Follow Me Under (Follow Me #2) - Helen Hardt Page 0,1
my gaze and placing her palm on my fist once more. “If there is even a tiny chance of it being true, I had to tell you, Skye. I’d decided not to, but then you said you’re in love with him. I can’t let you get hurt.”
“Braden would never hurt anyone. If he was the one who ended the relationship, he had a good reason.” My words sound confident. Almost too confident. Am I trying to convince myself? If Betsy is telling the truth, was Addie refusing to do some kind of kink a good reason?
Or is this all an elaborately created lie? Betsy’s not lying. She’s telling me the truth as she knows it. But the “truth” comes from Addie, and she could very well have lied.
Silence looms between us, almost visible in its thickness. Finally, Betsy removes her palm from my balled-up fist.
“Please tell me I haven’t made a mistake, Skye.”
“You haven’t. I’m just not sure what to do with this information.”
“Whatever you do, please keep my name out of it.”
“Of course. I give you my word.”
She breathes a visible sigh of relief. Is she really that scared of Addison? After all, Addison does promotional posts for her business for free, supposedly because Betsy knows Addie basically stalked Braden ten years ago.
Unless there’s more that Betsy isn’t telling me…
“What else do you know?” I asked.
She pauses a few seconds, looking down at her plate.
Then, still not meeting my gaze, “Nothing. That’s it.”
“Betsy…”
“I’ve already said a lot more than I should have. Please let it go at that.”
Though my stomach is full of knots, I nod. Clearly she’s gone way out of her comfort zone, and she did it for me, in an effort to keep me from getting my heart stomped on. I’ve never felt unsafe with Braden. He always made sure he had permission to do everything he did. I don’t even have a safe word. What did he do to Addie that freaked her out? Is Addie embarrassed by all that happened? What part did she play in the whole thing? I already know she was the one who pursued him in the beginning. In fact, she went way beyond simple pursuit. She stalked him.
“Thank you for trusting me,” I say.
She offers me a soft smile. “I like you. I felt I had to…”
“I know. Again, thank you.”
She idly pulls a loose thread on her blouse. “What are you going to do?”
I sigh. “Honestly, I’m not sure. I do need to confront Braden about it, though.”
Her eyes widen and her lips tremble.
“Don’t worry,” I rush to add. “You can trust me to keep your name out of it.”
“Skye, that woman has eyes and ears everywhere.” Betsy rises. “I hope I haven’t made a mistake. I have to reopen the store. I can’t afford the loss of sales.” She walks out of the back room and into the shop.
I rise as well.
I’m not scared of Addison Ames.
Still, Betsy’s words feel like invisible knives scraping across the top layer of my skin.
Chapter Two
My feet, seemingly of their own accord, take me to Braden’s office building. I whisk past the reception desk to the elevators with the receptionist’s “ma’am!” ringing in my ears.
I ignore her plea and take the elevator to the requisite floor, past the floor receptionist, and to Braden’s office.
“Ma’am!”
Stiletto footsteps follow behind me, but I’m on a mission. A mission to confront the man I love.
Braden’s assistant rises as I approach. “Hello, Ms. Manning. May I help you?”
“I’m here to see Braden.”
“He’s on a phone call at the moment.”
“I’ll just wait in his office. Thanks.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t let you disturb him.”
“I won’t disturb him.” I keep walking, the compulsion to get to his office overwhelming me. Yes, I should stop. Yes, I should listen to the receptionist. Yes, I should do a lot of things.
“Ms. Manning—”
I stroll past her, my heart pounding as fear slides through me. I grasp the doorknob to Braden’s office, turn it, but I don’t go through.
Stop it, Skye. Just open the fucking door and go in.
I push the door open and enter.
Braden sits at his desk, his back to me, cell phone to his ear.
I clear my throat.
He turns, and his eyes widen.
He motions to the phone and then nods toward a chair.
I don’t budge. This isn’t the bedroom, despite what took place the last time I was here. I haven’t given up control in this office. Besides, I couldn’t sit still if I wanted to right now.