His gaze sweeps my face. For an instant conflict flickers across his face and I think he’ll back down. But then his expression shutters, jaw tightening stubbornly. Clearly not yet done dragging this wound open wider.
“That daily commute from Yonkers must be a real drag for your sister.”
I cross and uncross my legs, a little freaked out that he’s done his homework on where I live. The hairs on my neck stand straight up in warning. He must have studied that background check hard. “I’d move closer if I could just snap my fingers and magic it done. But sadly my letter to magic school got lost in the mail.” I force brightness into my tone. “Now, shall we get going?”
Later I’m stress-drinking an entire bottle of wine over Connor knowing where I live. Probably my bra size too. But for now, time to work.
But he’s not done needling me yet. Connor’s fingers drum a slow, deliberate rhythm on the sofa’s back, each knock of his knuckles ratcheting up my shot nerves. His icy stare spears me and I brace for fresh trauma.
“Tell me, Lexi . . .” His voice drops lethally. “Would you come clean about my car if your sister’s future was on the line?”
His words slam into me. I freeze, stunned. “What?”
“You wonder if I worry about my family finding out about my mistakes,” he continues, his tone deceptively calm. “Shouldn’t you worry about yours finding out about your sins?”
I don’t like where this is heading. At all.
“I fund her tuition,” he says casually, purposely inflicting maximum hurt. “What if I said that all goes away unless you come clean about my car?”
The room spins around me. This can’t be fucking happening. He did not just . . .
“Leave her out of this,” I snap, red rage crashing through my shock. I stand on shaky legs, feeling caged and suffocated. He can’t threaten Grace’s future as leverage against me. He just can’t.
Connor rises to his full height, looming over me. “Why should I finance her education when you’re lying to me?” His glacier stare holds no empathy. Only ruthless calculation.
“Do what you will with me but leave Grace alone. She’s innocent and doesn’t deserve to have her dreams shattered.”
Hot tears prick my eyes, but I furiously blink them back. This is Connor’s MO—charm before the slash and burn.
“Congratulations, you’ve made me cry,” I say bitterly. “Is that what you wanted?”
He’s treating this like a twisted game, callously dangling Grace’s future as a power play. I know what I did was wrong, but I’d like to think overall I’m a decent person who was in a desperate situation. Connor is just cruel.
His jaw sets firm. “You’re right. Your sister shouldn’t have to pay for your screw-ups,” he says after a paralyzing moment. “Seems there’s a shred of integrity in you after all, Lexi.”
And that’s the breaking point. Something primal in me detonates. “And you, you’ve got even less decency than I thought possible,” I snarl, heat coursing through my veins. “Grace is off the table, understand? Your beef is with me, not her. Are we clear?”
Connor’s handsome features transform into a hardened mask as my daring words slice the tension. The weight of what I’ve just done crashes down on me.
Oh man. I really did it now. Stepped way over the line.
But when someone threatens Grace, this protectiveness overtakes all sense. Just like years back when she was tormented in middle school by that little sociopath Margo Lexington.
The office temperature plunges to arctic levels. Time stops in strangling silence. I can hear my own heart racing.
There’s this tiny sane part of my brain observing the pending train wreck, thinking I’m absolutely going to hurl on his wildly overpriced shoes.
I should be groveling, swearing I’ll be his slave or whatever it takes to pacify him.
But that defiant streak woven into my DNA snarls in protest. Some reckless impulse refuses to cower. If I’m going down anyway, I may as well go down in flames.
After what feels like an eternity locked in this lethal standoff, I detect a subtle shift in his demeanor. The chill in his eyes thaws just a fraction. Unexpectedly, the corner of his mouth twitches upward into a smirk.
“Loud and clear, Miss Sullivan,” he responds, his voice eerily composed.
I’m so floored I nearly topple over.
“But get one thing straight,” he continues, voice smooth as silk. “Disrespect me like that again, and it’ll be the last time you do.”
