Page 59 of State of Ruin

He can’t even look me in the eye.

“What I’m hearing,” I say, tapping my forefinger against my cheek as if I’m deep in thought, “is what I said at the start—that the only way this could have worked is if you kept me small and unsuccessful and totally dependent on you.”

“No. That is not what I⁠—”

Oh, sweet Jesus, enough.

“You warned me, to be fair.” I fling my arms out wide. “You warned me exactly what your family was like. You literally admitted that no one gets to where you guys are without being willing to do whatever it takes. I guess I should have listened harder.”

“I did what I thought had to be done,” he repeats woodenly. “Like I said, I wanted to give us a real shot. I was willing to do what had to be done, but I did it for us. I knew even then that we had a future.”

But I’ve had enough. I pick up my bag and sling it over my shoulder before looking up at him. His face is beseeching, and he looks like an angel once again, and jeez, am I glad that my family is in such dire financial straits, because if we weren’t, I’d be tempted to lose my backbone and give him a chance to make it up to me.

But we are. And if we have to foreclose on our family home, I’m holding Sinclair Voss personally responsible.

“I hope you got enough photos of my face to remember me by,” I say as I turn my back on him and make for the door. “Because you’ll sure as hell never see me again.”

CHAPTER 31

Elyse

Ihonestly feel a little like Giselle as I go about the rest of my day, except I don’t even have the luxury of going fully, dramatically crazy. Instead, I have to keep on functioning.

When I get home, I avoid conversation with Sylvie by walking the dog and finishing the vacuuming before I clean the bathroom and head back out to the grocery store to grab some cheap cuts of meat. I don’t do what I feel like doing, which is sweeping every last can of vegetables off the shelves and making a ginormous crash, but do my shopping quietly, like the good girl that I am, and take it to the checkout so the cashier can ring me up.

That done, preparing a stew for dinner takes up the rest of the afternoon, until it’s time to pick Fleur up from school. I head into Alchemy an hour earlier than usual, because I want to speak to Katrin. I have no clue whether Sinclair will tear up that NDA now that I’ve lost my shit at him, but the beauty of Katrin is that she insisted on being excluded from the original agreement in case I needed someone to discuss any misconduct with.

Misconduct! Little does she know just how bad Sinclair’s misconduct has been.

The other beauty of her is that she’s always firmly in my corner. I texted her earlier, and she said to come see her in her office. She has a coffee waiting for me, and I kind of love her for it. As quick as I can, I take her through how the shit has hit the fan, and I can’t help but be gratified by the increasing grimness on her face as I speak. If Sinclair was scary earlier, Katrin is way scarier now. Maybe I should introduce her to Vanessa—they’d definitely be friends.

“I needed someone to talk to about it,” I confess as I wrap it up. “And I’m kinda worried he might come in tonight.”

“That won’t happen,” she says, “because I’m going to cancel his membership right now.”

Oh, shit. No, that’s too extreme. I don’t want to ruin his life—even if he ruined mine. And I definitely don’t want him resenting me for this.

“Please don’t,” I beg. “I don’t want any trouble.”

She cocks her head like I’m being pathetic. “You don’t want to see him, right? You don’t want him hanging out at the bar anymore like a lovesick puppy, I assume?”

This makes me sad. He seemed so adoring. “No, but⁠—”

“No buts. He used his membership here to build a relationship with you and abused the power dynamic to sabotage your entire career. You think I’m going to stand for that shit for even a second?”

That gives me pause. It sounds worse, somehow, hearing Katrin repeat the situation back to me. “I guess not.”

“Damn straight. Entitled fucking bastard. Babe, these guys pull this shit because they can, and they’ll keep on doing it until someone calls them out.” She stands and heads behind her desk. “I’ll send the email now.”

“Thanks,” I say, getting to my feet. “I really appreciate your support.” I mean it. Guys like Sinclair exist out there to silence women, and Katrin is in here, ruling her kingdom with an iron fist and casting out one of the highest-profile members of Alchemy at a single word from me. I’m not sure she realizes how unusual that is, and how special.

“For the record, I’m sorry this has happened to you. This kind of crap is not okay. I suspect he really does have feelings for you, but that stunt he pulled is one of the reddest flags I’ve ever seen in the years I’ve been running this place, you get me?”

I nod forlornly. “Yeah. I get you.”

“Good. You did the right thing, walking away. Give yourself some grace, and take it easy tonight.”

Somehow, I get through my shift. It actually feels good to keep busy, and it’s comforting to know that Sinclair won’t come striding through those doors. When I finally get back to Hoboken and climb into the cab of Dad’s truck, the sight of his smile nearly breaks me.