Page 110 of Broken Dream

His smile fades slightly. “Is that a threat?”

“No,” I reply, matching his tone. “It’s a fact. You’re making a mistake if you think I’m going to let you destroy people’s lives for your own enjoyment.”

“Oh, I don’t intend to destroy anyone’s life,” he retorts. “Just shake things up a little.”

I set down my coffee cup with more force than necessary. “You have no right?—”

He cuts me off with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Save your moral outrage, Angie. We both know this situation isn’t about rights.”

“Then what is it about?” I grind out, struggling to keep my temper in check.

Ralph’s eyes glint with a predatory anticipation. “Power,” he says, his voice low and menacing. “And control. And people getting what’s coming to them.”

A shiver of fear and revulsion runs down my spine, but I refuse to let him see it. “I won’t play your games, Ralph,” I say quietly.

He chuckles, looking thoroughly amused. “Angie, you’re already playing.”

The waitress returns then, setting down Ralph’s breakfast with a cheerful smile. It’s an abrupt return to reality that momentarily stuns me into silence.

“Enjoy your meal,” she tells Ralph before shooting me an empathetic look.

“Thanks,” Ralph replies, his attention already on the food in front of him.

“Well,” I say after a moment’s pause, my voice steady despite the turmoil within me. “I hope you enjoy your breakfast.” With that, I push back my stool and stand.

“Where do you think you’re going?” His voice is casual, but there’s a hard edge to it.

I toss some bills onto the counter for his meal, ignoring his question.

“I’m not bluffing, Angie,” he says. “Don’t you want to hear what I want?”

I turn back at him. “I don’t know what information I could possibly have that would be of any use to you. What do you want to know about? My family’s history? It’s posted all over the tabloids. All over the internet. I’ve got nothing that would give you any leverage over the Steels.”

He scoffs. “Why the hell would I want information about the Steels?”

I blink. “Because we have money. Because we have power. Isn’t that what you said you care about? Power and control?”

He rubs at his forehead. “Christ, you’re dumber than you look. No wonder you want to go into psychiatry. You’re not smart enough to be a real doctor.”

I want to blow up at him, but that would just be giving him what he wants.

“If you don’t want information about my family, then I really don’t know what use I could be to you.”

I’m about to turn my back to him when his words slink into my ears like a deadly viper.

“I want information on Jason Lansing.”

I give him a dirty look. “All I know about Jason Lansing is that he’s our anatomy professor. My knowledge of his life begins and ends with that.”

Without another word, I walk out of the diner and into the cool morning air. But Ralph’s words follow me like a shadow.

Power and control. And information about Jason.

What kind of information does he think I have?

His dick size?

And that’s assuming he knows that we’ve slept together. Which he couldn’t possibly…