Chapter 30 #2
Surprisingly, Maddie and Easton didn’t jump to her defense. They both silently waited for her to reach a decision. If she pushed to leave, I knew without a doubt they would have her back—even if Easton had to physically restrain me to stop me from following.
I would do it anyway, not giving a single, solitary fuck who in her building saw me.
I didn’t want it to come to that. I couldn’t stand the thought of her walking away from me.
“Stay and talk to me,” I pleaded. “If you still want to leave after, I’ll drive you home myself.”
She held the eye contact for a few beats before nodding.
“I can send Vic to get you if you need,” Easton offered, his guarded gaze darting to me like he expected an argument.
I wasn’t going to say shit. She’d agreed to stay, I wouldn’t fuck it up.
“He’ll get you tacos,” Maddie added as she tugged her friend out of the room. I could hear their whispered conversation, but not what they said.
“Warned you about getting involved with her,” Easton said.
“I’ll take my legal counsel’s advice on a lot, but not that.”
His lips curved in a smirk. “Yeah, Maddie said you really like Greer.”
“I do. Things were getting good. Now this fucked it all up.”
“Think this was Alex taking his revenge?”
On the list of suspects, he was at the top.
The fact he was the only suspect made that easy.
“That’s my guess,” I said. “But to be fair, I haven’t always been as cautious as I should with my house, security, and phone. For all I know, this was a rando who partied here and has some grudge.”
“Or a jilted woman.”
My mind went to the wannabe whatever who tried to leave the nightclub with me. “Or that.”
“I’ll get in contact with Alex tomorrow, see what I can get out of him while also reminding him again about the terms of his employment and his severance.”
I dragged my palm down my face. As badly as I wanted to tell him not to worry and that it would blow over—my usual method for handling shit—the old screenshots had done enough damage. If this was the starting point and there was more he had on me, I didn’t want it escalating.
Easton clapped my shoulder. “I’ll be in touch.”
“Sorry to drag you out on Christmas.”
“You did me a favor. We were staying with Maddie’s parents for the night, which meant I was in a guest room as far from her bedroom as possible. It was fucking torture.” The professionalism and the friendliness both disappeared to leave a warning on his somber face. “If Greer wants to leave—”
“I’ll let her.” It would fucking gut me, but I would.
Eventually.
“Good. But fix shit so that doesn’t happen. It was stupid for you to get involved with your employee, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t good for you.”
“I’m trying.”
I just wasn’t sure what the hell to do.
I understood why she was pissed when she thought I’d been the one to plaster my house in screenshots. And even though they were all old, I also got why she would be upset at seeing them. I wanted to stab the eyes of every man who’d ever looked at her.
I still wouldn’t be angry at her for what she’d done before we met.
Jealous as shit, yes.
But not angry.
Easton left just before Greer moved into the entryway. The front door closed, and she looked over her shoulder like she was thinking about following.
“Talk to me,” I ordered.
“I’m tired,” she said in a soft, defeated voice.
“We’re not going to bed until you talk to me.”
At the firmness in my tone, she bit her bottom lip.
“Now, Greer.” I closed the distance between us and grabbed her sore ass cheek. “Or I will bend you over the island and spank your ass raw until you talk. If that doesn’t work, I’ll drag you back to Gilded. Only this time, I’ll use the cane to break down those walls.”
“The messages weren’t all old!” she cried. Her distress was quickly hidden behind a blank mask that I fucking hated. “And that’s fine. I was just surprised—”
“The fuck are you talking about? I haven’t had that app on my phone in months. Since well before I met you.”
“There’s no reason to lie. I hate lies.” Deep rage twisted her pretty face and filled her venomous tone. “And I hate liars!”
“I’m not lying. Swear it, siren—”
“Don’t call me that.” Breathing heavy, she untucked her hair before tucking it back. With a frustrated growl, she pulled her phone out. “This was a mistake. I’m going to have Maddie come back to get me.”
I said I would let her leave if she wanted. I’d meant it when I said it, too.
But I was the liar that she accused me of being because I didn’t let her. I quickly plucked the cell from her hand and put it on the top shelf of the nearest cabinet.
“You think that’ll stop me? I’ve been scaling counters all my life.” To illustrate her point, she quickly hefted herself up onto the gleaming surface, and panic shot through me at the thought of her slipping.
I grabbed her and hauled her to me. She tried to scramble out of my hold, so I tightened it. “Tell me why you mistakenly think I’m lying?”
“Because I’m not an idiot.”
“Tell me.”
“How about I show you?”
I grudgingly released her but stayed alert in case she was going to run. Or kick me in the dick. Both seemed distinctly plausible.
Rather than either, she stormed over to the recycling and pulled out the stack of screenshots.
She spread them on the island as she scanned each before finding what she was looking for.
“There.” She jabbed her finger at it. “This is after you knew me. But it was before we were messing around, so there was no reason for you to lie about it. About any of this. And if you lie about something so stupid, how can I trust you when it comes to the important stuff? I can’t.
Like you said, the shit at Gilded only works with someone I trust, so it’s done. All of it.”
Fuck.
No.