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“Because I’m a man and he’s a coward.” Simple as that.
“Look.” She moved her glass to the side so she could put her hands on the table. “I’m going to kill this asshole whether you help me or not. But I’d prefer it if you did. We both want the same thing.”
Hearing her talk like that sent a series of flashbacks across my mind. “I can’t.”
“Is your word really that important?”
“My word is everything. It’s the foundation of my business relationships. It’s the foundation of my reputation. My men want to retaliate, but I also had to tell them no. You have no idea how hard it is for me to sit here and do nothing.” I struggled to express my anger with words. I preferred violence.
She went silent, realizing there was no way to convince me. Her eyes were down on the table.
My eyes were on her face.
She finally straightened and sat back. “Then I’ll do it by myself.”
I didn’t think that was a good idea either, but it wasn’t my place to tell her what to do. “Be careful. Remember, if it comes down to you or him, he’s going to choose him.” And I wouldn’t be there to protect her.
“Trust me, I know.” She looked out the window, the city lights bright on the road outside her apartment. “I’m going to take his business too. And once I do, I’m going to give it to you on a silver fucking platter.”
My eyes narrowed.
She met my gaze, the determination burning in her eyes. “It belongs to you, Bartholomew. You earned it fair and square—and I screwed it up. I’m going to make this right.”
“Laura.” I kept my voice steady. “I sacrificed everything to keep you alive—and I want you to stay alive. More money and more territory…it’s nothing compared to you.” Her blood lust was sexy, but the risk to her safety was not.
She stared at me for a long time, her eyes immobile, not blinking. “I knew you were lying.”
Her accusation made my mind go blank because I had no idea what she was referring to.
“You aren’t sleeping with anyone else. There hasn’t been anyone but me.”
My face was hard as stone. I’d had years to perfect the coldness.
“Bartholomew—”
“I’m not doing this again. And please don’t kill your father and steal his business because you think it’ll get me back. That won’t work either.”
She wrapped her arms around herself and pulled one knee to her chest. She regarded me across the table like she was seeing me with a fresh pair of eyes. “You can’t treat your personal relationships the way you treat your business relationships.”
“That’s exactly how I should treat them. If you can’t trust your partner, they shouldn’t be your partner. And I don’t trust you.”
Her eyes immediately closed, like those words packed a punch that knocked her teeth out. When she opened her eyes, she looked out the window.
“I feel like I’m back in time.”
After a pause, she looked at me again.
“She chose her family over me. Never looked back.”
Her eyes started to shine with a reflection.
“She married someone else. You will too. I just hope he’s more interesting than an accountant.”
The tears in her eyes pooled to drops, but she closed her eyelids to keep them contained. After a few seconds of silence, she opened them again, somehow holding the tears behind her lashes. “Don’t be cruel.”
“Cruelty is all I know.”
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