Not one inch of the apartment has been left untouched. I wander back into the kitchen, which is a miniature version of Will’s. I don’t think we’ve ever lived in a place with a new oven.
It takes my breath away.
I don’t want to imagine how much Will paid the landlord to be that satisfied. I don’t want to imagine how much all this cost. And for it to be done in two days?
He’s added a fortune to the invisible tally sheet of my debt.
I owe him more than two weeks.Muchmore.
And the foolish part of me wants it to last.
It can’t. I know that. I know better than to trust powerful men. Especially powerful men who show up to work with bruises on their faces and stalk away from me on the street.
After a weekend in his apartment, I know Will Leblanc isn’t who he pretends to be in the office. An old instinct is certain that he’s a dangerous man.
The good, warm feelings from the time I spent in his bed don’t change it.
Iknowbetter, and I still want his secrets. I still want access to all the things he hides behind his suits and his money.
The question is, how much more am I willing to pay?
19
BRISTOL
I don’t knowwho I’ll meet at the office on Monday morning. It won’t be the Will from Friday night. That’s the only version of him I can rule out.
The pressure around my heart grows on the way into the office.
I knowsomething was bothering him on Saturday. The fact that he wouldn’t tell me what it was felt like coming home to find an eviction notice on the door. The locks changed.
What we have together, as wrong as it is, feels real. Right up until the moment my fingertips meet a pane of glass, and I discover I’m in a blackmail maze. The only exit is the end of my temp job, and that’s not enough time to—
To what? Get him to tell me everything? He’s not going to.
I tap my foot on the elevator, impatient with everything.
I have five days left at Summit. Five days left to pay Will back.
Now I owe him twice as much, and that’s a conservative estimate.
Plus, it’s going to bother me forever if I never learn anything else about him. This past weekend was a tease. A fifteen-second preview of an epic movie series.
By the time the elevator slows to a stop, I’ve made up my mind. I’m just going to ask him about it. Insist on an answer. I don’t have unlimited time to convince him to tell me.
I never have unlimited time. That’s just not what life with my Dad is like. The temp agency is actually a perfect fit, because he never stays in one place for long. My entire life is a temp job, when you think about it.
The elevator doors open, and I stride out, determined.
I flash a smile at the receptionist.
She doesn’t smile back. Instead, she holds up her hand. “Bristol. Mr. Leblanc is waiting for you in the conference room?”
Shit. “He is?”
“He expects you there as soon as you arrive.”
“Okay. Thanks.”