Chapter 280
Chapter 280:
“Crawford. I need you to send me the invoice for the clothes. All of it. I’ll wire the money to your personal account tonight p>
She needed to draw the line. She could not allow him to wrap her in his generosity without consequence.
Crawford picked up his knife and fork and cut a piece of his steak with deliberate, unhurried precision. He didn’t look up immediately.
“Don’t insult me,” he said, his voice dropping to a quiet, dangerous rumble. He set the cutlery down and looked directly into her eyes.
“The money is completely irrelevant,” he said, his gaze holding her in place. “But if you insist on treating me like a vendor rather than a partner, you are telling me that you don’t trust me p>
It was a flawless psychological trap. He had taken her desire for independence and reframed it as a personal slight against their alliance — and he had done it effortlessly.
June’s jaw tightened. She was cornered. Pushing the issue further would damage the working relationship they desperately needed before tonight’s operation.
“Fine,” she said quietly, turning her eyes toward the dark ocean.
A microscopic smile of absolute satisfaction touched the corner of Crawford’s mouth.
A moment later, June’s phone vibrated on the table. She glanced at the screen — Brogan Clements. A small wave of relief moved through her. She needed a reason to step away from the suffocating pressure of Crawford’s presence.
𝖩𝗈𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝗎𝗇𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝖺𝗍
“I have to take this,” she said, rising quickly. “It’s about the lab data p>
She walked away from the table toward the quiet, dimly lit corridor that led to the private restrooms.
Crawford watched her go, his dark eyes tracking the movement of the cashmere dress. He didn’t notice the large, dark figure standing motionless near the restaurant entrance.
Cole Compton had activated a black-ops protocol through his intelligence network, hacking the city’s traffic grid and satellite surveillance to track Crawford’s SUV with ruthless precision. He had found them.
He stood completely still in the shadow near the entrance, his expensive black coat absorbing the darkness. His bloodshot eyes were locked on June’s retreating figure. The acid of jealousy was eating through him — he had watched Crawford order for her without consulting a menu, had watched the quiet, intimate exchange across the candlelit table.
Cole’s hands curled slowly into fists.
He stepped out of the shadow and began to follow June down the long, narrow corridor.
June leaned her shoulder against the silk wallpaper of the corridor, phone pressed to her ear, dark eyes tracing the intricate pattern of the carpet as she listened to Brogan walk through the latest chemical breakdown of the counterfeit drugs. She was completely absorbed in the data and didn’t hear the heavy footsteps approaching the blind corner behind her.
Across the dining room, Cole had just caught the eye of a rival CEO from a shipping conglomerate he was actively working to bankrupt. The man gave a subtle, mocking nod to an associate — a brutish man who stood immediately and moved with quiet purpose toward the kitchen entrance.