Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 88228 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88228 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Or is this all an elaborately created lie? Betsy’s not lying. She’s telling me the truth as she knows it. But the “truth” comes from Addie, and she could very well have lied.
Silence looms between us, almost visible in its thickness. Finally, Betsy removes her palm from my balled-up fist.
“Please tell me I haven’t made a mistake, Skye.”
“You haven’t. I’m just not sure what to do with this information.”
“Whatever you do, please keep my name out of it.”
“Of course. I give you my word.”
She breathes a visible sigh of relief. Is she really that scared of Addison? After all, Addison does promotional posts for her business for free, supposedly because Betsy knows Addie basically stalked Braden ten years ago.
Unless there’s more that Betsy isn’t telling me…
“What else do you know?” I asked.
She pauses a few seconds, looking down at her plate.
Then, still not meeting my gaze, “Nothing. That’s it.”
“Betsy…”
“I’ve already said a lot more than I should have. Please let it go at that.”
Though my stomach is full of knots, I nod. Clearly she’s gone way out of her comfort zone, and she did it for me, in an effort to keep me from getting my heart stomped on. I’ve never felt unsafe with Braden. He always made sure he had permission to do everything he did. I don’t even have a safe word. What did he do to Addie that freaked her out? Is Addie embarrassed by all that happened? What part did she play in the whole thing? I already know she was the one who pursued him in the beginning. In fact, she went way beyond simple pursuit. She stalked him.
“Thank you for trusting me,” I say.
She offers me a soft smile. “I like you. I felt I had to…”
“I know. Again, thank you.”
She idly pulls a loose thread on her blouse. “What are you going to do?”
I sigh. “Honestly, I’m not sure. I do need to confront Braden about it, though.”
Her eyes widen and her lips tremble.
“Don’t worry,” I rush to add. “You can trust me to keep your name out of it.”
“Skye, that woman has eyes and ears everywhere.” Betsy rises. “I hope I haven’t made a mistake. I have to reopen the store. I can’t afford the loss of sales.” She walks out of the back room and into the shop.
I rise as well.
I’m not scared of Addison Ames.
Still, Betsy’s words feel like invisible knives scraping across the top layer of my skin.
Chapter Two
My feet, seemingly of their own accord, take me to Braden’s office building. I whisk past the reception desk to the elevators with the receptionist’s “ma’am!” ringing in my ears.
I ignore her plea and take the elevator to the requisite floor, past the floor receptionist, and to Braden’s office.
“Ma’am!”
Stiletto footsteps follow behind me, but I’m on a mission. A mission to confront the man I love.
Braden’s assistant rises as I approach. “Hello, Ms. Manning. May I help you?”
“I’m here to see Braden.”
“He’s on a phone call at the moment.”
“I’ll just wait in his office. Thanks.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t let you disturb him.”
“I won’t disturb him.” I keep walking, the compulsion to get to his office overwhelming me. Yes, I should stop. Yes, I should listen to the receptionist. Yes, I should do a lot of things.
“Ms. Manning—”
I stroll past her, my heart pounding as fear slides through me. I grasp the doorknob to Braden’s office, turn it, but I don’t go through.
Stop it, Skye. Just open the fucking door and go in.
I push the door open and enter.
Braden sits at his desk, his back to me, cell phone to his ear.
I clear my throat.
He turns, and his eyes widen.
He motions to the phone and then nods toward a chair.
I don’t budge. This isn’t the bedroom, despite what took place the last time I was here. I haven’t given up control in this office. Besides, I couldn’t sit still if I wanted to right now.
Finally, he says into the phone, “Excuse me for a moment, please.” Then, to me, “Skye, I’ll be with you in a few minutes. This is important.”
“Are you going to dump me if I won’t do what you want?” Shit. Shit. Shit. I didn’t mean to just blurt it out like that.
His countenance darkens. I’ve woken the beast. I should be frightened, but I’m not. I don’t know whether I’m angry or sad or in love.
Yes, I do. I’m all three.
“This is important,” he says again, but he shifts his gaze to my restless hands I can’t stop wringing before he goes back to his call. “Hey, Ken, I’m going to have to put these negotiations on hold. Something has come up that requires my immediate attention.” Braden ends his call and stands.
God, he seems even taller and more formidable than normal. He’s angry. Really fucking angry.
And really fucking attractive.