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“I think you’ll find even his influence stops at my borders these days. This ismycity, Ella.” He says it like it’s a threat. “Four years ago, he gave it to me, and I’ve made it my own. The underground is mine. Allegiances are mine. Even your fucking bodyguards answer to me.”
Is he really as powerful as my father, or are his delusions of grandeur as big as his ego?
“You’re lying.”
“Then I guess you missed the memo about the new world order. It’s only a matter of weeks before your half-sister, Isabella, takes full control of the Santiago organization in Colombia, and I take over the whole of Stateside. Empires are like snakes, and all leaders need to shed their skin once in a while. Our fathers have been planning this for years. It’s a natural succession.”
“I don’t care about the business, Edier. I’ve never cared about the business! All I want to do is stay in New York and write forThe Eagleand live as normal a life as possible.”
“Unfortunately, the business cares aboutyou,” he snaps, finally losing his temper. “Do you have any idea how many threats on your life I have to deal with?”
My face flushes when I remember the tape, and from his narrowed gaze I know he’s thinking about it too.
Shame. Guilt. Responsibility. They’ve all played their part as I’ve come to terms with what happened. The aftereffects of that kind of violation don’t just rain down on you like a monsoon. It’s a trickle effect—slow and steady—washing away a little more of your confidence every day, and I don’t need a man like Edier Grayson making it worse.
“No, I figured as much.” He tuts in frustration. “Your father allows you to stay here because ofmyprotection, as well as his own. I withdraw that, and you’ll be on the next plane home to his island.”
“So, this is what it’s all about?” I say quietly. “Control and ambition, and middle fingers to all those you hurt along the way? Was it always about you taking over from my father, or did you ever give a damn about—”
Me.
He doesn’t answer, which only makes it worse.
Instead, we stand there, glaring at each other, with something jagged and unwelcome fizzing between us. I know he feels it too. It’s there in the hard tic in his jaw and the coiled tension in his shoulders. As for me, the pulse between my thighs is a near-constant irritation, and each inhale feels like a massive head trip.
“Fine. You want to talk about this? Let’s fucking talk.” Taking me by the arm, he leads me back to the elevators, snarling “fuck off,” at my bodyguards over his shoulder.
I tell myself he’s only walking this slowly because it’s giving him more time to think up new ways to make my life miserable, and not because he knows that moving any faster would be painful for me. That would mean he’s considerate, which he’s clearly not.
“Let go of me, Edier,” I grit out. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“You are if you want to keep your job.”
Ivy was right. He really IS an asshole.
Once inside the carriage, I position myself as far away from him as I can, but his scent and his presence are everywhere. I’m drowning in them, and I can’t see dry land.
Slamming his fist against the top floor button, we start to rise.
“I hate you,” I tell him calmly, but he doesn’t even blink.
“You need to change up your repertoire of insults. You’ve said that to me once before.” Leaning against the far wall, he slides his hands into the pockets of his suit pants.
It’s his own damn fault. His close proximity is choking all my best comebacks out of me.
“This is different. This time, it’s not some throwaway comment when I’m desperate to get off. This time, Ireallymean it.”
“Good. Tell me more. It’ll save you a fortune in therapy.”
“You’re a liar!”
His face tightens. “I’ve never lied to you, Ella, I made that promise when we were kids. You’re just pissed at me that I grew up and kept my distance.”
My jaw drops for the second time in ten minutes. “Your very definition of that word isunfathomablebullshit.”
“If you insist on using big words, at least let me phone a fucking friend.”
“Okay, fine, so you twist the truth to suit your own ends… And you murder people for a living.”
