Chapter 32 · Tell me what to do

He pushed away from me and tore open his shirt collar.

The silver line ran from his throat to the center of his chest, bright against the old scars around it.

I'd seen Adrian shirtless before. I'd seen him bleeding, shaking, and trapped inside my mother's memory.

I'd never seen him look afraid of his own skin.

"Tell me what to do," I said.

"When I cut the link, the bank will reject me."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning I stop being heir."

"And then?"

"Then you use the contract."

I stared at him. "I don't have your access."

"You have mine through the marriage clause."

"That clause gives me legal authority, not a knife to cut through a bank vault."

"It gives you everything I have."

"You never mentioned that."

"You never asked."

"I asked if the contract was safe."

"I lied."

My fingers curled into his shirt. "You really love that word."

"Not today."

For one second, we stood too close. His chest rose beneath my hand.