Page 65 of The Woman

“What did you just say?” he asks as if I’ll repeat it.

I remain silent, tilting my head as if I don’t understand why he’s asking.

“Actually, I know what you said. I don’t know why I asked.”

When I still don’t say anything, he glances over his shoulder at the open door, then turns around and takes a step closer to me.

“You’re a . . . you’re a WOUN, aren’t you?” he asks in a hushed voice.

Instead of answering, I ring my hands together behind my back and ask, “Can I help you with anything?”

My tone is sweet and steady, but I can see he’s not buying it. I watch as he pulls his bottom lip in and chews on it, contemplating.

We’re in the same sort of stand-off as when Phoenix caught me, facing each other, several feet apart, with me not answering.

Only, I’m far more terrified this time than I was with Phoenix. Despite the constant avoidance, there was always something that made me feel safe around him, and maybe deep down I never truly believed he’d turn me in.

It’s different with Thomas. While I don’t believe he’s a bad person, I don’t know him at all and haven’t spent any extended periods of time with him. Plus, I’m not his woman.

Besides that, if anyone finds out that Phoenix knew and didn’t turn me in, he will be punished for it as well.

“You thought you were talking to him, so he must know,” Thomas says, breaking the silence and nodding to himself. It’s as if he heard my thoughts.

Panic reaches up from my stomach and wraps around my throat, forcing my feet forward.

“Please don’t tell them he knew,” I beg, stopping right in front of him. “You can say you found out but that he had no idea. Please.”

Chapter 28

Phoenix

I step out of my grandfather’s office with a promise to make sure Anderson’s projects go as smoothly as possible, along with a sigh of frustration. He’s too stubborn to see things from my point of view, and no doubt he’ll press the same matter again sometime soon.

I am grateful, however, that he thinks I’m just ‘throwing around my new-found power’ rather than acting abnormally or trying to hide something. My father is the one that concerns me. I can never tell what he’s thinking with his closed-off expressions. But I didn’t want to let Avery know that.

I’ll just have to devise a reason for not bringing her along with me to meetings. I’m sure Jonah will most likely kick up a fuss about it.

He had complained some more to my grandfather after I left, but I suspect his problems are jealousy-induced rather than anything else. And I don’t really give a shit about him.

Thomas isn’t at his desk when I approach, and my brows furrow until I remember he was going to go to one of the lower levels for a folder. But then I see that the door to my office – that I had definitely left closed – is now open as well.

My strides suddenly pick up, along with my heart rate, and I charge through the open door.

As soon as I step in and see the looks on their faces, my muscles tighten considerably, and a strange sense of dread washes over me – fear of losing her.

He knows.

I look to Avery, wondering how this could have happened. Her close proximity to Thomas is unsettling, but it’s the sheer worry on her face that has a surge of protectiveness over her rushing through me, and I know that I will do whatever is necessary to keep her safe.

First, I need to assess the situation.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

Lifting his hand, Thomas scratches at his neck. “Um. What’s the punishment for not reporting a WOUN?” he asks, looking at the ground and avoiding eye contact with me.

Fuck. I release a slow breath, trying to control my words and actions.

“I’m not sure. Imprisonment, maybe.”

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