Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
I hold my breath when my eyes shift behind him as the lobby doors open and Damian walks in. He’s engrossed in his phone, but he’s standing in my line of vision, and I know the moment he looks up, he’s going to see us. This is the worst possible time for this kind of interruption. Damian has been looking for a reason to fight Tate for years now, and if he sees him here, I know he’ll try to start something. Tate looks over his shoulder and curses as he straightens again.
“He’ll leave us alone,” I say, and as if the universe hears me, Damian walks to the elevators without ever looking up from his screen.
I’m about to let out a relieved breath when the doors open again and Finn freaking Barlow walks inside. Oh, fuck. My heart does about a million flips. Unlike my stepbrother, he’s not distracted, and as soon as he steps away from the revolving door, he lasers in on me. His expression darkens when he sees who’s sitting across from me. For a split second, I think he’s going to ignore us and follow my brother upstairs, as he should, but instead, he starts walking over.
“I’ll be right back,” I say, scrambling to my feet and practically sprinting over to Finn. I exhale. “Please don’t.”
“Why the fuck is he here?” he asks, his angry gaze on Tate.
“He just wants to talk,” I say.
His eyes flash to mine. “And you’re going to listen?” His gaze drops to the roses in my hands, and his jaw tightens. “He gave you fucking flowers?”
“He works at Titus’ firm. I’m going to have to see him sooner or later, and I’d rather it be here than in public. I’m going to have a civilized conversation and hopefully never speak to him again.”
His angry eyes flash to mine. “He doesn’t deserve a second of your attention.”
“What’s going on over here?” Tate asks, coming up behind me, and Finn’s entire body goes rigid.
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to figure out,” he says. “Why the fuck are you here?”
“Why the fuck are you here?” Tate counters.
Finn’s eyes sparkle with mirth. “I live here, asshole.”
I frown, taken aback by that. “Since when?”
“Since yesterday,” Finn says, still looking at Tate. “You need to leave.”
Tate stares at him for a moment and then laughs in disbelief as he looks from me to Finn and back. “Oh … Josslyn … tell me there’s nothing going on between you two.”
“That’s none of your business,” I snap, overshadowing whatever words are about to come out of Finn’s mouth. I shoot him a look telling him to stay quiet. He just glares.
“If you think I’m a liar and a cheater, then you certainly have a type,” Tate spits, then adds. “What, you haven’t fucked her yet? Is that why you’re still interested?”
“I’m going to give you one minute to get out of here before I destroy your fucking face,” Finn growls and takes a menacing step forward.
“Finneas,” I snap. He glares at me. “Just stop.”
“Is there a problem here?” the security guy asks as he walks over.
“Yes,” Finn says, at the same time Tate and I say, “No.”
“We were just going to step outside,” Tate grits between his teeth as he looks at Finn.
He grabs my hand and I’m forced to take a step as he starts pulling me. I don’t get to take another before Finn pushes him so hard that I stumble before I’m able to yank my hand back.
“Don’t fucking touch her,” Finn seethes.
“This is unfuckingbelievable.” Tate grinds his jaw and puffs his chest as he looks at me. “You know he’s only using you to piss me off, right? He’s using you to get back at me because he—”
“I suggest you keep your baseless comments to yourself, Ford,” Finn says through his teeth.
“Sir, I’m going to need you to…” the security starts.
“I’m going,” Tate snaps, fixing his shirt and walking toward the door. He looks at me. “I’ll be in touch.”
Finn chuckles, and even though he doesn’t say anything, it sounds like a warning. Once Tate is out of sight, I whirl around to face Finn.
“What is wrong with you?” I hiss, looking around the lobby to make sure no one is recording. “Do you realize that could’ve been caught on video?” I shake my head and start walking, leaving the bouquet on a table as I walk past it.
My arms are crossed as I stand in front of the elevator, only unfolding to stab the button more times than necessary. I don’t know what I’m more upset about—Tate for reaching out even though he knows I don’t want to talk, myself for accepting the invitation, Finn for the way he acted, Tate for suggesting Finn’s only interested in me to get some sort of revenge on him, or the idea that there could’ve been someone taking video of it all. The wheels in my brain start turning as I try to figure out what my response will be if it comes to that. I run a hand down my face. I can only imagine the things people will say online. Personal drama is catnip for them. I drop my hand and take a breath. From the corner of my eye, I see Finn approaching.