My head jerked up when the bell above the door chimed, flaming the indignant anger that burned through my body and trembled all the way to my core.

“Don’t you dare walk through that door.” The words shook and grated as I forced them through gritted teeth. Broderick Wolfe froze halfway through the door of Tindall’s Thimbles. He was back to wearing his suit that made him appear every bit the villain he was.

Dark and dominant.

Last night, Rex Gunner had given me enough information so I knew where to begin digging. The proof I’d found in the few hours I’d spent combing through files on my computer was insubstantial, but hopefully it was enough that the complaint I filed to order a hold on the sale until the claims could be investigated would stick.

All night and morning I’d focused solely on this task. Refusing to give into the nagging thoughts of him. Thoughts of his touch and his kiss and the promise of something more. Refusing to let myself dwell on the fact that I’d been nothing more than a game.

A pawn used to bring down the final obstacle standing in his way.

The sickest part of it all was that obstacle was me.

He’d pitted me against myself.

He took the final step inside, and I narrowed my eyes at him. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, should have I?

His throat bobbed heavily. “Lillith…I can explain.”

Nervousness seemed to line his demeanor for the first time, but I knew better than to fall for his tactics. The man managed to switch from one disguise to another flawlessly.

That didn’t mean I couldn’t see his razor-sharp teeth.

“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.” I lifted the short stack of papers. “I have everything I need to know right here. I know your company bribed the county commissioner. I know your company signed off on pushing the permits through. And I know your company had no intention of honoring the deal you made with Addelaine.”

He rubbed a big hand over his jaw, which today was unshaven and coarse with thick, dark hair.

A beast.

A beautiful, terrible, lying, betraying beast.

Hate flared, that emotion mixed with the cutting grief.

“My father—”

Biting laughter broke through the air. “I don’t give a damn about your father, Broderick. I give a damn about what you promised. What I care about is the fact you’re nothing but a disgusting manipulator. A liar driven by greed.”

I sucked in a sharp breath when he suddenly flew across the floor. He was in my face, nostrils flaring as he stared me down. Yet, when I expected to find anger in his eyes, I found nothing but desperation. His next words a hoarse plea. “You told me you trusted me. I demand a little of it now.”

I refused the instinct to soften, and instead I scoffed as I tipped my head back so I could meet his penetrating gaze. “You demand it? You don’t get to demand anything of me. You don’t own me, and you can’t have me. I promised you before you came here that I would stop you…but now? Now I promise I will destroy you. I won’t stop until there’s absolutely nothing left of Wolfe Industries. I trusted you, and you lied to me. Used me. And I fell for it.”

The worst part was that I’d fallen for him.

Bile rose in my throat. “You disgust me, and I don’t ever want to see you again unless it’s in court and I’m taking everything important to you away.”

He sank back, shoulders straightening as something like hurt flashed across his face. It was gone before I could decipher it, his jaw going rigid. “You really think so little of me?”

The words dripped like venom as they slid from my tongue. “I think even less.”

What hurt so badly was I didn’t want to. I’d wanted to think the best of him. Wanted him to be the man he’d shown me he was yesterday.

His lips pursed, and he nodded twice, as if he needed to accept what I’d said. Then he turned on his heels, strode toward the door, and pulled it open. He paused halfway out, looking at me from over his shoulder, his expression like a straight kick to the gut.

Pain.

“That’s too bad, Lillith, because it only took three days for you to mean the most to me.”

Then he tossed the door open wide and disappeared out into the glinting sun that shone through the frigid winter air.

I stood there gasping for air as I watched him go, trying to hold on to reason. To my senses and resolutions and the reality of who he was, all the while my spirit burning and aching, my insides twisting in two.

How had I let him hurt me so badly?

Off to the side, movement caught my attention, and I turned to find Addelaine wringing her hands where she stood in the archway to the sewing room in the back. “Child,” she whispered like a loving reprimand.

Angrily, I swiped at the tears that started to fall when I saw her standing there. “He’s a bad man, Addelaine. A big, bad man.”

She shuffled forward, her head angling to the side as she did. “You didn’t tell me.”

I looked to the papers in front of me, pretending as if I could actually make out the words printed on the page through the bleariness that suddenly clouded my eyes. “There was nothing to tell,” I said as offhandedly as I could muster.

