Page 34 of My Grumpy Billionaire Protector

It’s about all of us being forced into this mess together.

It’s nothing more than trauma bonding.

I just need to get her out of my system. I need to ignore the strange pull I feel toward her and the way to do that is to avoid thinking about her altogether. As soon as I am done working out, I am going to shower, and spend the rest of the night perusing through Netflix and trying to fine tune our escape plan.

So far I haven’t been able to come up with anything.

All I know is that Evie is the key.

And I’ve been doing the exact same thing for the past three days in an attempt to purge my system of the dark-haired, dark-eyed minx, and so far, I am having little luck.

Goddamn it.

Why am I not more worried about the fact that Isaiah has us all as hostages?

Or the fact that I have no idea what he’ll do to us once we’ve outgrown our use?

Instead, most of my thoughts are occupied by Evie fucking Coombes.

Even at night, I see her face and the fire that blazes in her eyes, and it makes something inside of me twist. No matter how hard I try to identify it, I can’t understand it, and it is starting to piss me off.

Evie is a means to an end, nothing more and nothing less.

And allowing her to get inside my head and jerk me around is the last thing I wanted, not when I need to stay focused to get us out of there alive.

Being attracted to her isn’t going to get me anywhere.

Nowhere good, at least.

“Sooner or later, they’ll notice.” Cory gives a slight shake of his head, a thoughtful expression on his face. “And when they do, I’m sure the company will want you back as much as the governor will want his granddaughter back.”

I pause and lower my dumbbell. “Maybe.”

“You should talk to Isaiah,” Cory suggests, his eyes tightening around the edges. “Avoiding him isn’t going to solve anything. Besides, he is your business partner. Maybe you can talk some sense into him.”

I nod. “I guess it can’t hurt to try.”

Isaiah is the closest thing I have to a father figure around here. I know I latched onto him during a vulnerable stage in my life in search of something he couldn’t give, but I didn’t care. He didn’t have the answers, not the kind I am looking for, but he did provide a solution, one that worked well for me.

That's all that matters.

Or it was.

Cory offers me a small smile before spinning on his heels. “Alright. I’m out of here.”

“Cory.” I stare at his back and wait for him to turn around. “Since Isaiah is letting us use everything at the house, do you think you could dig up information about her?”

Cory raises an eyebrow. “You want me to look her up? How is that going to help?”

“Maybe we can convince her that we’re on her side.” I stand up and place the dumbbells back on the rack. Then I reach for a towel and run it over the back of my neck. “If Isaiah can’t convince Governor Coombes to cooperate, maybe she can.”

Cory shoves his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. “Sure. It’s worth a shot, I guess. If we get caught, I’m selling you out in a heartbeat.”

“Nice to know you’ve got my back.”

Cory waves my comment away and smirks. “Just keeping it real, cuz.”

I flip Cory off, and he laughs.

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