Chapter 272
Chapter 272:
He had changed into a clean dark button-down shirt, but the aura of violence clinging to him was impossible to wash away. A faint metallic scent drifted off his skin and mixed with the cold hotel air. His eyes were entirely black, locked onto Cole with the focused intensity of a sniper on a target.
Cole’s spine went rigid. His free hand curled into a fist, knuckles popping. The two men held each other’s gaze down the length of the hallway, the air between them turning toxic in an instant.
Crawford walked forward with heavy, deliberate footsteps and stopped exactly three feet away. He glanced down at the glowing phone screen, recognized Alycia’s face without difficulty, and looked back up at Cole.
A slow, deeply malicious smile spread across his lips. When he spoke, he made no effort to lower his voice — his clear baritone perfectly calibrated to carry straight into the phone’s microphone.
“How is she doing p>
The words traveled through the unmuted speaker and landed directly in Alycia’s bedroom in New York.
Her practiced smile froze on her face.
She?
Alycia’s mind stalled. Why was Crawford Love with Cole? Why were they together in a hotel corridor in the middle of the night? And who was she?
Cole’s face turned a violent, apoplectic shade of purple. He understood exactly what Crawford was doing — a calculated, surgical strike designed to detonate his personal life.
“Shut your mouth,” Cole hissed, dropping his voice to a dangerous whisper. “This is none of your business p>
𝘉е 𝘱a𝘳𝗍 o𝗳 o𝘂𝗋 𝖼𝗼𝗆𝘮𝘶𝗇𝘪𝗍𝗒 оո.с𝗼𝘮
Crawford let out a dry, mocking laugh and leaned in slightly, raising his volume just enough to ensure maximum destruction.
“How is it not my business?” he said, his voice carrying easily through the hallway. “June was under my personal protection when she was attacked tonight. I have every right to know the condition of my partner p>
June.
That single syllable detonated in Alycia’s chest like a bomb. Her pupils dilated with pure, unadulterated horror. A hysterical scream tore out of her throat.
“Cole!” she shrieked through the speaker, her elegant facade collapsing entirely into a grating screech. “Where are you? Why are you with June Erickson p>
Through the speaker, she had already caught the faint chime of the hotel elevator behind Crawford. She knew in an instant that Cole was not in any office. He was in a hotel. With June.
Cole’s jaw locked. Without a word of explanation, his thumb drove the red button on the screen and killed the call.
But the damage was already catastrophic.
In her New York bedroom, Alycia hurled her phone across the room with full force. It connected with a priceless antique mirror, shattering the glass into a thousand pieces.
She dropped to her knees, fingers digging into the expensive Persian rug, her entire body shaking with a toxic, consuming mixture of terror and jealousy.
Cole had lied to her. He had flown through a deadly storm, risked his own life, just to be near that woman. And Crawford Love was there too.
The situation was spiraling completely out of her control. She could not wait any longer.
Alycia grabbed her backup phone from the floor and dialed her assistant.