Page 80 of Sweetheart: Part One

“I’d like some peace,” I told him, fist still balled in my shirt.

He picked at a nail, ignoring that completely. “So you’re staying?”

I didn’t reply, not wanting to make a scene that might wake Drake. I’m sure if I did, Rook would back off, but he needed to catch up on his sleep. Plus, I could deal with Rook—Ihadto be able to deal with Rook because now I was officially his Sweetheart.

“I tried to sign you, you know?” he asked.

“But you didn’t. Love did. So I don’t owe you shit.” I didn’t know ifthatwas the best way to start ‘dealing’ with him, but if anyone needed boundary setting, it was Rook.

He didn’t look deterred, though. “If you think that changes a damn thing, Baby Girl, you’re so wrong.” He grinned. “Look what just came in.” He held his phone out to me.

I stared at him, hating the twinkling delight in his eyes.

A part of me wanted to tell him I didn’t give a fuck, but the larger, self-preserving side knew I had to. I got to my feet and approached him before snatching the phone from his grip. Turning it, I scanned the email on the screen. It took me a while to process what I was reading.

My heart sunk in my chest.

I read over the email again. It was a detailed account written by Rook of the first night he’d turned up in my room. A detailed account of me threatening him. Beneath, he’d added:Would this be enough to blow up a Sweetheart contract?

There was a reply.

Is this for real, Harrison? This could do a lot more than blow up her contract. Do you want me to bury her?

“This is bullshit.” My voice was hoarse.

“Eve is our lawyer on retainer. She doesn’t agree.”

Lawyer?

He’d gone to alawyer?

The world spun around me as I read the words again, as if they might change this time.

‘...Just offering her help…’

‘...Reacted violently…’

I jumped as he tugged the phone from my hands.

“Not the greatest look for you,” he said.

I could barely breathe as I stared down at him.

I’d just got the contract—hadn’t even had a chance to process it was real, and now he was going to take it away.

He was going to take it away… I was going back to Alastor, after all.

“It’s not…” I tried to find my voice, my breathing tight. “You lied.”

He’d said he’d come in to offer me help, that I’d flipped on him for no reason.

“Thatwasn’twhat happened,” I said.

He flashed me a half smile. “Not the way I remember it. We could ask the others, but they only turned up when you were threatening me.”

“I don’t…” I grit my teeth, mind still all over the place. And I couldn’t cry. Not right now. Not when he’d see it. “Why would you want to sign me in if—?”

“Shh, Baby Girl, calm down,” he murmured. I flinched as he placed his palms on my hips, tugging me between his legs. My hands landed on his but I still felt winded, frozen with terror. “That message is confidential,” he went on. “No one else knows about it.”

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