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“Are you getting political right now?”
“I’m a realist, Pearce. Nothing more.”
I tap my nail against the mug, head dizzy. “You’re serious about letting me stay.”
“I’m serious, yes. You’re my employee and I’ll admit to feeling some responsibility for you.”
“You don’t have to. I made this choice.”
He leans back, contemplating that. “Yes, you did, but I don’t think you made it fully understanding what would happen. William is going to come for you again. He’s going to hurt you again.”
I shiver and look down at my hands. “Thanks for reminding me.”
“You need a plan. You need to figure out how to survive. I won’t step in any more than I already have, but I will give you a safe place to lie low for a day so you can get your things in order.”
“Like so I can write a will?”
“If that’s what you think you need to do.”
I let out a frustrated sigh and shake my head. “Thanks, but no thanks. You’ve done too much already. You punched William in the face, remember? He won’t forget it.”
“I’m not too concerned about that. He’s a prissy child, but he’s not stupid enough to start a war with me over that. No, he’ll take his inadequacies and his frustrations out on you.”
I sip my coffee and close my eyes. He’s right, I know he’s right. William’s going to let his anger build and stew until he turns it all on me, and I don’t know if I’ll walk away from another encounter with him alive. Ansell can’t be there to save me every time someone tries to beat me to death.
What he’s offering is tempting. I could use this place as a home base for the day, send out some messages, really figure out where I stand with people, and go from there. On Monday, maybe I can return to my apartment after work if I’m able to find a way to smooth things over enough with William to the point where he no longer is actively trying to murder me. The Crawfords will get their revenge, but maybe I can get them to downgrade that to a less intense sentence.
But if I do take Ansell up on his offer, that means I owe him something, and I already owe him too much. Besides, he’s made it clear that he doesn’t want to get more involved than he already is, and holing myself up in his apartment is going to drag him in even deeper.
“Thank you for the generous offer, but I have to politely decline.” I look up and meet his cold gaze. I finish my coffee and push my chair back. “Thank you so much for last night. Thank you for saving me from William. But I won’t repay that kindness by making your life harder than it’s already going to be.”
He tilts his head. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” I step away from the table, leaving the mug behind. “I’ll order an Uber and head back to my place. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be okay.”
He says nothing as I leave the kitchen and head into the living room.
A part of me wants to turn back and go to him. His intense frigidity and frozen outward demeanor is scary, but I got a taste of what lurks beneath his appearance. I felt the heat bubbling down inside and saw it spill out of him as he kissed me in front of the fireplace. I could stay here and figure my shit out, and maybe even spend more time with Ansell—
But no, that’s selfish. I can’t do that to him, not after what he did for me last night. If I want to look myself in the mirror after all this, I need to get out of here before I make things harder on him.
I turn toward the elevators but stop as a phone hanging beside it begins to ring. I frown, not sure what to do, as he comes out of the kitchen and spares me only a passing glance as he walks over to answer it. “Yes? Downstairs? And he says he won’t leave? All right then, send him up. I’ll receive him here.” He hangs up the phone and turns to look at me.
“What?” I ask, heart beating fast at the intensity in his eyes.
“Do you know who Heiko Child is?”
My hands drift up toward my mouth. I know Heiko, at least in passing, and his reputation isn’t good. William mentioned him once in passing, about how Heiko once broke a paparazzi’s wrist for taking pictures of the Crawford patriarch.
“He’s here, right now?”
“Coming up the elevator as we speak.” Ansell turns his back to me. “You should hide.”
“Ansell. He’s here for me. You don’t have to—”
He holds up a hand to forestall any more arguing. “This is my home, Pearce.”
