Page 64 of Cruel Fate

My fear amuses him, and he raises his sunglasses to stare at me, his eyes a deep black.

The elevator doors glide open, and he keeps them from closing, his arm covered in tattoos. He watches us step inside the foyer. It’s not like we can go anywhere else, and I clench my jaw. He doesn’t move to follow us, but he glares long and hard at Zarah, communicating a warning without words. Finally, he letsthe doors close and goes back down in the lift. He’s gone, and I can finally breathe.

Zarah loans me a pair of yoga pants and a matching sweatshirt, and I change in her room. The bedroom is that of a little girl, all pink and sparkles, and it’s such a startling contrast to the woman she’s trying to be.

Lucille flutters around us offering food and drinks—she’s happy Zarah’s home.

“What would you like to do?” she asks.

It’s not that late, and I suggest we binge a show neither of us has seen.

We’re halfway through the first season ofReignwhen Zane steps out of the elevator and walks through the foyer and into the living room. He doesn’t interfere with our girls’ night—only kisses the top of my head and tells us he’s going to bed. He looks worn out, and I need all of my willpower to stay on the couch. Tonight, I’m Zarah’s guest, not his, but I wish I could slide into his bed, curl my body around his, and make him forget about his shitty day.

Hours later, we finish season one and Netflix is offering to start up season two, but I can’t stay. I’m afraid to leave her alone, and reluctantly, I say, “I have laundry to finish and homework to do.”

She looks scared, but she doesn’t ask me to change my mind and turns the TV off. “Keep those,” she says, gesturing to the lounging clothes she lent me. “You can give them back later.”

“Thanks. Be careful, Zarah. If you need anything, call or text.”

“I will,” she promises, but the lie is in her eyes. Maybe not so much of a lie. It’s not that she doesn’t need me, it’s that I can’t do anything for her. Ash hurt her, and he could crush me like a bug.

I’m no one compared to the son of one of the most powerful men in King’s Crossing.

I ride the elevator down to the lobby, my heart sinking as I drop from floor to floor. Maybe Ash put a detail on Zarah to keep her safe because of the ugly rumors about the plane crash. Maybe there isn’t anything nefarious going on, and I’m just paranoid.

Hector’s standing professionally, but nonchalantly, near security, his legs spread, his hands clasped behind his back when I step out of the elevator and into the lobby. Ash could simply love her and only wants to protect her, but Hector’s smirk says something else. He meets my eyes across the marble floor and my skin prickles. If I wanted to say something to someone, who would listen? Who would believe me?

Not Zane. He and Ash have been been friends their entire lives.

There is no one left to confide in besides Lucille who shares my inexplicable dislike of Ashton Black.

“Miss Mayfair,” Hector calls.

I try to unobtrusively hurry through the thin smattering of people who decided to work on a Saturday night toward security and the revolving doors that represent my freedom, and though my gut instinct tells me not to, I pause and look over my shoulder.

“Be careful, you hear? Don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

The threat is blatant and my nostrils flare.

“Thank you.” I force the words out. I can’t act scared, or I’ll turn into Ash’s target the second he knows I’m afraid of him.

I don’t relax until I reach the safety of my apartment.

I leave my lights on all night.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Zane

Iwake up alone, a feeling I do not like, and immediately text Stella and ask if she wants to go out to dinner tonight. This week will be busy, and I want her all to myself for a while. I also ask if I can bring a change of clothes. I’d like to spend the night at her apartment—to remedy the waking up alone—but I can’t afford two hours off the top of a Monday morning to come up to the penthouse to shower and change before work.

She tells me the later the better. She has to catch up on laundry and homework, but that works for me, too.

I spend all day going over what Denton and Cramer have done in the past six months without me and my father. Mostly things, from what I can tell, look okay. If they’ve done anything they don’t want me to find, they’ve covered their tracks well.

I decide to confide in one of my father’s friends at the party. He runs a consulting firm in London, and I need his help. Zarah invited him and his wife and I’ll be able to talk to him discreetly in person. I want Maddox Industries to bounce back after my father’s death, and I won’t be able to do it alone. Denton andCramer will be pissed, but the fact is, after them leaning on me this past week to do things I don’t want to do, I don’t trust them anymore.

It’s natural to think of Ash’s father. The Blacks and Maddoxes have been friends for decades. But I have to remember Black Enterprises and Maddox Industries are competitors, and I need to keep Ash’s and my friendship and our businesses separate.

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