“He was never going to hurt you, Connor. You said that yourself,” as I talked, my voice cracked, and I remembered sitting in the shower with Connor wrapped around me and then watching him light candles to cheer me up. My heart ached. I wanted our moment of warmth back because at that moment, standing outside of Harlow’s coffee with the rain pouring and the police lights still flashing, I felt as cold as ice and just as fragile. Connor knew that he wouldn’t be really hurt by the mugger and that’s why he took so many chances. It wasn’t because of his love for me or his bravery. It was all a show for his greedy, manipulative father. Who else would want to tarnish my brother’s name and scare me?
“Sadie, don’t do this, okay?” Connor almost begged me, holding out a hand that I flinched away from. He looked desperate, trying to hold onto something that he could no longer have. “We can talk through this, we can get through this together.”
My heart felt like a block of ice sitting heavily in my chest. I looked away from Connor to hide the burn in my eyes and the crack in my voice. “I’ll have someone come and grab my things from the apartment.”
With that, I stood by my brother until he was declared fit and well, and we both watched the police car take the mugger away. Connor was stopped by an officer as he tried to make his way to me and with one final check on my brother, I used the chance to take off running down the street and flag down a cab. Anger burned in my chest and made my cheeks heat as I rushed to give the driver the address. I tried to push down the thought that I would have been with Connor if nothing had happened.
The cab sped through the city to the pristine office of Elias Lennox, and I jumped from the backseat. I hurried through the lobby after glancing at the building map, dodging the suit-clad employees, even as the security screeched at me to stop. The building was coldly decorated, with all sharp lines and shiny surfaces. There was a limp length of Christmas garland hung on the staircase as I ran up and I followed the signs to Elias Lennox’s ridiculous office. I grabbed the long door handle and slung the door open, breathing hard. Many tall, well-dressed men and women stared at me, looking me over like I was a bug on their windshield. They were holding clipboards and tablets, swiping and writing in equal turn, standing around where Elias was seated at his desk, looking ashen and frail. His mouth turned up in a self-satisfied smile when he saw me, and his pale eyes glittered as he waved his employees away. I knew then that my suspicions were correct.
Elias thought that he had won.
“You won’t get away with it.” My voice was hard, and my hands shook as I stood in front of his desk.
Elias let out a laugh, just one short huff of breath heavy with petty carelessness. I knew that the show he had put on before when he acted like he liked me, was a lie. He must have thought that I was below his son, that I was too invested in trivial things to be any sort of worthy partner to his son. Well, he had gotten his wish if that was the case. I wanted nothing more to do with Connor Lennox.
“Get away with what?” Elias raised one pale eyebrow and then coughed into his handkerchief. He took a shallow breath and then looked back up at me. “I think you’ll find that I have no connection whatsoever to whatever you’re talking about, dear Sadie.”
“You’re a monster,” I breathed, realizing that he was probably right. I was sure that he had left no evidence and there was probably no way to prove that he knew the mugger, let alone hired him.
“How’s my son, by the way?” Elias continued as if he hadn’t heard me at all. There was a knowing smile on his face. “I trust that he stayed out of the way.”
I felt stupid for trusting Connor and giving him my heart. It had been idiotic of me to think that he was nothing like his father. I had wanted Connor Lennox to be a good man so badly that I ignored everything else. He had been a player for years, coasting through women and living his life without any sort of remorse. A part of me objected to that, knowing that I had lived so close to Connor and seen him up close and personal. He had admitted things to me that he most likely never had to anyone else. Now though, my thoughts could no longer center around my love for him. I could only think about his betrayal, and it hurt more than I ever thought it could.