I asked Reed to make love to me all night when I knew I was leaving.
Tonight was Reed sayinggoodbye.
Chapter thirty-three
Reed
“They’regettingdesperate.”Griffin’slip curls in disgust as he cradles his glass of scotch.
We’re sat in the bar we always seem to end up in whenever shit gets serious. One with a deep rich interior of reds and browns, and a long bar lined with everything you need to drown your sorrows or put the world to rights. It’s not flashy. It smells of a mix of stained oak and roasted peanuts. But it’s unapologetic and doesn’t give a shit. It’s why we always end up here on nights like tonight. Nights when you need a friend to tell it to you straight. Or you need to remove yourself from all the pretentious shit that comes with being mayor, or New York’s youngest billionaire hotelier.
Nights when you just need to be fucking human.
This bar is our hidden oasis in the middle of the concrete jungle.
We’re even sitting in the same seats I remember being in when I talked some sense into Griffin’s ass after a fight with Maria all those months ago.
Now it’s my turn.
“It doesn’t mean they’ll follow through. You don’t have to do it, Reed.”
I lift my glass, staring at the honeyed liquid. I knew what I had to do the second Griffin told me about the texts and video. The second I understood what Harley has been dragged into. Knowing what this is doing to her, the power these assholes have over her… It brought memories crashing back to me. Memories I never thought I would have to face again. Not like this.
She’s trapped.
They’ve taken away her choice. She may think she’s the one who made it by leaving and trying to buy time. But she isn’t. They’ve held all the cards. Just like me thinking if I chose to forget about that night and leave it in the past, it would be enough.
And it was. For a long time.
But it’s not just about me anymore.
“I do.” I hold my glass to my lips, my eyes meeting Griffin’s over the rim. “I do have to do it.”
I knock the scotch back, savoring the warm burn, inching its way down to my stomach. I wasn’t planning on seeing Griffin again tonight. It’s been less than two hours since Stu and I left his apartment.
But blackmail doesn’t wear a watch.
Griffin shakes his head, rolling his lips over his teeth. “You always were a fucker when it came to principles.”
“I’m the one in control of my life. No one else.”
The barman refills our drinks without saying a word, then disappears to the other end of the bar.
“I know. I just wish there was another way.” Griffin glances at me, then grimaces as he looks back at his drink. His jaw clenches as he sucks in a breath. “You’re really okay about it?”
I cast my eyes over him. Over the tension pouring from him in waves. His shoulders are practically up by his ears from all the stiffness in them. And this is Griffin. I’ve known him since we were kids. He’s always been uptight. I’m so used to it that I don’t even notice anymore. But for me to see it in him tonight, worn so outwardly in every movement he makes.
It tells me something.
He’s the best fucking friend in the world.
What I’m planning to do bothers him.Reallyfucking bothers him.
But it’s because he cares. And he will support me no matter what. I have no doubt.
“I’m okay. I’m…” I run a hand around the back of my neck. “I’m better than okay. They need to know they can never intimidate me. I will never play their little bitch in Office. I didn’t get into politics to aid corrupt assholes.”
“I respect that, I do. I just want you to be all right, you know?”