Bait for a Gentleman novel Chapter 92

She forced a slight smile. "I don't deny these photos."

Zachary frowned. "What?"

He had expected her to cry, to get angry, to accuse him of not trusting her, or to storm out and slam the door.

The absolute last thing he anticipated was this icy composure.

A direct, unapologetic admission?

"Do you know why I've been in contact with Mr. Hawthorne?" she asked.

She was looking at him like he was a total stranger—a gaze he had never seen from her before.

The tense string that had been pulled tight in his chest all night suddenly snapped.

"Why?" he demanded.

Audrina sneered. "Why don't you ask Vera Yates what she did to me while you were out of town?"

Vera's name hit him like a club, instantly choking the breath out of him.

He had no idea why she was suddenly bringing Vera up. Did she find out something?

But a second later, he forced himself to calm down.

She had no proof of any improper relationship between him and Vera.

"Stop trying to change the damn subject!" he snapped. "We're talking about you. Why are you deflecting?"

Audrina let out a dry laugh, walking straight to the nightstand to pick up her own phone.

She pulled up a gallery of images and turned the screen toward him.

The photos showed Zachary and Vera frequently coming and going from this very house.

There was even a shot of him holding Vera by the waist as they got out of a car, bending down to kiss her. Vera was on her tiptoes, arms wrapped around his neck, practically hanging off him.

Another showed him with his arm around Vera's shoulders, walking into a hotel lobby while she rested her head against him, eyes crinkled in a bright smile.

And finally, the photo Audrina had taken outside the private room at Vantachi on the day she returned from abroad—the two of them kissing.

The moment he saw the pictures, all his bravado evaporated.

He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"So I went to Mr. Hawthorne for legitimate legal counsel. He only had the patience to answer my questions out of respect for you. Taking him out for meals and drinks was my way of thanking him."

"You asked what we were doing in that room when you took that call."

She turned on the faucet, methodically washing the blood from her neck. "It was bad enough that you were having me followed, but you actually looked into him too? He didn't appreciate that, so he asked me to warn you—"

"Don't ever cross him again."

Suddenly, it all made sense.

Sebastian's aggressive behavior tonight was a direct response to his own paranoia.

Zachary took one last look at the ruined counter, his gaze trailing from the cut on her neck to her reddened wrist.

"Audrina, I—"

"Don't say my name. I'm moving out tonight."

Silence hung heavily in the room before she finally spoke again.

"Zachary, let's break up."