“Why is he giving you that? What happened to your old one?”
I keep moving, his feet hot on my heels.
“Why is he giving you gifts, Rory?” He demands. I have a way of pushing Iceman’s patience.
“The same reason you gave me a car. For convenience.”
I don’t have to turn around to know he doesn’t like my answer. I knew he wouldn’t, which is why I said it.
Several tense seconds tick by. “That the same excuse you told yourself when you tracked him down? Asked him to help dislodge your car too? The carIbought you.”
That last comment wasn’t necessary. That dig to show his hierarchy and nothing else.
“Spying on me, Iceman?” I ask, steadying my pace.
Where is the damn exit in this place? I know there are stairs around here, taking this way often. Suddenly they seem endless in their appearance.
Grunting, he tries pulling at my elbow. The force of his grip causes me to gyrate into him.
I blink up at him, startled by the aggravation swirling inside the dark circles of his pupils. Cole is more than angry he’s straight-up pissed.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand with attention.
“You already know the answer to that.” His eyes glacial. “Now I’m going to ask again and this time you’re going to drop the sarcasm, Princess.”
The intensity in his stare causes my head to spin.
“Now.” A muscle in his cheek jumps. “Why is he giving you gifts?”
I gulp.
The deep lines in his forehead pinch closer together before loosening. A piece of paper I hadn’t known was there flying from underneath the box when my arm jerks.
Both our heads snap down. Following it before the weight of Cole’s shoe crushes it underneath his foot.
I yelp out a squeak of noise as he grinds it underneath his heel with lethal clarity. Letting go, he bends down to pick it up. Crumbling it into a tiny ball and flicking it over the railing, never breaking eye contact.
That once small tic in his jaw pulsates, jumping as it thunders with new life.
Throwing my gut into the metal railing, I watch as the tiny ball rotates in slow motion down two whole flights. Only to be swept up by a roaming janitor’s broom seconds later.
“I never got to read that,” I whine, whipping back around.
The whites of his eyes glow with newfound fury. Mine match with the same heat, knowing I’ll never get to read what was written on the paper.
“I’m going to ask one more time.” Cole’s tone low but supreme. “Why is he giving you a phone?”
My hands widen, spanning out on either side as I slide them across the stainless steel bar. The imaginary lasers I’m shooting in his direction do nothing. If anything, he’s firing the same ones right back.
“Answer me.” Words as patronizing as they are soft.
My lids hood over.What others do for me is none of your business.
The line that is his mouth lifts on the left side like he can read my thoughts. It only makes me that much more angry. He knows me too well.
His chin lifts. “You aren’t allowed gifts from him.”
I can literally feel the nerves in my eyes as they pulsate, widening with shock. How dare he…