Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 158829 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 529(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 158829 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 529(@300wpm)
He stares at it for ten seconds before his face flushes red with anger.
Then he grabs my hand, pulling me along, even before he says, “Let’s get the fuck out of here. When I find out how he did this, he’s dead.”
I almost believe him.
But even if he means that literally, I can’t bring myself to tell him it doesn’t matter.
We’re already two dead, miserable creatures walking, and I can’t fathom how we’ll ever find our way back to life.
22
Square One (Brock)
Piper sits on the king-sized bed in our hotel room with her legs dangling over the edge.
Her face is almost as red as her dress.
Unmistakable proof she was crying in the bathroom and trying like hell to hide it.
Yeah.
I’m going to slaughter Apollo Finch three times over.
Once for going out of his way to savage my grandparents’ legacy.
Again for digging into my fucking personal life.
And finally for hurting the woman I love.
Although Fyodor could drop him like a hammer the instant I say the word, I already know I’ll have to settle for nailing his ass legally.
I fucking hate it.
A slander and libel case is so much less than this vicious fuckwit deserves.
“Brock,” she starts, but the look on her face says too much.
“That twisted, gutless, cutthroat chickenshit bastard clown had no right! No right.” I shake my fist in the air. “He’s hellbent on bringing me down.”
“I’m so sorry.” Her words are barely audible.
Why should she apologize for his shit?
“I’ll bury him alive. Nail his dick to the inside of a cell with criminal charges,” I vow.
Piper balls up her hands, moving them roughly on her thighs.
Something about the motion stops me in my tracks.
She’s gone from humiliated to scared thanks to yours truly.
Goddamn.
Why am I letting him rattle me like this?
I suck in an acid breath and exhale. “I’m sorry, Sunshine. I don’t mean to explode.”
She shakes her head.
“It’s fine. I just hate this. Everything was going so well, and now—this. Just go public with our relationship, and I’ll resign,” she whispers.
What the hell?
“I have no problem going public with our relationship, but you’re not resigning over this. You’re the reason we even have a counterattack. If you quit now, we’re back to square one, and my marketing department is left swinging in the breeze.”
“If I quit and we’re still together, the scandal dies. It’s not news-worthy to date a woman who doesn’t work for you anymore—”
“You can’t quit. I need you, Pippa.”
“Maybe I could stay on as a consultant, but I doubt you need it. The issue isn’t us, Brock. It’s the optics, office morale, the judges at that conference...”
I inhale sharply, annoyed that she’s always too smart for her own good.
“You are not quitting your job and downgrading to a goddamned basement consultant who can’t even step into the office. That’s not right.”
“I’d like to come clean and do things right, even if it hadn’t come to this. I don’t want Maisy thinking it’s cool to sneak around with your boss.”
“We will, Sunshine. We’ll just do it on my terms.”
I won’t watch Apollo fucking Finch back Piper into a corner. He’s a complete lunatic if he thinks I’m going to be backed against a wall where she’s concerned.
Her lips slowly curve into a tense smile I haven’t seen since before she handed me her phone. “What are your terms?”
“You don’t quit your job. HR can fuck off and deal with it. I’ll take the blame.”
“That...that isn’t going to work. How do you just gloss over this while you’re trying to clean up your brand image? Never mind the award.” She tilts her face up.
“I’ll win, dammit. Don’t worry about it.”
I’m not thinking straight—if I’m even thinking at all.
Right now, I’m halfway tempted to sweep her up and haul her into the lobby so the entire world can see me kiss her.
She stands. “You’re upset.”
“Obviously. That fucking jackal doesn’t fight fair. If it’s so important to beat me for his ego, his pride, he should clean up that piece of shit hotel and stand his ground without these cheap parlor tricks. But hell, I don’t even care about that. He can have the shitting trophy if it’s fair. Not this way. Not by hounding me out of the running with these nosy goddamned reporters.”
I pinch my eyes shut and see red, trying to breathe.
I’m back in a burning spy plane, all adrenaline, everything spinning and choking and horrible, helplessly plummeting to Earth.
Ripping this man’s throat out might be the only thing that stops my free fall.
At least Piper doesn’t look scared out of her wits anymore.
She walks up to me and rests her hand on my chest. “Brock, I’m not going to undo all of our work. I won’t ruin Winthrope.” She swallows. “I won’t ruin you.”
Insane.
I stare at her.
Doesn’t she know she’s already ruined me?
After Lanai, after finding her here, I knew I’d never look at another woman the same way again.