Page 27
Story: Overruled
I give her an answering grin. “Sounds good.”
•••
I accompany Biancato the elevator before making the walk back to my office, my head buzzing with the various possibilities that might be tied to her husband’s mysterious account. Having a mistress is one thing, but regular payments for almost three decades? Is their entire relationship transactional, or is he just too lazy to bathe her in his money in person? I don’t notice there’s someone else in my office until I’ve already shut the door behind me, my lips turning down in a frown at Ezra’s broad back as he stands across the room studying the framed pictures on my bookshelf.
“By all means,” I grumble. “Make yourself at home.”
He glances over his shoulder at me, flashing me his panty-dropping smile (I wish I could say that was just a baseless metaphor) as he points to the photo of my dad and me at McKinney Falls. “This is sweet. You should go back to pigtails.”
“I was eleven,” I mutter.
“Must be why you’re smiling. Your face had to have forgotten how to do it not long after.”
I roll my eyes. “Cute.”
“Your parents seem so happy in your pictures.” His eyes movefrom the frames littered on my shelves in a way that feels almost…wistful. “Hard to believe they got divorced.”
“Yeah, well,” I snort. “When you’re just pretending to enjoy being married so your kid can have a ‘normal childhood,’ I guess it’s an easy decision to split.” His eyes widen, and I feel my own mirror the action. “I don’t know why I said that.”
“They told you that?”
I hate the pity in his expression.
“Are you in my office for a reason, or did you just come to bother me?”
He eyes me for a moment longer, like he wants to press the issue, but it’s gone as quickly as it came. He grins at me instead. “Well, Idolove bothering you.”
“Ezra.”
“Fine.” He raises his hands in apology. “I came to assure you I have no idea about any secret accounts. Whatever happened in that room was news to me.”
I force my expression to remain passive, not wanting to reveal yet that I believe him. “Your brother didn’t seem very surprised.”
His face does something strange then, a bitter shade passing over it that I never see on him.
“I didn’t know he would be here today,” he tells me. “My father sent him.”
“Doesn’t trust baby boy to handle things?”
I mean it as a tease, but the shadow across his face deepens, and he cuts his eyes away from mine. “Wouldn’t put it past him.”
I wrestle with that for a moment. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Ezra speak ill of his family. Is there more to the Heartbreak Prince than just some family lawyer royalty? I decide it’s not my business.
“Well, considering Bianca is emailing me the records she found, I guess it will all be out there soon.”
“Yes, I imagine so,” he sighs. His eyes find mine again. “But I needed you to know I didn’t lie to you or withhold information.”
I won’t pretend that his admission doesn’t make my chest tighten, but I play it off with a shrug. “Why would it matter what I think?”
“Because…” His lips curl in a sultrier smile now. “I enjoy our…arrangement.”
“Our arrangement,” I echo.
He strolls to my desk, toying with the bronze scales of justice paperweight at the corner. Then he turns, leaning to rest his ass against my desk while his stupidly large hands slide down to grip the edge.
“Yes. I would hate to see it end because of a misunderstanding.”
I purse my lips. “I already told you it was over.”
Table of Contents
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