Page 54 of Broken Boss

He glances up and sees me, startling.

When I reach him, he has the door open. I pause.

“How dare you.”

His brows knit. The words are almost lost to the rain, so I say it again. “How dare you. I told you—I trusted you. You had no right.”

His hand is on the door, body bracketing me in as the rain moves over both of us in little waves.

“How dare I? I promised you I wouldn’t ask questions, Autumn. And I didn’t.”

“You breached my privacy by following me in.”

“I wanted to make sure you were safe.”

He frowns, tripping over the lie. We both know it for what it is, and I sneer at him, wiping my hair back from my face.

“You keep saying that. But I think all you’ve proven today is that I can’t trust you.”

I fold myself into the car, pulling the door shut and narrowly avoiding crushing Chris’s hand as I do so.

He stands there for a second longer, hands balled into fists. The rain sheets across the window, obscuring my view. I lean forward in the seat, trying to quell the nervous nausea in my stomach.

I want to go home. I want to be alone.

But there is no home, and there is no being alone.

Even if I leave and go back to the apartment, Orla will be there. Another person mad at me; someone else to see how much of an ass I’ve made of myself.

And if not Orla, then Kieran.

No matter what I do, I can’t stop the past from haunting me.

Chapter 18

Chris

My bare feet don’t make any sound as I pace the bedroom, but I still worry that Autumn can hear me. That she’s just as awake as I am at 11 p.m., replaying the events of the day.

How we both fucked up.

The mess we’re in now.

I can’t trust you.

If she meant it, there’s no way she’s asleep. If she meant it, her door is locked, and she’s just as scared of me as she is of her ex.

Why did I follow her?

What drove me to it? Part of me wants to say it was instinct, the lawyer in me sniffing out bullshit, a secret, and needing to know.

She’s right. She can’t trust me. I can’t be this close to her and not cross a line.

I make a hard turn for the nightstand and pick up my phone, thumbing through contacts quickly.

Nate picks up on the second ring.

“Everything okay?” He sounds more awake than I expected for a new father. My brows rise in surprise.

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