I need to find out. I need him angry, and I need him tosayit all out loud.
Fumbling in my pocket, my fingers skip past Rocky to my phone’s cool glass, and I confirm my recorder app is already recording.
My best hope is to bait out the real Alistair Blackwood, the one under all that charm and polished philanthropy.
I knock, and the front door swings open.
Without a bustling party, the place looks cleaner, more modern, and more menacing. Everything is glass and stone and perfectly curated, but it feels haunted anyway. In this movie, the monster isn’t a ghost; it’s the man who owns this view. The 0.01 percent live above the city skyline, while the rest of us choke on the smoke.
Despite fear burning in my chest, I take some comfort in the fact that there’s no security to lock my phone in a bag. As soon as I close the door behind me, I see Alistair. He’s sitting where the piano was at his last party, back to me, looking out over his city, posture easy and utterly in control.
“You have fifteen minutes,” he says, still gazing at the skyline.
“I didn’t want to be here at all.”
He flicks a hand toward a bottle of red wine in a bucket on the black marble counter between us. “Help yourself.”
My legs lock. My mouth tastes like metal. “No, thanks.”
“People would kill for this. You know charities auction off meetings with me.”
He’s just like my father—the same tired, rich, miserable species.
“Wow. What an honor,” I say. “What do you want, Alistair?”
“Why don’t you like me? I’ve paid for you to follow your passion for two years, invited you to my parties. What’s made you so hostile?”
“Remember the wildfire?” I keep my voice flat. “You said you’d help if we had sex.”
Since he won’t look at me, I lean a little closer to my pocket, willing the mic to catch every word.
“That’s not what I said.”
“Want me to read it back?”
Alistair’s ears flush. He finally turns, revealing a smile that’s too thin. “I’d never text that. My reputation…”
“Well, the message was clear.” I swallow. “I want out.”
“Asher Pierce seems like a nice guy,” he says, the name a deliberate taunt. “I told you to bring him.”
He takes a long sip of his wine, and the clink of his teeth on the glass fills the silence. Dismissing me is part of his game. He wants to make sure I know my whole life is just a minor scheduling hiccup.
I think about Mom and how much of her life she burned keeping a man like this happy. I need the same kind of courage she found in the end.
To protect me, she finally left, but before that, she paid for staying with pieces of herself. For a long time, the lesson felt simple—never need anyone. Never owe anyone. Freedom avoids all ties at all costs.
To protect Ash, I have to be willing to walk away.
With renewed determination, I try meeting Alistair’s gaze, but he’s still turned half away.
“Keep him out of this,” I snap, heat flaring up my spine.
“Out of what?”
“Whatever game you’re playing.”
“I don’t think I’m outside the bounds to take a special interest in my employees,” he says lightly. “You dobothwork for me.”
