Banishing All the Rules (Billionaire Romance) (The A List Series Book 3) by Savannah Rylan Page A

everyone else may think I agreed as a favor for the fucking movie, but we both know better. We both know everything. I should have told Cora from the very beginning about—”
     
    “Don’t even think about it!” she hissed.
     
    I let her go, opening the front door and stepping inside, leaving her in the rain. “Just…get the fuck out. Don’t come back. Don’t call Simon and try to set something up. I’m done. Done with you. Done with your games. Done with all of this. Tell whatever fucking story you want. I don’t give a fuck anymore. Goodbye, Miranda.”
     
    I didn’t wait for her to reply, closing the door and bolting it with a heavy sigh. What a shitty day. I really need a drink.
     
    I headed to the bar and grabbed the bottle of tequila, skipping the glass, and opting to drink straight from the bottle tonight. I embraced the burn as it slid down my throat. I was on my third swig when my home phone began to ring. This can’t be good. Very few people had the house number, and if they were calling at this hour, it was bad news. And after the day I had, I just didn’t want to deal with anything else.
     
    “What,” I answered.
     
    “Mr. Laughry?”
     
    “Who’s calling?”
     
    No one spoke for a minute, and I was about to hang up when she finally answered, “This is Annette. I’m calling from Harbor House.”
     
    I ground my teeth and set the bottle down. This could not be good. “What the fuck is wrong now?”
     
    “I’m afraid I have some bad news about Evelyn.” My heart dropped as breathing became impossible. Was this it? THE call? My eyes slid shut as I braced for the worst.
     
    “She’s taken another spill,” Annette continued. “This time after stealing keys from the kitchen staff and sneaking out the back service stairs. Since it wasn’t a public area, no one found her for over an hour. She’s going to be okay, nothing broken.”
     
    I closed my eyes in silent relief. Okay. A fall. I can deal with a fall.   “Thank you for letting me know, I’ll—” 
     
    She continued, cutting me off. “That’s not all, Mr. Laughry. This is the fifth incident in the last month. The previous incident happening only days ago when she became violent with another patient. And before that, well, she sexually assaulted Mr. Morales. We’re lucky his family didn’t want to press charges.”
     
    I cringed at the very thought. “For what? Getting a blowjob? I’m sure it was the happiest he’s been in ages!”
     
    “Mr. Laughry!” I could just imagine her clutching her pearls.
     
    “Listen, I pay you a fuck ton of money to prevent things like this from happening! You can’t blame her because your staff is inadequate.”
     
    “I’m sorry, Mr. Laughry, but we’re not equipped to handle violent and sexually deviant patients. We can’t assume liability if these incidents keep happening. There was a long pause. “We’re going to need you to make other arrangements for her. We’ll give you the weekend, but by Monday she’ll need to vacate. I’m sorry.”
     
    I ran my hand through my hair, wanting to pull it out I was so frustrated. “What exactly do you expect me to do?”
     
    “I’m sorry, Mr. Laughry. But there’s nothing more I can do. She’s violated our rules too many times. We can’t make another exception. Someone on the staff will pack up her room for her. She’ll be ready on Monday.”
     
    I hung up without bothering to say goodbye. Instead, I plopped down on my couch and picked the bottle back up again, taking another long swig. I was so ready for this nightmare of a day to be over. Fuck, this nightmare of a week.
     
    The alcohol was beginning to numb the world in a much-needed way, and I was more than ready to not feel a thing. A half dozen swigs later, nothing seemed to matter and as the world and the room began to spin faster, I was glad I could just close my eyes on the couch and wait for it all to fade away.
     
     

 
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