Her gaze flicked there.
She saw it. She realized she’d struck something real, and the shock in her eyes told me she hadn’t expected to get that close to anything that mattered.
I took a slow step toward her. Controlled. Measured. Every instinct in me wanted to crowd her against the desk until the edge dug into her spine. Not to frighten her—no. To remind her what happened when people pushed where they shouldn’t.
“You don’t want to talk about my father,” I said, calm enough to make the temperature in the room drop.
She didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. But her chin lifted, the slightest shake in it. Defiance woven through terror.
“You brought him up,” she whispered.
“No,” I corrected, closing the distance by another inch. “I brought up yours.”
She swallowed hard. I watched the pulse hammer in her throat.
“You crossed a line,” I added.
Her fingers curled over the desk behind her, gripping the edge as if it could anchor her. Or shield her. It wouldn’t.
She whispered, “So did you.”
The words hit my chest, softer but heavier, weighted with something she didn’t intend—an accusation that didn’t come from hatred. Something closer to disappointment.
It threw me.
Just for a breath.
I’d expected fear.
I’d expected more anger.
Not that.
Not the suggestion that somewhere in her mind, the worst thing I’d done wasn’t the contract or the house or the rules.
It was hurting her.
My breath left me in one tight exhale. I stepped closer until the desk blocked her escape on every side.
“Belle,” I said quietly, “don’t confuse your courage with safety.”
Her breath hitched.
I dragged a hand along the edge of the desk beside her hip, letting my knuckles brush the wood. Not touching her. Not yet. The slow scrape of skin against varnish was enough to make her flinch.
“You want to weaponize my past?” I leaned in, my voice a murmur against the tension between us. “Be very sure you understand the cost.”
Her lips parted, ready to fire back.
I didn’t give her the chance.
“Because you’re right,” I said.
Her eyes widened.
“My father didn’t do better.”
I stepped closer, letting the words land between us like stones dropped into still water.
