“I need to know what you know so I can stop this. Addelaine Tindall was promised six months to relocate and one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars to compensate her for the transition.”
He huffed in anger. “I was told the same until I got word Addelaine signed a contract agreeing to a quick sale. Premises are to be vacated by the thirtieth and demolition begins on the first. RG Construction was supposed to have the bid, but I pulled it as soon as I got word. No question they have the city big dogs in their pocket because things just don’t move that fast. Someone got paid off, and as soon as those types of dealings start goin’ down, I’m out.”
Anger and hurt billowed in my chest. “I can’t believe he’d do this.”
Rex eyed me. “Can’t you?”
I pressed my hand to my mouth, trying to quiet the cry that slipped up my throat without my permission.
“Lillith,” Rex murmured in sympathy.
I shook my head at him. “Just…tell me everything you know.”
Chapter Twelve
Broderick Sunlight poured through the sheer drapes that covered the windows. I groaned as I stretched where I lay flat on my stomach, my muscles flexing as my cock stirred back to life, my body bristling with this desire I had a hunch wasn’t ever going to lessen.
Just like I told Lillith.
Once I tasted her, I wasn’t ever going to get my fill.
A satisfied grin stretched across my mouth, and I slid my hand along the mattress. Seeking her. Already ravenous. Ready for another bite. The only softness I found was the cool bottom sheet.
I jerked my head up from the pillow to look at the spot where I’d watched her fall asleep. The top sheet was gone.
So was she.
Anxiety twisted in my gut. “Lillith,” I called, voice turned in the direction of the attached en suite bathroom.
Silence rained down, ominous in the still, quiet morning.
Dread seeped into my skin and settled in my bones. My gaze swept the room.
Her clothing, which we’d left strewn across the floor, was no longer there.
My teeth gritted. What the fuck?
I thought we were passed this.
I reached for my phone to call her, gripping it in my hand as I swiped my thumb across the glass.
The alarm I felt ratcheted up a thousand notches when I saw the messages that had already been read. My chest tightened in rage at what they implied. At the suspicions they confirmed.
Motherfucker.
Lillith had seen these texts.
God. I couldn’t even imagine what she was thinking.
Panic spiraled through my body. My mind raced. Flipping through every detail James had fed me.
I flicked into recent calls listed on my phone until I found the name I was looking for.
He answered on the second ring.
“I warned you,” I seethed.
Mocking laughter filtered in from the other end of the line, his disappointment thick. I shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, that was the only thing I’d ever been.
“And I warned you. You had two weeks to get her out of there, not six months, and you sure as hell didn’t have the authority to pay her what you promised. So I had my men fix it.”
Anger rippled through my straining muscles. “I promise you, I won’t let you get away with this,” I said, crushing my phone to my mouth where I spat the words.
He laughed. “It’s already done.”
Chapter Thirteen
Lillith
My head jerked up when the bell above the door chimed, flaming the indignant anger that burned through my body and trembled all the way to my core.
“Don’t you dare walk through that door.” The words shook and grated as I forced them through gritted teeth. Broderick Wolfe froze halfway through the door of Tindall’s Thimbles. He was back to wearing his suit that made him appear every bit the villain he was.
Dark and dominant.
Last night, Rex Gunner had given me enough information so I knew where to begin digging. The proof I’d found in the few hours I’d spent combing through files on my computer was insubstantial, but hopefully it was enough that the complaint I filed to order a hold on the sale until the claims could be investigated would stick.
All night and morning I’d focused solely on this task. Refusing to give into the nagging thoughts of him. Thoughts of his touch and his kiss and the promise of something more. Refusing to let myself dwell on the fact that I’d been nothing more than a game.
A pawn used to bring down the final obstacle standing in his way.
The sickest part of it all was that obstacle was me.
He’d pitted me against myself.
He took the final step inside, and I narrowed my eyes at him. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, should have I?
His throat bobbed heavily. “Lillith…I can explain.”
Nervousness seemed to line his demeanor for the first time, but I knew better than to fall for his tactics. The man managed to switch from one disguise to another flawlessly.
That didn’t mean I couldn’t see his razor-sharp teeth.
“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.” I lifted the short stack of papers. “I have everything I need to know right here. I know your company bribed the county commissioner. I know your company signed off on pushing the permits through. And I know your company had no intention of honoring the deal you made with Addelaine.”
He rubbed a big hand over his jaw, which today was unshaven and coarse with thick, dark hair.
A beast.
A beautiful, terrible, lying, betraying beast.
Hate flared, that emotion mixed with the cutting grief.
“My father—”
Biting laughter broke through the air. “I don’t give a damn about your father, Broderick. I give a damn about what you promised. What I care about is the fact you’re nothing but a disgusting manipulator. A liar driven by greed.”
I sucked in a sharp breath when he suddenly flew across the floor. He was in my face, nostrils flaring as he stared me down. Yet, when I expected to find anger in his eyes, I found nothing but desperation. His next words a hoarse plea. “You told me you trusted me. I demand a little of it now.”
I refused the instinct to soften, and instead I scoffed as I tipped my head back so I could meet his penetrating gaze. “You demand it? You don’t get to demand anything of me. You don’t own me, and you can’t have me. I promised you before you came here that I would stop you…but now? Now I promise I will destroy you. I won’t stop until there’s absolutely nothing left of Wolfe Industries. I trusted you, and you lied to me. Used me. And I fell for it.”
The worst part was that I’d fallen for him.
Bile rose in my throat. “You disgust me, and I don’t ever want to see you again unless it’s in court and I’m taking everything important to you away.”
He sank back, shoulders straightening as something like hurt flashed across his face. It was gone before I could decipher it, his jaw going rigid. “You really think so little of me?”
The words dripped like venom as they slid from my tongue. “I think even less.”