“And will Daddy’s trust fund still cover your lifestyle?” he fires back.
“This is ridiculous,” I mutter, turning for the exit.
My heel catches. I stumble and slam straight into Warren. His arms come up instinctively, holding me close. His eyes burn into mine, wild and unfamiliar.Desperate.For a heartbeat, the room narrows to just us.
“He wants to get to your father,” Nancy spits, shattering the moment. I blink, my hands still clenched in Warren’s jacket, but our moment fades rapidly. “There’s so much you don’t know,” she continues, laughing softly. “The fact you thought he’d ever fall in love with a clumsy, useless piece of hired help is laughable.”
Something inside me snaps. I tear myself from his arms, our eyes still locked—searching, begging, breaking. Then I kick off my heels and run.
I almost make it to the exit before arms wrap around me, lifting me clean off the floor. Erik pulls me against him.
“I’ll take you home,” he murmurs.
My eyes flick past him, desperate. Hoping that Warren will burst through those doors too and tell me he’s picking me.He loves me.
But Warren doesn’t bother to follow. And as a lone tear slides down my cheek, I realise I've been a fool.
I peel my forehead from the cool glass of the window as the car slows, my stomach sinking when I recognise nothing outside.
“Where are we?” I ask, frowning.
“He won’t come looking here.”
I twist in my seat, fury flaring hot and fast. “I didn’t ask you to get me away from him,” I snap. “I asked you to take me home.”
He rolls his eyes like I’m being unreasonable. “So he can turn up and give you his sob story? Tell you how it’s all for your own good?”
The car stops. Before he can say anything else, I shove the door open and get out, the pavement biting into my feet as I storm away. Who the hell do these Baxter men think they are? Dragging me around. Deciding what’s best for me. Like I don’t get a say in my own life.
“I know who really killed your brother.”
His voice cuts through me like a blade.
I stop dead.
Slowly, I turn back to face him, my heart hammering so hard it hurts.
“You knew all along,” he continues calmly, stepping out of the car. “You always knew it was bigger than they said. Bigger than some low-level dealer.”
My throat tightens. He’s too close to the truth. Too casual about it. He holds out his hand, palm up. An invitation.A trap.“Come on,” he says quietly. “Let’s talk.”
Despite every instinct screaming at me to run, my feet move towards him, and I place my hand in his so he can lead me away.
Chapter Twenty-Two
WARREN
“You can’t go after her,” Anthony warns, his grip biting into my shoulder as I watch my brother disappear after Leoni. “Remember the plan.”
My hands curl into fists. I don’t trust myself to speak.
Nancy smirks. I turn to her slowly, stepping close enough that my mouth brushes her ear. “I think my father may have already leaked that footage to every porn site available.”
Her grin falters.
“Maybe,” I snap, “I should tip off a journalist. One who’ll pay good money for a story like that.”
“Why are you so angry?” she demands. “I did you a favour. That mild little excuse of a woman doesn’t belong in your world. These sharks will eat her alive.”
