Page 61 of My Grumpy Billionaire Protector

“That sounds disgusting.”

“Do you even know what it is?”

Shane shrugs. “I don’t need to know.”

I shoot him a dirty look. “Fine by me. I can just make myself some.”

Shane says nothing in response.

* * *

Over the next few days,Hayes and Felix shadow Shane and I.

On occasion, Cory and Pierce join us for a brief amount of time, but they’re usually escorted away soon after. Other than that, we stay indoors, and Shane sticks to me like glue. Thankfully, we’ve fallen back into our old routine of taunting and baiting each other so at least there is that.

However, it hasn’t escaped my notice that something is wrong.

Everyone I come across, other than the other hostages and me, is on high alert.

Even my jailer seems a bit less composed than usual.

In spite of my best attempts to uncover the truth, I can’t figure out why. With Riley gone, I find myself grasping at straws and struggling to get more than a few words at a time regarding anything related to Isaiah. Hayes, as it turns out, is the most stubborn and infuriating man I’ve ever met.

And Shane is no better at gleaning information than I am.

Having already known that, I’m not sure why it still bothers me, especially considering I know what we are to each other. As nice and surprising as he is, Shane O’Connor is nothing more, nor less, than a glorified and reluctant fellow prisoner and ally.

Trying to place our dynamic under a different lens or looking too much into it isn’t going to do either of us any good. And the fact that I’ve grown to care about him, after almost three weeks in captivity, shouldn’t matter either.

Not when I know how it will end regardless of Shane’s involvement in this mess.

Soon, they are going to reach the end of their negotiations, and once they do, I will be returned to my mother’s apartment. Afterward, any semblance of a relationship between Shane and me will cease altogether. Our friendship, or whatever label I give it, will no longer exist.

As much as the thought pains me for reasons I want to escape, I also know that a future isn’t in the cards for us.

Not as acquaintances or otherwise.

At the end of the day, I am a first-grade English teacher with a governor for a grandfather, and Shane is the founder and CEO one of the largest renewable tech companies in the world and business partners with one of the most notorious and shady men in the business

There are just too many differences.

And nothing either of us do is going to change that. So the sooner I stop dwelling on it, the better. With that in mind, I turn away from the bed, throw the blanket over my shoulders, and shuffle up.

I miss a step, and my heart jumps into my throat as I go tumbling forward, arms flailing at my sides. When my face connects with the floor, I howl in pain and tears sting the back of my eyes.

Within seconds, the door flings open, and Shane is on the floor next to me, helping me up to my feet. As soon as I stand up, I yelp and find myself leaning against him.

“Don’t say it,” I warn with a wince.

“Say what?”

“That I let the blanket get the better of me,” I add, using my good foot to hop backward until my leg connects with the edge of the bed.

Slowly, Shane helps me down onto the edge of the mattress and lowers himself onto the floor. With a surprising amount of gentleness, he lifts my injured foot up. His touch is warm and solid against my skin.

I try to ignore the way it makes me feel.

“You did let the blanket get the better of you,” Shane teases, a smile hovering on the edge of his lips. “It’s okay. I won’t tell anyone.”

---