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Chapter 862:
Her bodyguard Marcus moved ahead, clearing the path. Easton fell into step beside her. The three of them — June, Easton, and Vera — walked out through the heavy glass doors into the freezing midday air.
The cold hit June’s face. She drew a long, shuddering breath and let it out slowly. The rigid tension in her spine finally released, her shoulders dropping a fraction of an inch.
“Le Bernardin!” Vera announced, bouncing on the sidewalk. “We are opening the most expensive bottle of champagne they have. I want to drink until I forget my own name p>
June let out a genuine, exhausted laugh. She turned to Easton. “Thank you,” she said softly. “For throwing yourself in front of the train with that legal document. You bought me exactly the time I needed p>
𝘙𝖾а𝗱 𝖿r𝗈𝘮 𝗒𝗈𝘂𝘳 р𝗵o𝗻𝘦 𝗼ո
Easton smiled and gestured toward the open car door. “It is my job as your chief counsel,” he said, his voice warm and unhurried. “And my absolute privilege as your partner p>
June smiled back. The warmth and ease between them formed a quiet, protective current that cut through the noise of the morning.
As she turned to step into the car, her peripheral vision caught a flash of movement across the avenue.
A massive black armored SUV sat illegally parked beside a fire hydrant, its windows tinted to an illegal pitch-black. June’s breath caught. The hyper-vigilance from her PTSD fired immediately. Her hand froze on the door handle. She knew that vehicle profile. She knew the precise kind of man who hid behind bulletproof glass.
A cold wave moved through her stomach. She did not turn her head. She did not give it a single second of her attention.
She slid into the backseat of the Rolls-Royce and pulled the door shut with a solid, final thud. She was going to let the ghost rot in the dark.
The Rolls-Royce moved smoothly into traffic, carrying Vera’s laughter away down the street.
Inside the black SUV, Cole sat frozen, his chest heaving as he struggled to pull air into his lungs.
He had seen the smile June gave Easton. Soft, unguarded, full of genuine warmth — the kind of smile she had never once turned in his direction in three years of marriage.
It moved through him like a blade dragged slowly across bone.
He had burned three billion dollars. He had risked an international financial war. He had handed her the world and stayed invisible doing it. And she hadn’t looked his way once. Every ounce of warmth she had went to the lawyer.
A blinding wave of jealousy detonated behind Cole’s eyes. He swung his right fist into the bulletproof window with everything he had.
The glass spider-webbed with a sharp crack. The skin across his knuckles split open. Dark blood smeared across the fractured surface.
In the front seat, the assistant flinched and wordlessly held a box of tissues over his shoulder.
“Sir,” the assistant whispered. “Do we follow them to the restaurant p>
Cole closed his eyes. His head fell back against the seat, his throat working as he swallowed the lump lodged there.
“No,” he said, forcing the word through his teeth.