Page 58 of My Grumpy Billionaire Protector

Sienna’s expression turns serious. “You’re right. Maybe you could use him though, get some information out of him or something.”

“We’re both using each other,” I mutter, darkly. “Not that it’s doing either of us much good.”

TJ’s face comes on, pinched with worry and days-old stubble peppered across his face. “Obviously, I don’t need to tell you not to listen to any of Sienna’s stupid and reckless ideas. You’re still being kept in a room in the middle of a heavily guarded compound. Don’t do anything stupid, E.”

Like sleeping with someone who is probably working with my captor? Too late.

The two of them are going to have a field day when I tell them the truth.

IfI do.

There is no sense in airing out my dirty little secret, especially considering it is a lapse in judgment. I haven’t even seen Shane since it happened and being left to my own devices suited me just fine. Between my runs in the morning, the hardcover books at my disposal, and a slew of Netflix content, I keep myself occupied.

And the less time I spend thinking about Shane, the better it is for everyone.

“Your mom and grandfather are still in their meeting,” Sienna tells me after a brief pause. “I know you wanted to talk to them, but we’re here too.”

I sit up straighter and clear my throat. “How are they holding up?”

“They’re trying to stay busy,” TJ replies, eyeing me over the rim of his mug.

“What about Di?”

I haven’t seen my sister, and I know why.

Dinah blamed herself for leaving me alone that night.

“I’m keeping an eye on her,” Sienna assures me with a grim smile. “She’s running herself ragged trying to find a lead. You know how she is.”

I nod. “I know. Can you please make sure she doesn’t get herself into any serious trouble?”

“I’ll do my best,” Sienna promises.

“Have they mentioned anything else?”

“Isaiah is not the kind of man you mess with,” she says.

Hayes, Felix, and Riley take turns outside my door, and on the few occasions when they aren’t being careful, I learn a lot.

Having spent two decades building a name and fortune for himself from the ground up, Isaiah Gallagher has taken every precaution, making sure his influence spreads far and wide — from celebrities to social media influencers to politicians and businessmen. He has left no stone unturned and nothing up to chance, and I have to admit that, while I do hate him, I have a begrudging amount of respect for him.

Doing all that on his own with so many odds stacked against him, from an impoverished childhood to a life-threatening illness, couldn’t have been easy.

But it is during my runs that I find out the most information.

Thanks, in large part, to poor Riley.

She wants so badly to have a friend that links her to the outside world and the life she’d had before she’d bound herself to Isaiah that she couldn’t see the truth. I am wracked with guilt over my actions, but I know they were necessary. Deep down, I hope that Riley knows and understands.

We aren’t that far off, the two of us. It is just a different set of shackles.

We are both bound to the same entity.

Fucking Isaiah Gallagher is my jailer as much as he is hers.

But I am going to get myself out, and when I do, I am going to find a way to make sure Riley gets out too.

“E?”

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