She turned. Her eyes widened for half a second before she masked it with that dynasty calm, but I’d already seen it.
I leaned against the railing beside her. “Didn’t expect to see you here,” I lied.
She blinked. “I could say the same.”
I studied her face. Her voice was normal, but something in her eyes wasn’t. The life that usually danced behind her words felt dimmed. She stared out over the city like she wanted to disappear into it.
“You alright?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yeah. Of course. How are you?”
“Fine.”
Her brows twitched. She didn’t believe me. But she didn’t push. Neither of us said anything for a second too long.
A man I didn’t know approached with a woman on his arm—an heir, clearly, judging by the cut of his jacket and the crest on his cufflink.
“Maddy,” he said. “We were just wondering if you were joining us for dinner.”
She smiled with that dynasty polish. “I already ate, but thank you.”
Liar.
I knew she hadn’t. I might have been watching her before the event too. Because apparently my new hobby was stalking.
They left after another round of polite words. I watched them go, then looked back at her.
“Do you want to leave?”
She turned to face me. “With you?”
I nodded once.
She studied me for a long moment. “Okay.”
Under two minutes I had her in my black suv and the glass partition up. I studied the curve of her jaw. She lookedexpensive and delicate. And the longer we drove, the more I hated how quiet she’d become.
I just wanted her to eat something. Speak. Acknowledge that I showed up. Acknowledgeme.
Maybe I was desperate.
“I want you to eat.”
She turned her head slightly but didn’t look at me. “And talk?”
“Yeah.”
She laughed. But it wasn’t amused. It was bitter.
“Just say it, Vincent. Say what you really want. What is this? Let me guess, you have footage. Because Crows record everything. Is this about leverage? A trade? Do I owe you something?”
Her voice tightened with every word, like the more she spoke, the harder it got to pretend she didn’t care. “What do you want? You want me to blow you? Is that it? You want sex? A performance? Just tell me the rate.”
Fuck. She thought that low of me. The shock caused me to freeze, took a moment to fully take in the insult.
“I deleted the footage from the elevator. That’s where I went. The same night.” I leaned back into the seat. “You think I need to blackmail a woman to be near me? I’m not that kind of man.”
She turned back toward the window like she couldn’t look at me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s not fair. You didn’t deserve it.”
