I sigh. “I’m sorry I went behind your back, but we got whatwe wanted out of it. Greenspan’s stocks are up, and you said you had a lot of new investors interested. That must go a long way in convincing the board that Greenspan is worth keeping, right?”
Asher pinches his nose. “It does. But you’ve now connected yourself personally with Greenspan, and that is something my enemies will have taken notice of. You put yourself at risk, Ella. And I can’t have that.”
He takes a long draw of his whiskey.
“What else is going on? I can tell you’re upset by something. I know you’ve been stressed since . . . the incident. I can see it, but I didn’t realize it was this bad. I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about. This is my responsibility to take care of.”
I lean down and run my hand along his jaw, brushing my thumb over his stubbled cheek. “Asher, you don’t have to carry the world by yourself. We’re in this together. If you just let go of your worries for one minute, you’ll see that I can help you. Let me shoulder some of this burden.”
“No.”
His eyes meet mine, and though he’s still fighting like hell, I can see the fear and resignation in them.
“I know something else is going on and you need to tell me. Keeping me in the dark doesn’t help. If anything, it puts me at more risk.”
Those words seem to do the trick. His jaw ticks, and he lets out a long sigh.
“Yegor has disappeared.”
My brows rise. “I thought he was in Moscow.”
His jaw ticks again. “He was. And now it’s like he’s disappeared off the face of the planet. Sterling can’t find him anywhere. Which means we can’t keep any tabs on his movements, and whatever he has planned, we are blind to it. Sergei is licking his wounds very publicly with the chaos Sterling iscausing in his company and with the murder suspicion, so we’re able to keep an eye on him. But Yegor is now a mystery.”
“Let’s not go to the event,” I say, pulling his head toward me. He leans forward and rests his head on my stomach, and his hands come to rest on either side of my hips, holding onto me like a lifeline. I skim my nails through his hair, trying to give him any comfort I can. “Let’s just head home and call it a night. You’re not in any state to go.”
“I’m fine.”
I gently lift his head and look down into his eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes that are creased with worry and exhaustion. “You’re not fine, and that’s okay.”
“We’ve committed to the event. If we don’t go, it will spark whispers and rumors.”
“So? Who cares?”
“We have to keep up appearances.”
“Fuck appearances.”
Asher gives a wry chuckle. “Says the woman from my PR team.”
“I’m not on your PR team anymore. Now I’m just on your team. And as your teammate, I can tell when you’re not doing well. And tonight, you’re not doing well.”
“You’d give up a night of glitz and glamor and elite socializing because I’m not doing well?”
I roll my eyes. “Of course. You know I don’t care about the glitz and glamor, and the socializing is practically hive-inducing. It’s something I pluck my way through because it’s necessary, not because it’s something I particularly enjoy. You’re what I care about.”
A ghost of a smile flickers across his face. “Fuck if I wasn’t right.”
I crinkle my brows. “What does that mean?”
“It means that any heiress or socialite would be saying the exact opposite thing to me right now. They’d be pressuring meto get dressed, and they’d be worried over the fact that we’re going to be late and how that will look and what they’d miss out on. They would not be suggesting skipping the event for a night in. Especially after they went through all the trouble of getting ready. Picking you was the best thing I’ve ever done.”
“Saying yes to you was the best thing I’ve ever done.”
Heat shines in Asher’s eyes, and the air between us shifts.
“Do you still want to go? Or would you be open to . . . other activities?” I ask.
