Gregory was doing this on purpose. Just a few words, and all the feelings Anathea had worked so hard to hide were dragged out into the light.
Anathea curled her fingers into her palm. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
After saying that, she stood and turned to leave.
But Gregory grabbed her arm.
“Let go.” Her patience had snapped. She didn’t want to say another word to him.
“What if I refuse?” Gregory stared at her with burning eyes. With one swift pull, he drew her entire body into his arms.
“Anathea, why can’t you just admit that you care?”
She did care. She just didn’t want to admit it and didn’t want him to know.
The more Anathea struggled, the tighter he held her. Frowning, she asked, “Gregory, what’s the point of pushing this? Can’t we just live peacefully like this?”
She’d put up with his broken promises, endured that woman’s provocations, played the role of Mrs. Sinclair perfectly, and never crossed a line. What more did he want from her?
Gregory froze for a moment as he saw a melancholy expression on Anathea’s face, along with a hint of sorrow.
A strange, unnameable emotion gripped his chest. It made him feel sorry for her.
He softened his hold, looped his arms around her from behind, and pulled her against him. When he spoke, his tone was unexpectedly tender. “What do you think I was doing at Drunk Elysium?”
Anathea didn’t answer.
Drunk Elysium was the largest high–end red–light establishment in Castenea. And that woman on the phone had made things perfectly clear. What else could Gregory have been doing in a place like that?
“I wasn’t there to party, Annie. I had a meeting,” he explained. “I dropped my phone, and some random woman picked it up and started talking nonsense.”
Anathea listened quietly but said nothing.
Thinking she still didn’t believe him, Gregory added, “Adrian was there too. He can back me up. And there are cameras in the meeting room. You can check the footage.”
As he said that, he pulled out his phone and handed it to her, allowing her to check his phone. “The password is 0519.“–
Anathea froze at once.
May 19th was the day the Castenea Suburban Bridge collapsed. It was also the death anniversary of the people in the photo on Gregory’s office desk.
Adam had been the inspector in charge of that project.
So this was Gregory’s deepest scar and the reason behind his relentless revenge against Adam.
Something unreadable passed through Anathea’s eyes.
Gregory rested his chin on her shoulder, watching her from the side.
“I haven’t eaten a thing since noon. I just wanted a slice of your cake. But the project hit a snag, and they had to pull me into a meeting at Drunk Elysium. I pushed and made a four–hour meeting into two and a half. I just wanted to make it back in time to blow out candles with you.”
1/2
Chapter 294
+25 BONUS
Anathea looked down at her hands.
Gregory gently took one of them in his own before slowly curling his fingers around hers and enclosing it in his warm grasp. The heat from his palm seeped into her cool skin, as if he were trying to warm not just her hand but her guarded heart as well. Anathea pressed her lips together. Then she heard his voice at her ear again. “I’m sorry for tonight. I know I broke my promise. That was my fault.”
His tone was sincere.
Anathea had to admit that this version of Gregory–who explained himself, made compromises, and tried to please her–was no longer cold and distant but warm and human.
And slowly, he was starting to soften something in her heart.
Her shoulders, tense with resistance, slowly began to ease.
Gregory sensed her yielding. Smiling, he planted a gentle kiss on the side of her neck.
Anathea bit her lip hard when she heard his deep voice against her ear. “Annie, I want to taste you…”
