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“Do you plan to keep me here in chains?” Laine demanded “Do you plan to slap me around like you do your brother?”

“I—” Aziz sputtered “Of course not! I would never, Laine I lo— But you e—”

“This isn’t aboutrisks and hed “I’ll ood pace I’ll keep this professional, if you promise to do the same”

Aziz stared at her for aharsher and colder by the second

“Go then Goin obscurity Go back to your lonesome life,” he hissed

Laine took a breath and leveled her gaze at hiet a cat”

Chapter Thirteen

Though it had never bothered her before, two days back in New York and Laine realized that the city was a cold, small place The shops were cra and gawky again, and felt her hair brushing the top of the doorway into her apart been so consumed by work, Laine had never considered that part of the reason she didn’t want to go out every weekend was that she didn’t fit very well

Laine couldn’t regret choosing to coh shemore with her, and the leniency that Mr Brandt had extended to her was stretched to the breaking point He hadn’t seemed all that pleased when she’d returned to her office, either, even though his portion of Aziz’s account could probably put his degenerate son through college

But she’d given up on expecting anything that reseiven up on see other than coldly professional in the office The tension was not so she ild about, but it was inevitable for the ht she should’ve been fired, and half see on the palace—and thein as a result Ru in clients had been floating around the office like a nancy; the results of this were alsowith Aziz would be nothing but trouble, but apparently it had raised some people’s estimation of her

Her first weekend back, after a long week of fighting to get things done in the office, Laine decided to drive upstate to see her father rather than wither in her apart the warm sun and Aziz’s warm arms

“Well, babydoll, you look great!” Greg set a cup of tea in front of his eldest daughter and sat down across the little table from her “I don’t think I’ve ever seen ya this tan! Eht?”