Page 111 of Ruthless Heir

She doesn’t stop. I catch up to her and take her arm but she wrenches it free of my grasp.

“Just leave me alone.”

“What the hell did I do now?”

She casts me a scathing look and walks even faster.

“Harper.”

“I said leave me alone.”

“No. Not until you tell me what the hell I did.”

She stops short and whirls around to face me, her eyes dark with anger. “Are you serious?”

“Please don’t tell me you’re mad about Nolan. There are things going on between us that you don’t understand.”

“This isn’t about Nolan.”

“Then what is it about?”

“Okay. Tell me if you think it’s acceptable that you act like I’m yours one moment then throw me away the next to pick up some woman who’s clearly after you.”

Shit, this is about Alexis. “Harper. I didn’t throw you away.”

“Yes, you did. I came here foryou. And if you think that ditching me to hang out with whatever the hell her name is isn’t throwing me away, then I don’t know what planet you’re on.”

“I didn’t know she was going to be here.”

She shakes her head and drags in a slow breath. The slow, steady kind of breath a person would take to stop them hyperventilating. “I can’t do this anymore. Find another way for me to pay you back. At this rate I’d rather owe Vito than you.”

Before I can answer she turns on her heel and carries on walking.

I follow her into the elevator that just opened its doors.

“Asher, go back to your family and leave me alone.”

The doors close and the elevator starts moving. As I look at her and the tears brimming in her eyes I just know that if I let her go again she won’t just stay with Beth this time. This time she won’t come back.

Thinking quickly, I do the first thing that comes to mind and press the emergency button, stopping the elevator mid-descent.

“What are you doing?” Harper gasps, looking from me to the big red button with wide eyes.

“Is everything okay in there?” comes a deep, businesslike voice through the intercom. It’s Archie, the head of security.

“Archie, it’s Asher Le Blanche. I need a private moment. Don’t move this elevator or open the doors until I say.”

“Sure thing, Mr. Le Blanche.”

It’s a good thing I am who I am and that my name carries so much power in the circles I travel. The Le Blanche name can sometimes act as an all-access pass to requests like these.

“This is crazy. You can’t trap me in here, Asher.” Harper balls her hands at her sides.

“I just did. We need to talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Yes, there obviously is.”

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