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I gathered everything into the folder. “That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?”
Marcel’s dark eyes looked at me, examining every tick of my face. “You don’t seem as mad as I thought you’d be.”
I was barely controlling the anger inside of me, but the problem was that I didn’t know where I wanted to send it. Marcel was a fucker. He’d encouraged me to use Annie to my advantage, and when she was no longer useful, he’d literally done everything that he could to get rid of her, including digging into her past. He would tell me that he’d done all of this for me, but he didn’t. He did it to make sure that I knew that he was right.
And that pissed me the fuck off.
But the problem was that he hadn’t been wrong about Annie. She’d been lying to me this whole time. Even after I told her what happened to my father, she had not been honest with me. But I could understand it, and I knew Annie. I knew her so well, and I knew that she wasn’t a bad person.
For the first time in my life, I wasn’t sure if I could say the same about my friend.
“Where the hell are you doing?” Marcel asked, as I grabbed my briefcase. “This is huge news. Forget about the personal parts of this. Think about what will happen if this comes out. O’Connor is taking the hard on crime stance, and you are fucking the daughter of a crime lord.”
His words cut through me, but I ignored it. I needed to talk to Annie. Despite what Marcel might have been thinking, I owed it to her to allow her to give me an explanation.
“Ezra.” Marcel reached out and grabbed my wrist. “What are you about to do?”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “When I want to talk, I’ll reach out to your office and schedule an appointment.”
It was a low blow, and I could see that it affected him. “Ez…”
I ignored Marcel and walked out of the door. I needed fresh air, and I needed to think.
Reaching into my pocket, I grabbed my phone and dialed Annie’s number. This morning she’d told me that she was heading to see Julia. There was no reason to lie to me, but I wondered if she was being truthful. I had no idea. In some ways, I felt like I didn’t know Annie at all, and in other ways, I felt like I knew her better than anyone else.
“Fuck me,” I muttered once more as Annie’s phone immediately went to voicemail. “We need to talk,” I said. “Call me.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
My father hadn’t even been able to wait one day before he reached out to me asking to meet. I’d wanted to ignore him, but I worried that he would come looking for me or sic one of his men on my tail. That would be difficult to explain to Ezra.
Sighing, I felt that pit of despair in my stomach expand as I thought about Ezra. Before, when I hadn’t told him about my real identity, I’d justified it by reminding myself that it was a safety issue. I was hiding from my father and from the Bratva. Now though, I was just lying, and I was doing it because I knew that Ezra would leave me when he found out.
Walking through the city was actually calming my nerves. The hustle and bustle of things reminded me that there were millions of people in the city who had their own problems, many of which were worse than mine. In some ways, it was comforting.
“Annie?” A deep male voice called from behind me. I turned slightly wondering who could be calling me. The voice was familiar in a way, but I couldn’t place it.
When I did turn, I released an internal groan. Standing before me was Sawyer O’Connor.
“Mr. O’Connor,” I said. “How odd to be running into you.”
Sawyer O’Connor was a handsome man. He was the same age as Ezra, but there was something more mature in his features. He had a hard life. I could see it reflected in his face in the same way I’m sure parts of my childhood had been reflected in my own.
“Not too odd,” he said, giving me a dazzling smile. “My office is just down the block.”
I nodded. Being so close to an O’Connor made me nervous. I knew that Ezra didn’t like Sawyer, but I wondered if it was because he was dangerous or because he was just a dick.
“What brings you to this part of town?” he asked. “Ezra lives on the Upper East side.”
I stiffened at his words. “I don’t live with Ezra,” I said. It was a test. I wanted to know how closely he was following me and Ezra.
But Sawyer was smart. After all, he’d gone to Harvard. “My mistake,” he said simply.
I gave him a tight smile and nod. “Well,” I said. “Have a great day.” I planned to scurry away as fast as I could. I didn’t want to keep my father waiting. That wasn’t something that he particularly enjoyed, and though he seemed different, I wasn’t looking to poke the bear.
“Wait a moment,” Sawyer said. He walked quickly to keep up with me, and I immediately felt uneasiness creep inside of me, and not just because of my father, but also, because I didn’t trust Sawyer.
“Is there something that you want?” I asked.
