"Fine and annoying as always."
Good.
That knot of worry in my chest loosens just a little.
"Tell him I’ll co see him soon."
"You’d better," Caleb says. "He keeps asking where you disappeared to."
"I’ll deal with that later," I mutter.
I head for the door again and this ti no one stops .
Outside, the air feels cooler than it did earlier.
Marcus and Aaron are still nearby, leaning against one of the cars parked along the curb.
Aaron straightens when he sees coming.
"You ready to go?"
"Yeah."
Marcus opens the car door for and I slide into the back seat with Aaron climbing in beside .
As the car starts moving, I glance out the window at the house I grew up in. For a mont, the weight of everything presses down on again. A dead woman caught sowhere between them.
I sigh and lean my head back against the seat.
Aaron glances over.
"You alright?"
"Define alright."
He huffs quietly.
"Fair."
The car pulls onto the main road and After a few minutes, I sit up slightly.
"Aaron?"
"Yeah?"
"Zane isn’t ho right now, is he?"
Aaron shakes his head.
"No. He left early this morning."
"Where?"
"Office."
Of course, that man practically lives there.
I tap my fingets against my knee, thinking..... then I make the decision.
"Take there."
Aaron looks at .
"You sure?"
"Yes."
Marcus catches my eyes briefly in the rearview mirror.
"You want to surprise him?"
"Sothing like that."
But the truth is simpler...I’ve heard Lucas’s side, now it’s ti to properly hear Zane’s.
Because if these two families are ever going to stop circling each other like enemies, soone has to start asking the questions neither of them want to answer and apparently that soone is .
By the ti the car pulls into the underground parking lot of Zane’s office building, my nerves have started to tighten again.
The building itself is massive, with dark glass, steel lines, the kind of place that looks like money and control were poured straight into the walls.
Marcus parks smoothly and steps out first, then Aaron opens my door.
"You sure about this?" he asks quietly.
"Yes."
He studies my face for a second like he’s trying to decide if I’m walking into sothing stupid.
Then he nods once.
"Alright."
We take the elevator up together, the ride quiet except for the soft hum of the machinery and the numbers lighting up one by one.
My reflection in the mirrored wall looks calr than I actually feel
The elevator dings and the doors slide open.
Aaron leads the way down a wide hallway, peopl glance up as we pass. I try not to think about what they assu.
When we reach the large double doors at the end of the hall, Aaron stops.
"He’s inside."
"I figured."
He opens the door for and I step in without knocking.
Zane’s office is just as intimidating as the rest of the building. Wide windows looking over the city, dark wood furniture, shelves lined with files and books. Everything looks neat, just the way I rember it from the last ti I was here.
And right in front of his desk... is his secretary.
She’s leaning over the desk slightly, a thick stack of papers in her hands. Her hips re tilted toward him as she points at sothing on the page.
Her blouse is low cut.... Vey low cut. Low enough that if Zane lifted his eyes even slightly...
I stop walking because from where I’m standing, it looks exactly like she’s giving him a front row view.
Zane looks up first nd his eyes land on imdiately. For a brief second sothing flickers across his face.
Surprise? Mayb?
Then it disappears.
"Elaine."
The secretary straightens slowly, turning to see who he’s talking to and wjen she sees , her expression changes into a polite smile but sothing about it feels... thin.
Zane leans back in his chair slightly.
"Excuse us for a mont," he says to her.
She nods.
"Of course sir."
As she gathers the papers, she walks toward the door and when she passes , she pauses.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Whitmore."
Her tone is polite, a little too polite for .
Then she moves past ... and her shoulder slams into mine.
I gasp slightly from the impact, not really from pain but surprise.
The fucker?!!!
"Hey.....!"
But she’s already walking out the door like nothing happened... the door closing behind her.
I turn back toward Zane imdiately.
"Did you see that?"
Zane raises an eyebrow at from the stack of papers infront of him.
"See what?"
"She freaking hit !"
He tilts his head slightly.
"You’re going to have to be more specific."
I throw my hands up.
"She literally just walked past and slamd her shoulder into !"
Zane looks toward the door, then back at .
"No, I didn’t see that."
"Well it happened."
I cross my arms.
"And another thing."
Now he looks amused.
"Oh?"
"She was basically putting her boobs in your face like two seconds before I walkd in."
That definitely gets his attention as Zane leans back in his chair slowly.
And His lips twitch.
"Were they?"
"Yes they were!"
He studies my face for a mont.... Then a slow smirk spreads across his mouth.
"Are you jealous little spitfire?"
I choke on the air in my lungs.
"What?!"
The smirk deepens.
"Jealous."
"I am not jealous!" My voice coming out louder than I intend. I am not though I’m I? Co on he’s my husband regardless of the fact I hate his guts, it’s just disrespectful that she was like that with him. That’s just it nothing more.... I’m not jealous. I’m NOT!
Zane watches with clear amusent.
"You walked into my office, accused my assistant of assault, and complained about her boobs being in my face, all within thirty seconds."
"That is not what happened!"
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