Page 60 of The Elusive Billionaire

We will ruin you someday, little girl. You don’t get to do this to our children and get away with it. We’ll take everything and everyone you love until every last drop of hope is eradicated from your life.

A chill works through my body at the memory of the vicious glares Riley and Paige’s moms had leveled at me as they hurled never-ending threats. They’d cornered me in a bathroom stall at the courthouse before Riley’s trial had begun.

Don’t react. Don’t show weakness. Run.

Shaking my head, I bite the skin around my thumbnail until the taste of copper fills my mouth. Grey curses, then grabs a box of tissues from the table to his right and wraps one around my bleeding appendage. But he doesn’t let it go. He holds pressure to it while gently caressing the inside of my wrist with his thumb and simultaneously managing to look pissed off.

What the hell is happening right now?

“Sav, you know you can trust me,” Madi whispers.

The log in my throat rolls over, lodging itself painfully and making it impossible to swallow.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you.”It’s that no one has ever believed me…not when it mattered, and now, I fear for your safety if I say anything at all.

Grey stops his ministrations, his hold on my wrist becoming tighter, as though my words triggered him to react. “You’re scared of someone.”

I can’t control the way I flinch.

Don’t react. Don’t show weakness. Run.

I’m well beyond slipping into old self-destructive habits, but all the coping mechanisms I’ve learned over the years are unraveling with the weight of my past.

“Savvy,” Braxton says in a strangled tone, “we have the means to keep everyone safe, but we can’t protect anyone if we don’t know what we’re up against. Madi and Clover will be safer if we can plan appropriately.”

Shit. Is he right? Of course he’s right, but it doesn’t make it any easier. They’re richer than sin.They’llbe fine.

It’s just me that’ll get buried. Right? Helena DeVane and Corrine Ashford have money, a grudge, and a mean streak that strikes harder than a bolt of lightning, but Braxton and Grey have the means to shield themselves and the people they care about.

“What are you so scared of?” Greyson whispers. He’s tense, prepared for a fight. “If it’s all coming to light anyway—and trust me, if there’s a public record anywhere, the media will find it—allow us to help you before we find out on some website.”

I think I’m going to be sick. My stomach clenches, and it takes everything in me not to wretch. With all the strength I have left, I yank my hand out of Grey’s grasp.

The last thing I deserve is comfort.

Especially from someone who says he hates me half the time.

“Savvy.” Sage is only eighteen, but he might be wiser than all of us combined, and it shows in his calm, even tone. “I know Grey can be…well, Grey, but there isn’t a more protective man on the planet. If he says he can handle your trauma, you should let him.”

“It’s not trauma if you created it yourself,” I mutter.

“Did I create my trauma by not getting my sister out of her prison cell of a bedroom before it was too late?” The power behind Grey’s question chills the room to arctic temperatures.

“No, of course not. But it’s not the same. That wasn’t your choice, you tried. I…I didn’t try at all, not really.”

Madi stands, then practically falls onto the sofa beside me. I’m sandwiched between her and Grey, their comforting heat surrounding me in a protective shield I almost believe in.

“I think Grey’s right, Savvy.” Madi continues to snap the elastic band around her wrist as she speaks. “It’s only a matter of time before it all gets released to the press. While Grey has always had media attention, he’s never had a scandal, and with him tied to you, they won’t stop digging until they find out every sordid detail. If I’ve learned anything over the last ten years, it’s that it’s better to control your narrative. Don’t allow someone else to rewrite your story. Please, let us help.”

Jesus. I know she’s right, but I’m not ready to lose these people either. Then again, I might have to walk away to protect them, so maybe telling them what I’ve done will help diminish their pain when I do.

After all, how could they love me once they know my truth—what I’ve done?

It’s why I never told them, right? They could never love me the way I love them if they knew.

I was only ever meant to be a supporting character in their story, never the main attraction because if they got too close, they’d find my foundation built on a pile of lies.

And now, here we are.