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I blinked in confusion, a low hum of anger slowly building beneath my skin. He thought this was about him?

I knew he could be an ass. I just didn’t know he was an arrogant one. I’ve spent the past years avoiding him and anything that seemed to be mildly affiliated with him. I didn’t need him barging into my life and messing things up. Noah didn’t need that either.

“Whatever you might have going on in your head is purely of your making. I have no interest in you and anything that has to do with you. Now unhand me. I have business partners to attend to.”

The son of bitch spun me around, pulling flush against him. I sucked in a deep breath, hating how well my body molded into his. I could feel my nipples hardening and straining beneath the soft fabric of my dress, and every time he exhaled, the movement of his chest sent jolts of electricity through the peaking buds.

“You wanted my attention, Mira. It’s what you’ve always wanted. Now you have it, but unfortunately for you, I don’t take lightly to people messing with my business.”

“I wasn’t messing with your business. If I knew you were going after any of those deals, I would’ve stayed as far away from them as possible.” My composure was slowly falling apart, and my voice was becoming increasingly breathy. I needed to get away from him before the situation took a different turn.

“It’s a little hard to believe when this is the third time you’ll be stealing from me.”

I scoffed.

“You lost the deal, Griffin. Obviously, you were lacking something that they found in me. How about you take a look inward and fix yourself instead of blaming me for your misfortunes?” My words came out harsher than I intended, but there was no taking them back.

If the expression on Griffin’s face was what it would take to keep him as far as possible from Noah and me, it was a route I was ready to take.

A slow smirk spread across his face, and dark intent settled in his eyes. His arm around me dropped from my back to the curve of my hips, the heat from him burning through the thin fabric and shooting straight to my veins. He bent his head to my ears and whispered. “I intend to take a long look inside, just like I intend to take a trip down memory lane. Fugitives interest me.”

His words were an obvious threat and should have set off the alarms in my head, but he said it like it was a sinful promise, and I couldn’t contain the shudder that spread through me.

As if the music could sense the change in atmosphere, the strings slowly came to a halt, and I gave Griffin a polite courtesy before making my way out of the ballroom.

My business deals would have to wait till another day. I was too rattled to throw myself into anything serious.

The drive home mostly consisted of me calling my COO and checking in with some of my board members to see if some of the work could be done abroad, but they insisted my presence was pivotal to the turn of events.

I sighed in frustration, tossing my phone to the side of the car. Trust Griffin Thorne to waltz into my life and automatically assume everything was about him.

When the car pulled up to my house, I was immediately tackled by a giggling mop of curly dark brown hair and icy blue eyes.

“Hello, big guy,” I laughed, scooping him into my arms and peppering kisses all over him.

“Ew, mama, saliva,” he groaned, scrubbing furiously at his face. My laughter only intensified.

I finally put him down, ruffling my head a bit. He was a bit too difficult to look at after the events of tonight, and the fact that he was a spitting image of his father didn’t help.

“Come on, mama. Uncle Tom and I built a massive Lego house for you. He announced cheerily, and my steps faltered at the mention of Tom’s name. Could the night get any worse?

Tom was the nephew of my late husband, Adrian. He had somehow managed to convince himself that I was responsible for his uncle’s death, and I equally messed with the will to give me a chunk of his properties.

He was clearly lying, but he wasted so many of his years hoping his unwed uncle would leave him with his wealth after he died, only to end up with a chateau in France and a Rolls Royce. The unexpected turn of events left him furious.

I tried to make peace with him. I explained so many times that my relationship with his uncle was born out of pure friendship and that his decision to hand the company over to me was based on his trust in me and not because I manipulated him on his deathbed.

When my explanations went over his ears, I tried to compensate him by offering him high-paying positions in the company. But it was not enough for him. He was consumed by greed and wantedeverything for himself. Unfortunately for him, Adrian foresaw his actions and put in measures to protect me and prevent him from going after the company. That only infuriated him more, forcing him to resort to petty harassments and empty threats over the years.

“Go play with your cars, sweetie.” The moment I entered the house, I sent Noah off with his nanny and proceeded to the living room to face Tom.

“I see you’re still flaunting yourself as a pitiful widow and earning spots in the corporate world by throwing my uncle’s name around and granting access to anyone who looks like he stacked some coins to his name.” Tom’s words hit me like a slap in the face as soon as I stepped into the living room.

I saw the Lego house Noah was talking about torn apart and thrown to the side. The man-child must’ve destroyed it when Noah ran out to greet me.

“Say whatever you want to all who care to listen, but I’ll not have you walk into my house and speak to me in that manner.”

“Your house?” He sneered, taking a step forward. “This is my uncle’s house. You’re a desperate bitch with nothing to your name, and I’ll be sure to return you to the gutters where you belong soon.”