She clucked in disapproval. “Lily, child. Come now. Do you think I don’t know you better than that? That right there had nothing to do with this old building and everything to do with the expression you’re wearing right now.”

I jerked my attention back to her. “I made a mistake, Addelaine. A foolish, rash, horrible mistake, and because of it, I let you down. But I promise you, I won’t fail you.”

Addelaine peered up at me with her weathered face, and my breath caught somewhere in my lungs, my heart a tangle of pain and devotion.

This woman meant everything to me, and I’d let someone threaten that.

“Maybe it’s a sign that we need to let this go. You’ve been fightin’ a good fight, but maybe it’s not the right fight. Maybe winnin’ this one just isn’t meant to be.”

“How can you say that? You belong here. This is your home,” I pleaded, pushing the papers that held the complaint across the counter toward her in a bid for her to sign them.

Her attention danced around her store like a loving caress. She turned back to me with a soft smile. “Yes, it’s been my home.” She tapped a finger at her temple. “But I hold the memories right here. And more importantly”—she tapped her fingertips over her heart—“I hold them here. And even if it scares us, sometimes change is okay.”

She angled her head to the side as she reached out and set her hand on top of mine. “It’s time you asked yourself why you’re fighting so hard for this. You’re no longer that girl who walked through my door lookin’ for a place to hide. That girl needed walls to keep her safe. Are you going to continue to make her a prisoner to them?”

Tears clouded my eyes. I blinked, setting them free. “You know that girl was someone I never wanted to be.”

She tenderly cupped my face, and even though I was much taller than she was, somehow I felt as if I was a little girl as I stared up at her motherly face.

“Yet, that girl is still a part of you, and she’s always gonna be. She’s important. She taught you the lessons you needed to know. She became the smart, successful, caring woman you are today. But she’s also holdin’ you back. Refusing to let you trust, even when the truth is right in front of you.”

A frown twisted my brow, and I blinked rapidly. “What do you mean?”

A shot of air puffed from her nose. “You really think that man walked in here wearing his heart on his sleeve because he wanted to gloat about winnin’? If he did what you think he did, then he already won. That man came in here wearing remorse, plain as day.”

My head shook, wanting to believe her so badly it vibrated in my spirit. But when I trusted, it only led to pain. “He’s been foolin’ us, Addelaine.”

My words slipped into the casual tongue of my childhood, the hours I’d spent in this place sewing at her side, listening to her talk, strength growing each day as she instilled hope and belief in me.

“He’s nothin’ but a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

She almost smiled. “Child, that man doesn’t look nothin’ like a sheep. Think he’s wolf through and through. But I think he just might be your wolf.”

“How…how could I ever believe him after everything?” I tossed the papers across the counter, the stack of them sliding and separating. “After I found all of this?”

Addelaine sighed before she began to shuffle through the stack of papers, pulling out the two different contracts she’d signed that were hidden beneath the stack of evidence I’d printed.

She pointed at the two signatures. “Look at this, child. Look closely.”

Confusion knitted my brow while heartbreak trembled my lip.

She jabbed her index finger between the two of them. “Those signatures aren’t close to bein’ the same.”

She looked up at me with a flash of fear in her grayed eyes. “And the men who came in here…they were…mean. Cruel and without compassion. I recognized it the second they stepped through my door. Just the same as I recognized the compassion in him when he first came here, too.”

I blinked as I studied the signatures that were clearly different even though they both bore Brody’s name. Broderick Wolfe III. A fact I had missed in my quest to find him guilty. In my mission to prove his betrayal, I’d overlooked the obvious.

Guilt built up inside me.

She lifted her chin. “You feel something for him?”

That feeling bubbled again. The affection and warmth I’d felt in his arms. The possibility that had become something tangible. I tried to resist it. Refute it. But it didn’t matter. My own truth came flying out. “Yes. I feel so much, Addelaine. More than I should. It shouldn’t be possible, but I do.”

She smiled. “Then you need to ask him why you should trust him yourself. Give him a chance to explain and see where the heart leads. It’s time for you to let it run. You’ve been holding it hostage for a long, long time. See what happens when you decide to trust.”

