Page 45 of Crude Heir

I whirl around needing to escape, to run away while I still can. I snatch my bag off the counter and run for the exit.

Blood rushes in my ears, blocking out everything around me.

Don’t look back.

I’m halfway down the hall, picking up speed as I reach the door, blindly reaching for the knob. I manage to turn the knob despite feeling like my grip has no strength to it. Wrenching the door open, I rush through.

Something inside me shatters. For a brief moment, I thought I found something that could be perfect. Only it lasted all of twenty-four hours.

He won’t follow me. He won’t stop me. He won’t even call out my name because he wouldn’t know which name to use.

Chapter 18

Derrick

I reach out to grab her arm as she spins away. Gritting my teeth, I curl my hand into a fist, forcing myself to let her go. I should stop her, but, given her response to my question, I’m not going to be prepared to hear what she has to say.

Frantic, she grabs her bag off the counter as she passes by it. Then she hauls ass down the hall, barely slowing down to leave.

“Nicole, stop!” She doesn’t break stride. Instead, the door slams shut with enough force to reverberate in my head.

Once again, everything’s changed in the blink of an eye. A machine answers, announcing I’ve reached eight-one-one, the call-before-you-dig number. I smash the button to end the call while the electronic voice announces they’re closed.

It was a bluff, though I didn’t expect it to end with the door slamming in the distance. Because I couldn’t dial nine-one-one and turn her in without having some kind of explanation.

Anger erupts inside me again. Despite wearing nothing more than a towel, part of me wants to go after her. I need answers. Who is she? If she really isn’t involved in this, why is she going through all the records from the office?

More important, why did she decide to fuck me after denying herself her entire life? I draw a blank there, because I, personally, don’t fit into any box she may need to check when it comes to stealing.

Now that all is said and done, nothing about her makes sense.

I slam my fist down on the counter, needing some sort of release. If she’s the one taking money from Kelly Oil & Gas, Chase would have caught what she’s doing. But his message onlygave her background. Nicole Fuentes’s background. Is any of the rest even real?

What’s the fucking use? She’s just another lying female. If my own damn mother lied to me my whole life, what can I expect from anyone else?

* * *

Nicole

I burst through the heavy doors into the stairwell, sucking in a ragged breath. I clutch the banister, barely saving myself from taking a tumble on the stairs only to have my left ankle go wide on the first step.

I continue down, the pain in my chest outweighing the pinch in my ankle. Still, I keep most of my weight on my right foot. There’s no time to stop. I couldn’t sit and wait for the elevator to reach his floor. Not when I could be wrong, and he could come racing out after me despite wearing nothing more than a bath towel.

My heart’s pounding out of control. Even in my worst nightmares, I never thought of what might happen after. I guess I always assumed it would be the authorities coming for me instead of being confronted by someone I’d been intimate with.

A door opens somewhere.Is it him?I stumble, nearly falling headlong in my haste to get away. Behind me, I hear the echo of a door closing. Thunder booms, drowning out my shriek of surprise. I bolt down the next flight, taking the stairs two at a time, heedless of the bruising impacts.

Almost there.Don’t stop, don’t look back!Just get outside and run.

Throwing open the door to the first floor, I burst out into the lobby and frantically look around. He’s not here; in fact, it’sempty. But what if it is him on the stairs behind me? Would he go out into the city without any clothes on?

Unable to answer, even to myself, I rush to the door, pushing it open then walking outside. I glance around, half expecting someone to sideline me, but no, I’m standing here looking like a fool.

There’s still a light rain but nothing like what we experienced yesterday. I glance across the highway, toward the office building. Should I get my car? Would he expect me to head there and have security stop me? I turn, wincing as I walk in the opposite direction, sidestepping the debris to avoid having it dig into the soles of my feet.

I reach into my bag for my phone, grateful I set it down in there while looking for a scrunchie, or things may have ended differently. I unlock the phone, shaking with the adrenaline rushing through my system.Calm down.Everything’s fine.I glance around again, just to be sure.

Finding the app, I schedule the pickup at my location and enter the destination. The cost pops up, considerably higher than the arm and leg I’d anticipated. With no other choice, I wince and hit the button to set up the ride.

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