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“Please?” This was going against my every instinct, but I persevered. “I’ll pay you back.”
“Of course,” Julian replied, rubbing his thumb in circles over my arm. “And you don’t need to pay me back.”
“I’m paying you back,” I said.
“Yes, dear.” Patience laced his voice. “We can leave now, while Damen sorts out things here.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Bryce made his move, shrugging. “She can be as stubborn as she wants, but you can’t stop me from coming. But you’re overlooking something rather important.” I frowned at him, but he continued, “She needs shoes.”
“You didn’t even grab shoes?” Damen lectured. “How neglectful.”
Bryce crossed his arms. “She said she only wanted the one thing.”
“Why are you so literal?” Damen said in a scathing voice.
Finn suddenly stood, shoving his hands in his pockets as he looked at me. “You left a pair of shoes in my car.”
My breath caught, and, for a moment, I forgot to hate him.
His words gave me hope, although I had no idea which pair he might be referring to. “Which ones?”
“How am I supposed to know?” Finn shrugged. “They’re blue. They’re fancy. And they have buttons.”
“My Tory Burch flats?” I covered my mouth. How could I have forgotten? I’d changed out of them the day we purchased my Tamara Mellon wedges. Not all hope was lost.
“You were wearing Burberrys the other day, too.” Bryce was giving me a curious look. “Do you have a shoe fetish?”
“I do not have a fetish!” My happiness faded into embarrassment within a second, and I glared at Bryce. “I just like to take care of my feet.”
“Are they all luxury brands?” Bryce ignored my denial as he stroked his chin, seemingly in deep thought. “That’s surprising. Abigail is extremely frugal. But even if you managed to convince her, they cost hundreds of dollars each. Considering your issues with gifts, I’m shocked you would accept them.”
“Well, they weren’t gifts and they’re not fromhereither.” I wanted to wipe that contemplative look right off his face. Besides, how did Bryce know anything about women’s shoes?
“He got them for me.” I pointed toward Finn. “And I earned them.”
“You earned them?” Damen glanced at his brother. Suspicion laced his tone now. “How exactly do you earn shoes?”
“I took care of him.” I shrugged, not sure why they cared. “He likes things done a certain way.”
Finn was hiding his face, and the temperature seemed to fall twenty degrees.
“Bianca.” Julian turned my face toward his with a touch. “What do you mean? Like…” His next words were stilted. “In the bedroom?”
Why did this upset him?
“Um…” I glanced to Finn for help, but he wasn’t even looking at me. My gaze returned to Julian’s. “Yes? Then there was the kitchen and living room, and—”
He seemed about to shatter, but he had asked…
“The bathroom too,” I finished, waving my hand. “He’s really weird about stuff in there.”
“You bastard!” Julian lunged in Finn’s direction.
Finn’s eyes snapped open, seemingly feeling the threat to his life. He jumped back, barely missing Julian’s swinging fist. His words flew out in a rush. “She was cleaning!” He dodged another grab. “Do you really think that little of me?”
Damen and Bryce, who’d also had started to move in Finn’s direction, halted. And the air in the room shrank while Titus stumbled to a halt and Miles’s deadly expression cleared.
“Cleaning?” Brayden sounded scandalized. “But you have servants!”
