His earlier excuse was just a way to dodge the video call.

Tristan reached up and touched the bruise on the corner of his mouth. The pain made him wince. Until he could hide this mess with some foundation and concealer, there was no way he'd let Emily see him like this.

He ran his fingers through his hair, shut his computer, and left the office.

Outside, his secretary was just about to clock out too.

Daniel Perez was new, recently transferred from a branch office. Steven Davis himself had interviewed him and decided Daniel was competent, discreet, and, most importantly, the kind of guy who wouldn't stir up trouble like Hilaria Vargas had.

Daniel wore glasses and pushed them up when he saw Tristan coming out. "Mr. Davis."

Tristan, still sporting that ugly bruise, nodded back. "Evening, Daniel.”

Daniel's gaze lingered for a moment on Tristan's face, but he said nothing, just quietly followed him into the elevator. When he was hired, Daniel had been warned about what happened with the previous secretary, how she'd gotten herself sued by the Davis family and was still stuck at the police station. Her family had been running around trying to help her, but nothing seemed to work.

The message was clear. If you work for Tristan Davis, you keep your nose clean. No drama, no funny ideas.

With a salary this good and a horror story like that, Daniel had no plans to mess up. But as a decent employee, he figured it was smart to show a little concern for the boss, just to stay on his radar.

"Mr. Davis, do you need anything for the bruise?" Daniel asked quietly.

"Already taken care of," Tristan replied, keeping it short.

"Alright," Daniel said, and that was that.

Daniel took the subway home, while Tristan had a driver waiting. They parted ways on the ground floor, and Tristan headed down to the parking garage and slipped into the back seat of his car.

The driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "Going straight home, Mr. Davis?” "Whispering Pines Estates," Tristan said.

The driver nodded and pulled out onto the street.

Whispering Pines Estates was the place Tristan kept close to the office. He'd been arguing with his grandfather lately, and it was better for both of them if he laid low Somewhere else for a while.

He hated that the bruise kept him from seeing Emily in person, but at least they could still text and call. That was something.

He waited about half an hour after getting home before messaging her again, just to make it look like he'd really been stuck in a meeting. Emily didn't answer right away; probably busy.

Tristan wasn't worried. He passed the time flipping through the stack of postcards Emily had sent him from all the places she'd visited.

He had no idea that while he was trying to play it cool and not tell Emily about Andrew Lane hitting him, Andrew didn't have the same. boundaries Andrew actually went straight to Vertex International, bruises and all, and waited to corner Emily.

And he got what he wanted.

As soon as Emily's car pulled out of the parking garage, a black SUV blocked the exit The driver honked a few times, but the SUV didn't move. In the back seat, Emily glanced up from her phone.

Her driver unbuckled his seatbelt and said, “Sorry, Ms. Blair. I'll go see what's going on."

"Alright," Emily said, barely looking up as he stepped out.

He walked over to the SUV and knocked on the driver's window. It rolled down, and another driver looked out at him.