Page 204 of Their Arrangement
The elevator ride was silent. I watched the numbers climb. Pretended I didn’t see Wolfe watching my reflection in the doors like he was memorizing the girl beside him.
When westepped onto the floor, it was like a needle scratched across the room.
Phones still rang. Keyboards still clicked. But heads turned. One. Then another. Then all at once.
I kept walking. Because stopping would’ve meant admitting something was wrong. And I couldn’t handle that today.
Royal looked up from the glass-walled conference room. His smirk faded the second he saw my face. His expression dropped into something sharp and serious. He stood. Started toward us. Loyal leaned back from the corner near the espresso machine. Crossed his arms. Didn’t blink. Just watched.
Barron stepped out of his office. His eyes went to Wolfe. Then to me. Then to the chain Wolfe had tugged from beneath my blouse two nights ago.
I saw the moment he noticed the bruise. The eye. The swollen lip. His jaw locked. His hands didn’t move. Not clenched. Not fisted. Just still. And that scared me more than anything else.
“Inside.”
His voice didn’t rise.
But the entire floor heard it.
Wolfe moved first. I followed. Barron’s office door closed with a soft snick. The blinds stayed open. Which meant this wasn’t private. This was a performance.
He stepped behind his desk. Didn’t sit. Didn’t tell me to. He stared. For a full ten seconds. Then said?—
“You let someone into your apartment while wearing my name around your throat.”
My stomach clenched. Not because of the way Barron’s voice cracked like thunder?—
But because Wolfe had seen the bruises.
This wasn’t about the day in his office. Not the cramps. Not the heat. This was about the man who’dfollowed me home. Wolfe tensed beside me. I spoke before either of them could escalate it.
“I didn’t let anyone?—”
“You think this is a fucking game?”
The whisper of rage in Barron’s voice was worse than if he’d shouted.
“You think you can lie your way through this?”
“She’s not lying,” Wolfe said.
“No?” Barron turned his eyes on him. “Then why didn’t she come to us?”
“She came to me.”
That landed like a slap. Even though no one moved. Barron exhaled once. A slow breath.
“And you think that makes it better?”
Royal entered without knocking.
“Hey. Maybe we cool it.”
“No,” Barron snapped. “We don’t.”
He turned to me.
“I gave you one rule, Cloe. Don’t make me regret trusting you.”
