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I suddenly felt breathless.
Had Brick suggested I never talk to Ezra again? I couldn’t remember. Honestly, who could remember an insignificant little suggestion like that when
your blood was surging through your veins and your heart was pounding like a drum? All my mind could focus on was the fact that he was here. Ezra. He was right in front of me again.
Did this mean he was going to give me a second chance? That he finally believed me?
“I think I’ve discovered the identity of one of Lana’s spies,” he said.
My eyes flashed wide. At first, I was sure he was going to point at me and start casting blame, but then I realized he didn’t sound accusative. He sounded more… Hmm, shell-shocked maybe.
“Who?”
He didn’t answer immediately, just stared at me. I was about to snap my fingers in front of his face and ask if he was still with me when he shook his head, murmuring, “Lana just paid a visit to my office.”
I blinked a moment before frowning. “Okay,” I said slowly. How did that tell him anything about who her spies were?
“She’s never, not once, come to my office before. She’s always made me come down to hers.”
I nodded. That made sense. Not only did it sound like Lana, making people go to her, but, “She’s afraid of elevators,” I explained.
Ezra squinted, seemingly thrown by that statement. “Really?”
I nodded. “Brick told me her dad was a mortician who punished her when she was younger by putting her into empty coffins. For like hours at a time.”
Visibly recoiling, Ezra blinked rapidly. “What the fuck? You’re shitting me?”
“Nope.” I winced again. “That’s what she always told Brick, anyway, when he was a kid, to get him to behave.”
“Damn.” Ezra hissed out a breath and shoved his hands into his pockets before wincing as if he’d just swallowed a painful barb. “I’m not sure I wanted to know that. I’m not exactly comfortable feeling sympathetic toward her.”
“I know.” Nodding because I so completely got what he was saying, I added, “But it probably also helps explain why she grew up to become the way she did. She has to be the most powerful person in the room. No way, no how is she letting anyone put her in a little box again. No more weakness or fear for her. She strikes before anyone can strike at her.”
Ezra glanced toward me, his gaze thoughtful. “I bet you’re right,” he finally murmured, making my stomach quiver with emotion. I gulped, liking it a little too much when he looked at me this way.
“So yeah,” I said, clearing my throat. “Any enclosed spaces are not her friends. She avoids elevators and pretty much any coffin-like places if she can help it. And well, stairs are probably beneath her because… You know, she’s Lana Judge.” I rolled my eyes.
Ezra blinked at me before saying, “Which must also be why she insisted on keeping her office on the first floor when I joined the company.”
I nodded. “Exactly.”
“Weird,” he said. “I always thought—” Breaking himself off from whatever he’d been about to say, he shook his head and got back on track. “Anyway, she stormed into my office just now and demanded to know who the blonde-headed tart was that I’d had breakfast with?”
My mouth fell open, offended I’d been called a tart. Then I remembered, for Lana, that was actually a very mild insult.
“She was pissed,” Ezra went on. “Like so mad she seemed…”
He shook his head, at a loss for words, so I helpfully suggested, “So mad she seemed jealous?”
He narrowed his eyes and huffed out a breath. “Look, I’m not saying I’m buying into your ridiculous theory that she wants me, but yeah. She seemed pretty fucking jealous.”
I preened, knowing I was right. Lana had flipped out as soon as she realized Ezra was interested in another woman. It always felt good to be so right about something. I did a mental victory dance.
But it put Ezra in a lousy mood. His scowl pretty much told me to shut up and stop gloating already. “Are you paying attention here?” he demanded. “She didn’t see us together herself, otherwise she would’ve already known who the blonde-headed tart was.” I scowled at him for repeating that vile phrase, because, damn it, I wasn’t a tart. “And only one person saw us together, aside from your stepbrother, who knows who you are too, so he probably wouldn’t describe you to his mother as a blonde-headed anything either.”
I gasped as I realized what he was saying. “Christopher.”
Ezra nodded. “Yeah. So I thought I should warn you. As soon as Elton learns who you are, it’s going to be all-out war. If you’re right about her reaction to knowing we’re in any way associated, then shit’s about to hit the fan.”
