Page 37 of It Starts With A No

“Okay.”

Seth nodded, then pushed the door handle down, but it was locked.

“Ugh.” Clary got up and walked over to the door. “This lock is ridiculously troublesome.”

“I guess he really values his toys.”

She nodded slowly. “He came by this morning hoping I’d let him take one.”

“Did you let him?”

She shook her head and entered the code for the door without even bothering to hide it from him. “I thought he’d grab a few on the way out. I don’t know why he didn’t.” She paused and jerked her chin up. “Yeah, why didn’t he do that?”

“Maybe he’s afraid you’d complain to the old man.”

Her brows flicked up. “Maybe.” She paused again, then opened her mouth, only to shut it again.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Seth rubbed his tongue against his chipped canine again. If there was anything he’d learned from Holly Eolenfeld, it was that ‘nothing’ always meant something.

Chapter 8

Opening the box, Clary stared at the diamond ring Seth had bought for her. It didn’t seem right for her to accept it. It was way too expensive a replacement for her zirconia one.

She ran her fingertip along the smooth edge of the box.

Should she have told Seth what Hugh had said?

She felt horrible about keeping that from Seth, but he already hated the Eolenfelds. If she had told him, he probably would have insisted that she go to the police with the information. If she refused, he’d probably do so himself.

She honestly didn’t believe Hugh was behind that attack, though.

Why did he claim it, then? To scare her?

Over what? A watch?

Clary swiveled around in her chair to look at the wall of watches on the black wooden shelves. Why didn’t Hugh just take what he wanted? He always did. Why did he come to ask me for it?

He’d even tried to be civil. It didn’t last long, but he tried.

Clary blew out a breath.

Hugh had always just taken whatever he wanted from her. Her notes, textbooks, stationery. If he needed something, he would simply take it from her without asking. Because Eolenfeld money paid for everything she had, so—from his entitled point of view—that meant everything was his since he was an Eolenfeld and she wasn’t.

“I didn’t know your—”

Clary jumped and turned her chair back around.

Tamara held her hands up in peace. “I thought you would’ve heard me come in.”

“I was caught up in my thoughts.”

“The independent review team would like to speak with you. I used that as an excuse to cancel the meeting with the boys’ club and gave the review team the slot instead.”

“Great job.” Clary had been waiting for an update from the review team. She’d already received the initial report, which was a long list of employees involved in the shenanigans that had gone down.

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