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I stared at him. “You mean my office.”

“Your former office is not available in this building.”

“No,” I said. “Because my former office is in D.C., where I should be.”

His jaw tightened again. I realized it was becoming a theme, and I was beginning to take some satisfaction from it. That was petty, but I didn’t care. “You’ll take the call from my personal conference room.”

Oh, great, that was probably putting me within striking distance of his office. I almost chuckled at how fitting the word striking was given how I literally hit him with a paperweight, but that was neither here nor there at this point. “That’s supposed to reassure me?”

“No,” he said. “It’s supposed to clarify logistics.”

“Logistics,” I repeated. “You are taking me back to the site of my last alleged felony and calling it logistics.”

“It wasn’t alleged.”

“I’m glad your head wound didn’t affect your memory.”

His gaze dipped to my mouth. He didn’t even try to hide what he was doing and it was then I was convinced that our interactions at this point must have been the longest form of foreplay in American history.

“We’ll leave now,” he said.

“Are you planning to cuff me for the car ride, or are we pretending this is consensual for the lobby cameras?”

Silence moved between us for a few seconds before he broke it. “No cuffs,” he said.

“How progressive.”

“You’ll walk beside me. You won’t speak to anyone unless I permit it. You won’t attempt to signal the doorman, the driver, anyone in the lobby, anyone on the street, or anyone in my building. If you do, I end the call, return you here, and Wiles and Co. can make whatever decision they choose.”

I stared at him for a second longer than was wise. He didn’t need to threaten me directly when he could hold Prescott Vantage’s throat under his thumb. He had learned which pressure points worked better than fear, not that any of that was surprising.

“You would let them walk to punish me,” I said.

“I would prevent you from using the situation to escape.”

“That wasn’t a denial.”

“No,” he said. “It wasn’t.”

When it was very obvious that I wasn’t going to get anywhere else with him I said, “Fine. I’ll walk beside you. I won’t speak to anyone or signal distress. I’ll perform like everything is fine for a client whose trust you have already damaged.”

“You assure them that everything is fine because it is fine.”

“No,” I said, stepping closer until the space between us felt deliberate. “I’ll perform it. Restoration takes time and work. One call buys you a pause, not forgiveness. That’s how life works.”

When he didn’t respond immediately, I knew my words landed in a way that showcased I wasn’t just talking about Wiles and Co. When he finally spoke, he said, “Then buy me the pause.”

It was then that I knew that I won this round. “You’re welcome.”

“I haven’t thanked you.”

“You will.”

With that, I walked past Cain and headed toward the foyer where I knew I would find the elevator that would take us down to the lobby. This whole experience felt surreal because it had been around a week and a half since I’d been outside of this building. As soon as I walked outside, I was quickly swept into an awaiting black limo with tinted windows, but the speed at which we moved did nothing to stop the warmth that the sunshine provided. For just those few seconds, I almost forgot that Cain had put his hand on the small of my back as he led me to the vehicle.

Almost.

The drive to Ashcroft Group’s headquarters was both fast and slow at the same time. As I walked in the building, I kept my promise not to talk to anyone or signal that Cain Ashcroft had kidnapped me, but if I was being honest, the reason why I didn’t attempt to was more so because I was replaying the last time I was here on repeat in my mind.