me suffer again.

X was taken to the hospital, and it was the last time I saw him. They won’t let me visit him. They won’t give me any updates. For all I know he could be dead and in the ground by now. There’s no one who cares except me. It hurts. I try not to think about it, but it still crosses my mind every day.

I scrape together a bunch of leaves and focus on the task at hand. I’ve been sentenced to do community service for a few months as punishment for killing my father. At first they thought I murdered him, but when I told them he almost killed me and showed them the bruises, which X conveniently left, they believed it was self-defense. Of course, the bite marks on my father’s body helped with that, and the fact that X shot himself. It was all to protect me.

It’s a brilliant escape. I wish X was there to see me tell them we were both innocent.

I shake my head and sigh. It’s strange thinking about all the things we did. All the people we killed. Nobody knows it was us. I’ve gotten out of this pretty easily. Too bad it didn’t end so well for X.

Sometimes I wonder how he’s doing. If he’s still alive. Now, more than ever, do I wish it was true. It might sound selfish, but I don’t want his death on my conscience. The thought that he gave his life for me is too hard to bear.

No matter what he did to me, he stole a piece of my heart and took it with him. Wherever he is, I hope he treasures it.

I sit down on a bench nearby and wipe away the sweat on my forehead. Half the work for today is already done, but I’m not looking forward to the rest. God, I can’t wait until I’m done with this so I’ll finally be free for real. Then I can do whatever the fuck I want. Start that bar in Hawaii and live out my life on the beaches. That’d be nice.

I snort. As if I’d ever have the money. After all this is done, I won’t even have the resume to get a job. Nope, I’ll probably end up in a thrift shop selling granny clothes. Well, at least it’s a decent job compared to what I used to do. Without X bursting into my life I would still be in the whoring business, working for Don at Two Minnies. I’m glad I got out of there. I can start anew here.

A gentle breeze wafts my hair into my face, and as I pluck it away, something is pushed into the palm of my hand. Jolting up, I immediately check who’s responsible. Turning my head, I gaze behind me, but there’s no one in sight. In the distance I see a woman scurrying away.

“Hey!” I yell, but she ignores me. She doesn’t even look back, but it has to have been her; she was walking way too fast. Suspicious. I wonder what she did.

I open the palm of my hand and pick up the small envelope that was stuffed inside. A P.O. Box number is scribbled on the front, but there’s nothing on the back. No mention of who this came from. I gaze around, checking there’s no one looking, before I open it. Inside is something heavy, so I hold it upside down and let it fall out. It’s a key.

What the heck is this for?

As I shake the envelope, a tiny note drops out onto my hand. The words that are written fill me with hope and put my heart at peace.

“I will die, but not today.”

My breathing comes to a halt. X is alive.