Page 37 of The Billionaire's Vow

Craig stood there, swaying slightly, a lazy grin on his face.

Giselle let out a breath of relief.Craig.Her big brother.Her pain in the ass.Her protector, in some twisted way.He was family.He smelled faintly of marijuana, but not the sharp, acrid stench that signaled something stronger.He wasn’t completely strung out.That was good.

“What are you doing here?”she asked, already reaching out to hug him.

Craig leaned in, squeezing her with one arm before pulling back, taking in the wreckage behind her.

“Damn, Zelly.Did you have a party and forget to invite me?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she muttered, but the warmth of seeing him helped push back the cold fear that had settled in her stomach.“It’s good to see you.”

Craig shrugged, looking around.“What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted, sighing.Her hands twitched, itching to start cleaning up, to put the pieces back together, even though she knew some things were beyond repair.

Craig rocked back on his heels, rubbing his chin, his eyes darting from the smashed lamps to the slashed couch cushions, then to the overturned shelves.His expression twisted for the briefest second—was that guilt?Or had she only imagined that brief moment?

But why would her brother do this to her apartment?Dismissing the idea, she looked around.

When she moved to pick up the boxes from work, she caught him watching her, his jaw tightening for half a second before he masked it with a smirk.

“Don’t steal them,” she teased over her shoulder, forcing some lightness into her tone, even though adrenaline still coursed through her veins like fire.

Craig let out a sharp laugh, but something about it felt off.“Hey, what kind of guy do you take me for?”

She didn’t answer.She didn’t have to.They both knew exactly what kind of guy he was.

By the time she returned from stashing the boxes in her bedroom, Craig had found a broom and was sweeping up broken glass in the kitchen.

She paused in the doorway, watching him work.It was strange, seeing him like this.When he was sober, when he was here—really here—he was still the same big brother she had idolized as a kid.

“Care to share?”he asked, dumping a dustpan of glass shards into the trash.

Giselle exhaled, shaking herself out of her thoughts and flipping over the sofa cushions, hoping to make them look a little less like they’d been attacked by wild animals.

“I don’t know who did this,” she admitted quietly.“Nothing’s missing.They just…trashed the place.”

Craig’s sweeping slowed, his back going rigid for just a moment before he recovered.“That’s messed up.You should call the cops.”

She snorted, running a hand through her hair, then wincing when her fingers caught in a tangle.“Right, because the cops around here are so helpful.”

Craig shrugged, dumping another load of glass into the trash.“Maybe they’d at least check the security cameras.If your building has them.”

She opened her mouth to reply, but something in his tone made her hesitate.There was something off about the way he said it.Like he wasn’t just making a suggestion, but testing her.Like he already knew what the cops would find.Icy fingers crept up her spine, but she ignored the sensation, shoving the thought aside.This was Craig.Her brother.He wouldn’t…!

Would he?

Giselle shook her head, forcing the doubt away.

Instead, she focused on the disaster in front of her, on the fact that her home no longer felt like home, and that the only person helping her was the same person she had spent years trying, and failing, to save.

And now, for the first time, she had to wonder—was Craig the one who needed saving from himself, or was she the one who needed saving from him?

Craig dumped the last bit of broken bits into the trash and looked around.“Got any food?”

She laughed, startled by his question.“Food?”she repeated.“You’re asking about food when all of my dishes were broken?”

Craig shrugged.“I’m hungry.And you always have something to eat.”He grinned, reminding her of the old Craig.The sweet kid who had made her laugh and warned her not to take life so seriously.