Page 37 of Billionaire’s Cruelty

“I know,” Trevon said, his tone flat.

I rolled my eyes. Seriously? Shouldn’t my best friend be on my side during a tough time like this?

“But you are doing your best,” he added after a beat. “Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t curl up on the floor and have a panic attack like…”

But I sort of had when he found me.

Something had changed. Sure, I’d had a mini black-out—wide awake but completely numb—but I was handling things better than I would’ve in the past. Then again, it’s not like witnessing a murder right in front of me was an everyday occurrence.

“I shut down…” I confessed quietly.

“I bet.” Trevon’s voice softened. He’d seen it happen before— back when we were in boarding school. There had been more than a few occasions when I thought someone was coming for me.

“June must think I led her on,” I murmured, guilt twisting in my stomach. “Leaving her behind without a word, again.”

“It’s not your fault. Try to take it easy, bro.”

“What is she going to think of me now…” I muttered, the weight of it pressing down on me.

“She thought you were kidnapped, actually.”

“What?” I dragged a hand down my face, rubbing hard enough to feel the scrape of my shadow of facial hair—just to ground myself, to be sure I was awake and not trapped in some surreal nightmare. “Why?”

“Well, all three of you went missing, didn’t you? Lincoln said she was panicking when he saw her.”

“Fuck. I hope Link won’t kill me for this.”

“Nah, come on. He knows you. He wouldn’t have asked me to come for you if he was mad.”

“How did you even know where to find me?”

“Wendy gave me Clare’s number.”

I nodded slowly as the pieces started to click together. Everything made more sense now that Trevon was laying it out. My nerves, still raw, began to settle—if only a little.

“What exactly are their plans in Hong Kong?”

Trevon chuckled under his breath, like something about the whole situation genuinely amused him.

“Well, you remember Wendy?”

“Yes, I remember Wendy,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“She knows all kind of people around the world.”

“You mean shady people?” I raised a brow at him.

He glanced at me, his chuckle deepening. “Yeah, exactly.”

“So, what’s her plan?”

“Fake ID,” Trevon said, flashing a grin.

“You like her…” I teased, watching him carefully.

He didn’t answer—but he didn’t deny it either.

“Shouldn’t we book a flight or something?” I asked, shifting the conversation back to the urgent matter at hand.