The tears came unchecked, and I pressed my fingers beneath my eyes and wiped the moisture as I struggled for a breath.

“Oh God…I think I messed up.”

In such a different way than I’d been accusing myself of all day. Because the thought of hurting him ripped me in two.

“What do you want?” she asked with a knowing smile threatening on her mouth.

Realization settled over me. Something powerful. Overcoming and overwhelming.

Unmistakable.

“Him. I want him.”

Her smile bloomed into a full-blown grin. “Then go.” Addelaine lifted my red coat. “Go, child, before it’s too late.”

I sat there stunned as I came to acceptance before I shot into action. Skidding around the counter, I darted for her, taking the jacket and dropping a kiss to her wrinkled cheek. “Thank you, Addelaine. For everything. I hope you know you mean everything to me.”

She clutched my hand. “Same way as you mean everything to me. You’re a good girl. Always have been. Now it’s time for you to go get what you deserve.”

Nodding furiously, I shoved my arms into my coat, wrapped the belt around my waist, and tied it as I flew outside. Cold air slapped me in the face, the sky an icy sort of blue. I didn’t even slow. I just rushed down the sidewalk, winding through people who were on their lunch breaks, my heels clicking on the concrete as I stumbled along as fast as I could.

My heart thundered.

Heavy in my chest.

A pound, pound, pound as I let myself fully feel for the first time since I was fifteen. Without reservation. Without question.

Trust.

It was terrifying.

But freeing in the most miraculous of ways.

I moved faster, rushing across the street and heading in the direction of his hotel, praying he would be there.

That I wasn’t too late.

That he’d give me the consideration I’d refused him minutes before. That he’d stop. Listen. Let me apologize. A frantic need built up, propelling me forward.

Faster.

Needier.

Filled with a hope unlike anything I’d ever felt before.

I gasped when I collided with a big body rushing my direction.

A stunning, powerful, strong body. Those big hands went straight to my face, gripping me tight, his eyes so intense and mesmerizing.

I clutched his jacket lapels. “Broderick…oh my God…I’m so sorry. I…” I forced myself to meet his steely intensity. “I told you back there that I fell for it, when in truth, I fell for you. That terrifies me, and the second something seemed to go wrong, I immediately thought the worst of you. And I don’t want to be that person anymore. I don’t want to be cynical and filled with doubt, always searching for the worst in people. Please…forgive me.”

His thick throat bobbed. “Do you trust me, Lil’ Redd?”

I swallowed hard, clutching his jacket tighter as I offered the words. “I told you I don’t trust easily. I’m the one always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Just waiting on someone to let me down, because no matter how good things might be, they’re bound to go bad. But it’s time I realized I’m not that same girl who stood abandoned in that empty house. I’m not her. I’ve found love. A family. I don’t have to be her anymore.”

His hands cinched down on either side of my face. “I made both you and Addelaine a promise, and I intend to keep it. My father sent in his men to force this deal through and make it look like Addelaine agreed, threatening her into going along with it, and forging my signature to make me look like I was the one who was responsible. It’s not the first time this has happened, but I promise you it will be the last. Tell me you trust me. That you believe I wasn’t responsible.”

My chin trembled when I nodded. “I do. Completely.”

It was the truth.

Standing there with him, I’d never trusted anyone more in all my life.

Not with my heart. Not with my body. Not with my Addelaine and everything she represented.

He wrapped me in his warmth, pressing a bunch of kisses to my forehead, to my temple, to my lips, while my spirit soared. For the first time, freed.

He leaned back to meet my stare, his expression firm and unyielding. “I told you I always get what I want, Ms. Redd. I was already coming back for you. Because I’m not leaving this town without you.”

I gazed up at him, my soul completely bared. “Then why don’t you stay?”

A chuckle spilled from his mouth, and he hugged me tighter. “I think I like where this is going.”

I breathed him in. At ease. Wholly. Completely. “I think I do, too.”

He brushed back a stray lock of hair that whipped in the cold gusts of wind then threaded his fingers through mine. He lifted our entwined hands and grazed his lips across my knuckles. “Let’s go, Ms. Redd. It’s time to set things straight.” He squeezed my hand. “Together.”