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Isabelle
Istared at him, my ears ringing with disbelief. “No, you must be mistaken.”
Bax’s gaze didn’t waver. “He embezzled money from the city. I have the proof.”
“Embezzled! He would never do that.”
“He did. I can show you the documents up in my office.”
This could not be happening. My stomach was churning, squeezing, and I needed Bax to take the words back. “Someone is lying to you, then.”
“It’s the truth, Belle.”
I stared at him, this man who I’d let into my body and my heart. Why was he doing this?
Questions and denials spun like hoops in my brain. “If you have proof of his crimes, why not make it public?”
“I have what I need to ruin him, but we were investigating the boxes of documents we found in his office. We thought there might be more.”
Hisoffice?
I shoved past him and jumped to the floor. Whirling, I put my hands on my hips. “What do you mean, found in his office? Did you have something to do with my father’s disappearance?” It hit me like a pile of bricks. “Oh, my God. You lied to me about kidnapping him.”
A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Yes, I did. But it was for your own good.”
The words fell between us like a stone. Bax had kidnapped my father. I should have known. I never should have believed a criminal over my instincts.
My knees buckled, so I grabbed the smooth wooden bar with one hand to steady myself. “My own good? Tell me, Bax? Why would any of this be good for me?”
“Because he is the worst kind of hypocrite,” he snarled. “He’s a criminal, like me, but worse because he hides behind fake words and speeches. At least I don’t pretend to be anything other than what I am.”
“You’re trying tojustifythis to me?” I stepped forward and poked his chest. “Where is he? I want him releasedright now.”
His shoulders swelled as his chest expanded. He cast a glance over his shoulder, but I didn’t look away. My mind was spinning with fury and disbelief, humiliation and hurt. I wanted to undo this. I wanted to turn back the clock.
I wished I’d never met this man.
Leaning in, I hissed, “I should have shot you when I had the chance.”
Without warning, Bax put his shoulder in my belly and lifted me clean off the ground. I pounded his back. “Put me down this instant, Billy Baxter!”
He ignored me. Swiftly, he carried me up the stairs and strode to his apartment. When we were inside, he set me on the floor—and I promptly scrambled away from him. “I want to leave. And I want you to release my father.Now.”
He gripped the back of a chair with both hands, his knuckles turning white. “That’s not how this works. I decide when your father is released—and I decide when you leave here.”
I sucked in a shocked breath. “Is this another kidnapping? Is that what you’re doing?”
“I’m not kidnapping you. I’m trying to keep yousafe. Someone hurt you and tried to kidnap you, Isabelle.”
“You already caught and killed that man.”
“Which doesn’t mean the danger has passed. There’s still the man who hired your attacker, yeah?”
“Who is no longer a threat to me after I cease my association with you.”
His upper lip curled. “You think ending ourassociationwill keep you safe? Don’t be so naive, widow.”
“I know it will! You are the only danger to me in this city, Billy Baxter.”
