Page 102 of The Tallest Tower (Underbelly Enchanted)

“Forty-five minutes, tops. Thirty, if I break out my flamethrower and move these soft-cock assholes out of my way by force.”

“You know, you living so far outside the city is an issue for me. I get carsick, and your idea of a relationship would have me commuting every single day.”

He silences for a beat. Smiles, so it becomes sweetly audible. “You’re all-in, too, aren’t you, Darling? Already picking out new curtains for our room?”

I clamp my lips shut and look down at the article I’ve already proofed and printed.

It’s the nail in my coffin. The end of what we have. It’s the ocean, dragging us both under and snuffing out two lights at once.

But it’s the truth, and Felix Malone deserves that most of all.

In forty-five minutes.

“I want new, lacy curtains,” I choke out. “And a dog.”

“You want a dog?” he exclaims in surprise. “What kind of dog?” Then quieter, as though in afterthought, he adds, “I’ve never had a dog.”

“A big one,” I sniffle, glancing through the frosted glass walls of my office as a shadow moves on the other side. “A really big, scary one that will rip an intruder’s face off, but love us unconditionally.”

“So, me,” he rumbles playfully. “I’ll destroy anyone who comes at you, Christabelle. But I’ll love on you till it sends you insane.”

My heart thunders when a body stops on the other side of my door. Her build, petite and purchased. Her hair, a little too large for what could be considered fashionable by today’s standards.

Like my father, I think Savannah Towers is still stuck back in May of two thousand and four.

“I want to talk to you about some stuff tonight, okay?” My voice comes out on a barely-there whisper. Crackling and giving too much away, because I mention unconditional love, but I’m not sure his will be given so freely once he knows everything there is to know about me. “Some big stuff that matters.”

“Talk to me about it now,” he suggests, sucking on a cigarette; a habit I swear I’ve never seen him indulge in-person, and yet, each time we’re on the phone, it’s his go-to. “I still have a while in this car, princess. You could make the drive go by faster if you stay on the phone.”

“I can’t.” I turn to my door when I know I’ve kept Savannah waiting long enough.

Opening it wide, I find her on the other side. Her purse, too large, her lips, too bright. She’s too loud. Her very existence, toolook at me.

“My last meeting just arrived,” I tell Felix, leaving the door gaping open and turning away to move back to my desk. “But I’ll see you soon, okay? Forty-five minutes.”

“Yeah…” He pauses for a beat, then, “Everything okay?”

“Yep. Come find me.” Bringing the phone from my ear and setting it face-down on my desk, I sit in my chair and wait for the woman with a beautiful face but an ugly heart to sit down opposite me. “Ms. Towers.”

She looks me up and down, smug in her power and confident she can’t be bested. She lowers into her chair, elegant and controlled, whereas I’ve reached a point in my day where I prefer slumping.

“Thank you for meeting me today,” I begin.

Her blue eyes track over my face. From my lips to my brows, then across to my cheekbones, before she settles and crosses her legs. “You’ve really caught feelings for him, haven’t you?” She snickers before I even have a chance to respond. “You stupid bitch. Did I not warn you?”

“That he was unlovable?” I question dryly. Emotionless. “That he was irredeemable? A waste of time and oxygen?” That last one was her word exactly. Eerily, the same one he used himself when describing us. “Yeah,” I admit. “You warned me.”

“I can’t believe you’d be so stupid as to let him fool you into turning soft. After what they did to Charlotte! After they murdered her and stole her baby.”

“Tim murdered her.” I sit tall in my chair, broadening my shoulders and meeting Savannah head-on. “What he did was unforgivable. What he did toyouwas unforgivable. But Felix raised that baby. He did the best he could when he had no other choice.”

“You’re an idiot!” She slams her palm to my desk, making me jump. “You would believe the vomit he spits out and disrespect your sister’s memory so easily? He says he’s a good guy, so you take his word for it?”

“No.” I shake my head gently side to side, my earrings tapping my jawbone with the movement. “I don’t take anyone’s word for anything. I’m a journalist, Savannah. I work with fact. And when fact is not so easily obtained, I observe a person’s behavior. I get to know them.”

I sit forward, resting my elbows on top of my files, and meet her haunted stare. “I had dinner with that boy last night. Cato. I watched all five Malones in one room. And do you know what they have?”

“A lack of humanity?” she taunts. “A body count longer than my legs? A hole where their souls belong?” She shoves up to stand, surprising me when the feet of her chair scrape along the rug, the slide groaningaround my office. “They have nothing, Christabelle. Just a void where normal, healthy, well-adjusted people keep a heart.”

---