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“That’s none of your fucking business. Don’t ask me anything else about her. I won’t tell you, Calloway.”
Easton moves forward, stepping into my face, and Weston crosses his arms over his chest. “If you hurt my sister, I will ruin your life.”
“I hope you fucking do.” I smirk, wishing he would test me right now. I stare into his eyes, not intimidated, not backing down.
Weston pulls Easton away from me, and I move toward the door.
“Wait. The reason we called you here was to discuss LuxLeaks.”
My eyes darken. “I will find her.”
“You won’t,” Weston says. “I can guarantee that.”
“I have people, Weston. Hackers. Men who laugh at the dark web. If I wanted to find LadyLux, I absolutely would,” I say, my voice lowering to a near growl. It’s not a threat, but a promise. “Unless you’d like to admit that she works for you.”
“No.” Weston shakes his head with a laugh. “Hilarious. LadyLux works for no one, which you can see by how she’s chewed me up and spit me out over the last decade.”
“She continues to,” Easton says, and I think I see him almost smirk.
Weston’s jaw clenches tight as he pins me in place. “Believe me when I say, you do not want to mess with her, Asher. What is wrong with you?”
“Ahh, did she call her watchdogs to take care of theissue? Is that how she gets into all the private parties and has insider information no one would have unless they were there? LadyLux may be doing her research on me, but trust me, I will do my research on her.” I glare at him. “She should’ve left my name off her site. Mmm. Guess she fucked around and found out.”
“Fine. Good luck,” Weston says, his smile fading to a straight line. “You’ll need it.”
“Anything else?”
“You don’t need to start a war with LuxLeaks while fighting battles with my sister and Josh Lustre. You have more than enough on your plate right now.” Weston pats me on my back, squeezing my shoulder as he leads me to the door.
I reach for the doorknob. “I do what I want.”
“That will be your downfall,” he tells me as I leave the office with my heart in my throat.
I step into the elevator, almost wishing I’d have stayed cooped up inside today. So far, it’s turning out to be an awful experience.
Paparazzi snap photos of me leaving Calloway headquarters, and I slide into the back of the waiting car.
Nick stares at me. “What the fuck happened? I saw Billie leave, and she wasfurious. Did they tell you to stay away from her?”
My face cracks into a smile. “Actually, no. Guess this clusterfuck does have a silver lining.”
I enter my loft,and the weight of everything that’s happened today settles heavy on my shoulders. My mind races with thoughts of Billie—her fighting spirit, her fiery temper that I both love and fear. I want to call her, apologize, and explain everything, but I know better. She needs space to cool off, and I need to own up to the mess I’ve made of things.
This is the consequence of my actions of saying hello. But I’m not giving up after how she kissed me back on the elevator.
As I move into the living room, something catches my eye, and I stop. A white box, tied with a ribbon, sits innocently on the counter. My heart skips a beat because Billie left this for me. I movecloser, knowing this is how she found the folio. I slide the lid off, and inside is a letter, already torn open.
Billie’s name stares back at me in my sister’s familiar handwriting. A chill travels down my spine.
I can’t read it now. My throat tightens, an unwelcome lump forming. Not yet. I’m already too emotionally drained. I set the letter to the side and dig deeper into the box, my fingers brushing against something rectangular. I pull it out, carefully unwrapping the tissue paper as curiosity tugs at me.
When I see a small painting of my sister smiling brightly, surrounded by flowers, my eyes water. I try to blink away my tears, but I fail. The colors explode on the canvas.
Below the painting, an inscription reads,Don’t be an Ash-hole.
A smirk tugs at my lips despite the storm brewing inside me. I move to my bedroom and stop in the doorway when I see red lace panties on my pillow.
I’ve let Billie down, and there’s no denying it. But as much as regret gnaws at me, I wouldn’t change my choices regarding her. I hope she shows up at eight p.m., like we planned before. Either way, I try to prepare myself for whatever comes next.