Page 18 of Discretion at Its Finest

He turned without hesitation. “Uncle Reid, can you help me?”

The words struck harder than I wanted to admit. He didn’t even glance at me. He went straight tohim.

Reid reached out easily, his large hand dwarfing the tiny bottle as he screwed the cap tight with one smooth turn. “There you go, champ.” His voice carried the same casual firmness he used when he was giving orders, only it was softer, warmer now.

Eugene beamed, gripping the bottle with both hands. “Thanks!”

My chest tightened. It was nothing but a quick moment. It was just a water bottle. But watching my son look up at Reid like that, trusting him so completely, it pulled at me in ways I couldn’t afford.

And like another punch to the gut, Reid leaned back in his chair, his eyes flicking toward mine with a glint that told me he knew exactly what he was doing.

I looked away first.

The worst part wasn’t that Reid had inserted himself into our morning.

It was how easily Eugene had let him. And how, deep down, I’d known this was only the beginning.

The car slid to a stop at the curb of the Newman Trust building, its mirrored glass stretching toward the sky like it owned the city.

“This isn’t necessary,” I whispered, but Reid ignored me. He stepped out first, one hand adjusting his sleeve before the other reached back for me, not an offer but a command. His palm brushed the small of my back as I followed, my legs unsteady, my pulse too loud.

We’d stopped first at one of Raymond’s offices on the lower floors, where Eugene had already curled up on the leather sofa for his nap.

Employees glanced up as we passed. First at the brooding, controlling man commanding the room, then at me, whispers already forming before the doors even shut behind us.

On the way up the elevator, we stayed on opposite sides of it, the air in the confined space tense. The numbers blinked slowly overhead, each floor dragging like a countdown.

“You know this is pointless,” I muttered, arms crossed tight. “Dragging me in here, parading me in front of everyone, it doesn’t prove anything.”

“I don’t need to prove anything to anyone, Genevieve. I’m not your useless fiancé.”

Heat climbed my neck. “Gregory doesn’t need you undermining him at every turn—”

“I don’t have to undermine him,” he said, voice low, steady. “He does that all by himself.”

“This whole thing, you being here, it’s ridiculous.” My chest constricted. “You’re humiliating him.”

“That’s the plan.”

My jaw clenched at his nonchalance. “You’re no better than him if you think that.”

In the blink of an eye, he moved closer. His hand pressed flat against the wall beside my head, firm enough that I couldn’t step away. The faint hum of the elevator filled the silence, loud against the rush of my breath.

“You want to know what I am, Vieve? I’m worse.”

I stood my ground, glaring up at him. “I could’ve told you that much.”

His gaze flicked down over me, slow, before locking on my eyes again. My traitorous breath hitched, my back pressed tighter to the cold steel as if it could hold me steady. Ourbreathing mingled, the tension in the air so thick that the thought of the doors sliding open and exposing us like this only added fuel to the fire.

I wanted to say something, anything, but I couldn’t. My tongue felt heavy, useless. When I finally mustered the strength to push him away, my palm pressed against his chest, he caught my wrist in an instant, pinning it above my head with terrifying ease.

“Stop—” I hissed, but the word broke.

“Why?” His voice was quiet, almost curious, as he caught my other hand too, forcing it high above me, caging me completely. “You said it yourself… I’m worse than him. What would be worse than me being caught with my younger brother’s soon-to-be wife? Especially if she’d rather be pinned to the wall by me than endure one of his failed attempts to keep her satisfied.”

“You’re disgusting.” My whisper shook, but I forced it out as I forced my body still, forced it not to react to him lowering himself. His lips getting closer… and closer to my neck. My knees weakened at the proximity, my breaths coming out more shallow.

“Reid,” I all but whispered, trying to keep my reaction minimal to him, trying not to give him the satisfaction of knowing I could still fall apart for him.