Page 19 of Heart of Stone (Dark Billionaires)

He shrugged, utterly unapologetic. True, he could have rented a private room, but it made it so much easier for the security he’d installed downstairs not to have to watch the entire restaurant. Warren took her hand. “The measures are necessary for your safety, kitten.”

Pressing her lips together, she gave him a little smile. “It’s nice though. I commend you on your taste.”

“I’m glad I didn’t disappoint.”

“Not this time,” she said threateningly.

“Ouch,” he winked. “How are you feeling?” It didn’t escape him that a fortnight ago he’d found her with enough tablets to kill an elephant. “Not… not with the attack. With everything before it.”

Kate closed her eyes, and he instantly felt like a prick for bringing it up. “The reasons are still there.”

“Tell me.”

“Debt. Guilt.” She took a careful bite of her steak. “The feelings have always been there, and I think they always will be. Since I was a teenager, it’s felt like this malignant presence on my shoulder, whispering into my ear wherever I go.”

“What does it say?” Warren asked delicately.

“It’s not a voice so much as a feeling. I’ll never be good enough for my father.”

He brushed his thumb over hers. “Your father is the one who isn’t good enough for you.”

“My brain doesn’t agree, but it’s not just that. Debt has been like a pall over my life. Endless debt, endless worry, endless depression.”

Warren’s insides burnt with guilt. “Your father’s debt?”

“Debt that I took out to try to help him. I don’t know if some part of me thought that maybe if I destroyed myself enough, he’d finally love me.”

He let his head fall.You could have stopped this, the little voice in his head taunted.She would have been happy if not for you.

“How much debt are you in, kitten?”

A snort left her as she pulled her hand from his. “A pittance to you, I imagine, given the figures you were throwing around.”

Lips tightening, he nodded. He’d send a note to Brax to investigate when they were on their way home—and an order to clear them immediately.

“But when you miss a payment, the interest rate skyrockets. Suddenly you’re missing payments left, right, and centre, and you’re drowning. Each bill is another concrete block pulling you down.”

“I’m sorry.”

She took a sip of her drink. “How long will you torture my father for?”

“Why?” Holding his fork in mid-air, he paused. “Does it bother you?”

Kate’s eyes widened. “How can it not bother me?”

“He deserves this, Kate.”

Placing her knife and fork on her plate, she narrowed her eyes in his direction. “Why do you care?”

“About the fact he’s involved in human trafficking? Letting his scum clientele rape girls forced into modern slavery? And then takingmoneyfor it? I should think it’s fairly obvious.”

“I mean why my father. Regardless of what he’s done in the years since Aaron died, he was always kind to you. Why even begin to investigate him in the first place?”

Warren let silence fall between them. It was a fair question, because Paulhadbeen kind to him. Whenever he’d needed a place to relax from the chaos of the children’s home, Paul’s house was always open to him. Whenever he’d needed a meal, Paul would be there. Paul had even given Warren his first job, delivering leaflets around the neighbourhood back when Charlton’s Gentlemen’s Club was a viable business.

It had all made his betrayal so much worse.

“What did he tell you of the night Aaron died?” Warren’s voice was soft.

---