I want to entrust everything to him even though I know he’ll turn his back on me again the moment he learns the truth.
It’s going to hurt like hell, and I probably won’t survive, but I want my ex-stepbrother as my friend, lover, and confidante.
I’m doomed.So fucking doomed.
Chapter 10
Brennan Diamond
I tap my pen on my deskand rub my temple, but the ache in my head grows.
On the monitor, Audrey continues her work with the same dogged determination and relentless ferocity as before lunch, but her wooden movements and the way she mentally checks out every time she’s alone rips chunks out of my heart.
She refused to speak to me after her tutoring session ended, and work demanded my attention, but the sun dips below the surrounding buildings and she shows no signs of stopping.I check the time and sigh.Most of the employees clocked out two hours ago, but because of the turnover, select personnel remain on site as smaller meetings and debriefings occur.
My father’s words ring in my ears.I didn’t hear what he whispered to her, but his open threat slices through my sternum again and again.
I was blind.I assumed he’d cut Audrey and her mom completely out of his life by throwing tons of money at them, but I should’ve known he couldn’t be that noble.The thought of my sweet little baby doll suffering under his oppressive reign fills me with bitter self-hatred and a hopelessness I’ve never felt before.
My mind replays her outburst in the car.I failed her so completely I can’t see a path to redemption.She should never forgive me.
I don’t know details, but I don’t need to.The panicked horror in her eyes was enough.
If I were a kind man, I’d extract myself from her life and support and protect her from afar, but I’m not.
I need her too much.No one else will ever break through my defenses like she does.
She’s avoiding me.I’m allowing her.
At least for today.
While she coordinates personnel and streamlines tasks, I cross boundaries I know I shouldn’t, but I don’t feel an ounce of shame or remorse.
Her safety and well-being come first.The private tutor is only the beginning.
I hire several private investigators—each with their own specific agendas—and contact other prominent people I suspect have been negatively affected by my father’s two-faced persona.
Ms.Baker knocks on my office door and suggests catering from a local sandwich shop for dinner.I approve without looking away from my screen.
Less than an hour later, one of the private investigators sends me her mother’s information, including her exact room number at the facility Audrey moved her to on Monday.He didn’t acquire the information through normal means, which is where I failed in the past.Instead, he infiltrated my father’s personal assistant’s phone and got it there, but according to the phone’s log, no one on my father’s team has done anything with the information.
I pinch the bridge of my nose and fix my glasses before searching through the security feeds.
Audrey shakes hands and smiles at a woman in the lobby, waves at the security guard, who I have yet to meet, and disappears into the elevator.The moment the doors shut, she becomes lifeless.Her face loses all expression, and she just… stands there like a living statue.She only moves because of the elevator’s ascension.
But when the doors slide open to the executive floor, she reanimates.
I can’t let this go on for another second, not when she’s in so much distress, so I rise from my chair and stalk down the hall, but she already stands in a group of people in the foyer.Recognizing all the secretaries and personal assistants for the top tier of directors and managers, I detour into the nearest conference room to avoid complicating her life with more gossip and grind my teeth through the end of whatever meeting I accidentally joined.
By the time I extract myself from the gauntlet of handshakes and profusely unfounded thanks, the meeting between all the secretaries and personal assistants is underway.
I plop down at my desk and sigh.I haven’t felt so helpless since I cut all ties with my father and therefore Audrey and her mother, but at least then I had clear direction.I poured myself into becoming as successful and powerful as possible, but where has that gotten me?
My sweet little baby doll is suffering and I don’t know how to help her.
I pull the conference room up on the security monitor and watch as Audrey takes a bag of catering from Ms.Baker.Less than five minutes later, Ms.Baker brings me my portion.I thank her and request she shut the door on her way out, but she checks her watch and requests a few minutes of my time.
I nod and carry my drink to the coffee table.She glances at my food sitting on the desk and settles on the couch catty-corner to me.
