Her eyes flicker with surprise and a hint ofhumiliation and desperation. The last doesn’t shock me. She wouldn’t be here, with someone she said sickens her, if she had any other option.
And I wouldn’t be listening to a treacherous ex if I hadn’t made a promise. But regardless of how revolting she is, I’m going to be the bigger person and keep my word.
I glance at my watch. “Four minutes and forty-two seconds.”
Her cheeks turn bright red. She stiffens her spine as she stands before me, standing a foot away from the tips of my well-polished loafers. “I need two million dollars,” she blurts out.
I tilt my head and regard her thoughtfully. I didn’t see anything in Zachary’s estate that would require a large cash infusion. It’s bankrupt, but nothing a decent bankruptcy proceeding won’t take care of. The Obermans don’t need a law firm of the caliber of Huxley & Webber for that. “Two million.”
She nods. “A loan. I’ll pay it back.”
I? What about Aaron, or Sherry? “And if you can’t?”
Her breathing shifts, growing less steady. She closes her eyes briefly, as if to gather courage, but the fluttering lashes betray her. “I have a stable job. I’ll pay it back.”
“People with stable, well-paying jobs don’t generally dig themselves into two-million-dollar holes.”
“Bryce.”
My name is a plea on her lips, and it sounds almost too sweet to be real.
Itisn’treal. She’s trying to use you, to backstab you again.
Still, the impact of her voice makes my gut clench. Her eyes look up into mine like I’m the only thing that can save her world, and my heart beats wrong, like it’s torn between the desire to believe the illusion she’s weaving and the desire to strangle her for trying to play another game with me. I loathe myself for reacting like this, and I hate her for making me feel this way, as though all the ugly words and deeds between us never happened.
Some things can never be unsaid. Some things can never be undone.
Her phone pings. She ignores it, but I want to break eye contact, to get a moment of reprieve to regroup before I deliver my blow. I need it to hurt so bad she’ll never come crawling back.
“Check it,” I order her.
She hesitates, her eyes lingering on my face.
“Now.”
She looks down. I breathe a little easier as the prickling sensation lessens. Her fingers flick over the screen. She tightens her grip around her phone. Her lips part to let out a shaky breath, and her eyes fleet everywhere, unable to settle, as though she’s searching for a solution to an impossible problem.
Finally, she looks at me.
I’m not the answer, sweetheart.
Suddenly she drops to her knees. The abrupt gesture of self-humiliation is stunning, freezing the gears in my head.What the hell is she up to?
She bites her bloodless lip. Her hand reaches out and rests on my knee. The touch sends a shocking heat through my veins. Her fingertips flex, digging into the muscles. Sparks of something far too dangerous and uncontrollable start to erupt.
A jolt rushes up my spine. A knot of desire, loathing, disbelief and fury twists inside. I grip the edge of my desk tighter. My breathing roughens. It takes all my discipline to remain still and wrestle back some self-control.
I clench my teeth at her attempt at manipulation. If she thinks she can play me with moves like this, she’s wrong. The visual—her on her knees, a hand on my leg, looking up at me—only reminds me of seeing her like this with Jude, and how she cried her heart out on her knees when she thought he might never wake up from his coma.
She could blow me right now, and I wouldn’t be stirred to do what she wants.
Fuck her and her methods.
“It’s a matter of life and death,” she whispers. “Please.”
The way she sayspleaseis just like the way she used to when we were in bed.But she probably did the same with Jude.
Still, my dick hardens, and I hate myself for responding.
