The silence rang. I stood there, gasping for air, and buried my face in my hands. I gripped my hair until my scalp stung, closing my eyes and begging the universe for the one thing I knew I couldn’t have, but who I knew I would have to face soon enough when my father summoned me to his office.
Get out of my head. Please, get out of my head.
Ingrid
The air in Noah Locke’s office suite was cold, a sharp contrast to the heat of the tattoo parlor I had gotten used to. I sat on the edge of the leather chair, my hands knotted in my lap to hide their trembling. I’d been summoned just after noon, and now I waited for him to appear, and dictate the next move in this elaborate game I’d been forced into, bracing for whatever came next in this “partnership.”
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Tristian fleeing from the event last night. I heard his accusing words echoing: that I’d gotten close, under his skin, made him trust me—led him on.
That I was hishandler.
That I wasgroomed.
My face fell. I’d been up half the night crying. I’d wanted to call Tristian, to beg him to understand… but I hadn’t. I’d been scared to. And he was right, at least on that last part: Ihadbeen groomed to be his handler.
The heavy mahogany door creaked open. I looked over my shoulder, my heart leaping into my throat, only to see Mr. Locke. He didn’t look like a man whose son was spiraling; he looked like a man who had just won the lottery.
I did my best to smile politely. “Good afternoon, Mr. Locke...” I said softly, my voice barely catching in the quiet room.
He chuckled a dry sound that didn’t reach his eyes. “It is a good afternoon, isn’t it?”
He took his time walking toward his desk, his presence filling the room with an oppressive authority. “Tristian is in the building, if you didn’t know... and as you can probably guess, he isn’t verycheerfultoday. I put him in his own office, and he’s destroyed half of it, to say the least.”
The words had barely left his mouth when a sudden crash came from down the hall. I jumped, my eyes widening as I looked toward the door. The sound of Tristian’s anger was audible, even through the soundproofed walls.
Noah didn’t even flinch. He seemed… used to this even. He leaned forward, his gaze fixed on me, cold and assessing. “Your job is to keep him out of this state and get him focused, yes?”
It wasn’t a question; it was a reminder of the role I had agreed to play.
“Y-yes... I suppose it is...” I whispered.
Noah nodded, looking entirely bored by the destruction occurring just down the hall. He gestured toward the door with a flick of his wrist.
“Well, consider this your first task. Go calm him down.”
Chapter thirteen
Tristian
The air in the office was thick with tension. Since Geoffrey had dropped me off, the world had narrowed to one thing: my father.
I wasn’t supposed to fucking be here. I did my part. I played the fucking troubled son at his event. But it wasn’t enough for him. Nothing ever fucking was. Which is why I’d had to cancel every one of my appointments, flip my entire fucking day upside down, because of one voicemail.
“Your mother’s next treatment cycle is coming up. Do yourself a favor and show up at the office.”
Calm and cold. Like he was telling me to pick up something on the way home.
Noah thought he owned me because he held my mother’s life in his hands. He thought he could cage me in this office to do his bidding, threatening the only person I loved to keep me compliant forever.
Well, I fucking showed up, all right.
I must’ve been seeing red, because when the world finally stopped spinning, I was standing in the middle of broken glass and splintered wood everywhere. Chairs were overturned, tables were shattered. I stared at the destruction, feeling a strange, hollow detachment.
Then, a soft, sharp gasp cut through the ringing in my ears.
I snapped my head toward the door. Ingrid stood there, her eyes wide as she took in the carnage of the room before landing on me.
The sight of her should have angered me even more. She was so stuck in my head, I couldn’t shift her. With her role as myhandler, I should be angrier at her being here than ever.
