Shattered Heart (The Hart Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

and
slamming shut.  If I hadn’t noticed the four inch blood red stiletto prying its
way into my car, I may have panicked.  Instead, I immediately know who it is
and blow out a frustrated breath.
    “Good Morning,
Arianna,” I drone, rolling my eyes.  “To what do I owe this morning surprise?”
    She flips down
the visor, rubbing her fingers at the corners of her mouth.  Not speaking until
she’s finished ogling herself, I get more annoyed by the second.  I don’t have
time for this shit.  I’m about to silence her attempts of disturbing my morning
by escaping the car when her head turns in my direction. 
    “Were you
dropped as a child?” she pauses, staring at me as nonchalantly as if she just
asked me what I had for breakfast.
    I open and then
close my mouth, completely unsure of how to answer such a ridiculous question.
    “I’d ask if your
mother did drugs, but I don’t recall her ever being a crack whore.”  Arianna
runs the tips of her pointy acrylic fingers along her calf as she assesses her
stockings.  She looks angelic in her stark white belted crepe dress, yet she
has a demon screaming inside of her to get out.  “No, no, that couldn’t be
it…you didn’t do drugs as a teenager, did you?  You always seemed so put
together, a boring child really, not someone who dabbled in narcotics.”
    “What in the
hell are you talking about, Arianna?”  My voice is shaky.  I’m completely
blindsided by this conversation.
    “Hmmm…let me
think.”  Her eyes look to the roof of the car as she purses her lips.  “God,
there are so many places to start; how about your inability to follow simple
directions.”  She continues to furrow her brows at me, her voice laced with
sarcasm.  “Do I have to write it down for you?  Are you that dense that I need
to draw a diagram?  Do you need me to include some clip art?  Bedazzle it a
bit?”
    I fidget in my
seat as the conversation grows more and more uncomfortable.  “Obviously, you’re
going to have to draw me a picture because I have no idea what you’re
talking about.” 
    “Fine.  Let me
paint you a little picture.  Imagine…my new Sales Executive hopping on a plane
to see her little boyfriend after she agreed to stay away from him.”  My mouth
drops as her words sink in.  She knows.  Oh. My. God, she knows.   “Not
to mention a little conversation you two had outside the hospital last night;
cuddling against each other in such a sweet embrace.”  She shifts in her seat
facing me, her back resting against the car door.  And then she snaps. 
    “You were
supposed to stay away from him, Elyssa.  That was the deal.”  Her eyes darken as
she stares at me.  “How about the fact that you appear to be continuing this
ridiculous fucking joke of a relationship with a good for nothing…”
    “Hold the fuck
up!” I interrupt her with a growl.  “If I recall, you were with him.  You
thought he was good enough to make him the V.P. of your Sales and Marketing
department.  Did you not?”  I fight the urge to clasp my hand over my mouth.  I
just went off on a tangent the moment she began insulting Alex.  She
practically said I was mentally handicapped and called my mother a crack whore
and I didn’t so much as flinch, but the instant she insults Alex I go all ape
shit on her, defending what’s mine.
    Arianna feigns
in shock at my outburst before erupting in a fit of laughter.  Definitely
not the reaction I was expecting.  “You remind me of your mother. 
PATHETIC.  It’s a good thing they died when they did.  For them to see how you
turned out and the type of man you’ve chosen to be with; they would be
appalled.”
    “Don’t talk
about them as if you knew anything about them,” I shriek, holding back the
tears that pool in my eyes.  I will not give her those.  Not today.  “You don’t
know anything about love, or how my parents were together.  And you damn sure
don’t know Alex.”
    “You’re so
naïve.  I