Page 131 of Unwritten Rules

For the umpteenth time around him, I rolled my eyes, over his antics. “No, we don’t.”

“Well, sure, not as a couple—at least not at the moment. Professionally? Yeah, we do babe.” I didn’t even have to look at him to see his aloof expression with that cocky grin on his face.

Maybe I could start punching men in the face like he did. Could be cathartic.

I turned my head back and firmed my gaze at him through the window. “No.”

“No? Should I go back and tell my grandfather that-“

“James,” I sighed.

He understood and clicked the unlock button on his door. Brent wasted no breaths climbing into the back with me.

The space was too small as he slid in next to me. “Aren’t you staying for cocktail hour?”

“No.”

He smiled and his voice reflected it. “How many times are you going to tell me no, Blondie?”

I smacked his hand away before he could twirl my hair around in his fingers as he did when he toyed with me. “However many I want. Why? You gonnacleanme about it?”

Understanding flickered in his face, eyebrows doing their thinking thing before he rubbed the back of his head. “I told you things arecomplicated.”

“Complicated? Killing people is that complicated?” I scoffed, shifting my body further away from him. “Just fuck off. I am in no mood for you right now.”

What was I in the mood for? A redo on life? My mom to come back from the grave? A burger? A moment of fucking silence, maybe?

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in through my nose, releasing it out of my mouth. A calming technique my mother used.

It helps releasethe stress, she said.

He moved to face me, eyes searching my face for something. His expression was far too soft for my comfort. “Blondie,” he breathed, “look at me, please.”

No. I kept my eyes firmly set out of the window, looking at a neatly kept garden bed full of multicolored flowers getting ready to die for the winter. They looked how I felt—droopy and sad.

“Miss Montgomery?” James peered into the backseat.

“Just start driving. You know where to take me,” I replied flatly.

The car ride was silent outside of the low music that circulated and the hum of the engine. I felt Brent’s gaze on me the entire time. James flicked his gaze at us in the back seat a few times along the way.

It was safe to say the drive was awkward. We pulled into the same burger joint I’d asked to be taken to earlier, and I dreaded having any further conversation with Brent.

“Can we talk?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Go ahead. James, can you get me what I had last time?” I ignored Brent’s gaze.

He looked between us two. “Anything for...?”

Brent gestured vaguely. “Whatever she’s getting. On me.” He tossed his wallet into the front seat, turning his entire body toward me. “Blondie, look at me.”

What would I even say to him? My head hurt and I wanted to throw up again. Life still didn’t feel real enough to comprehend and I hoped to wake up from this nightmare that was my life. Pinching myself wasn’t helping at all.

“I don’t want to.” My voice was small, and my eyes threatened me with tears if I didn’t calm down quickly.

“I understand this is a lot for you, but I need you to let me in so I can help you. There are things we need to talk about so you are aware and can be prepared. The last thing I want is for you to be blindsided again. Our companies work in tandem, and I can protect you.”

Protection. That didn’t feel like a word I was familiar with. Sheltered and ignorant felt more my speed.

---