Ruthless

Chapter 17

"So I'm assuming I'm a pit bull?" said Colin as the elevator doors slid shut. He'd figured Nathan had kept Jean back to talk about him, so now he had to assess the damage.

"You're not Nathan's favorite person. Luckily for you, I have a soft spot for those dogs."

"That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me," he said with a sardonic smile.

"Well, I try," said Jean with a sweet smile.

"What else did he say to you?"

"It doesn't matter." She stared intently at the numbers ticking down.

"It does matter. I want to know what he said."

"It's none of your business."

Colin turned to face her. "Jean, what happens to you is my business. Now let me know what he said."

She rolled her eyes but didn't look at him. "He said you were using me and I should be careful. Which isn't exactly wrong, is it? You are using me. And I told him that I was paying you a finder's fee, just not how much. Now you know everything. Happy?"

The elevator reached the lobby and dinged open as Jean bolted out of the small, confined space. But even her longest strides had nothing on him, and Colin easily kept up with her. "I'm just trying to keep informed, Jean."

"You're being bossy." She entered the revolving door fast enough to keep him from going into the same section with her.

When Colin was outside, he jogged to catch up to her. "I've always been bossy. I don't think this should be some strange revelation to you."

"Can we just not talk about this right now? I told you what happened just like you asked. I even defended you."

"But he got to you. I can tell something is different."

"That's not dropping it. What do you want from me, Colin?"

He grabbed her arm. "I want you to stop. I want you to not take private meetings with guys who are trying to kill you. I want you to trust that when I'm being bossy, it's for good reason."

"Wait. Why would Nathan want me dead?"

"Because if you were his sister, Walter would've been married to Nathan's mother when you were conceived."

Jean took a step back. "And you were going to tell me this when?"

Hopefully never? "When I confirmed it was a problem. There was no reason to scare you when I was going to be with you every second."

"But you aren't going to be with me every second. Colin, the second I give you your cut, you're going to be gone and I'm going to be alone with these guys. Don't you owe me the truth about them?"

"I'm not going to leave you to the wolves."

Jean scoffed and looked around. "Don't bullshit me, Colin. I'm not stupid. Last night was great, but I know what it was. The second that money comes through, you're going to be gone. And that's fine. That's what I knew was going to happen. But please don't act like you're sticking around. I'm not that naive."

Colin glared down at her as he tried to find something, anything to say. He wanted to promise that he'd take care of her as long as she needed him to, but that had never been part of the plan. She was right. As soon as she got her inheritance, he was going to be out of there.

And once he was gone, she was going to be alone with Robert, Nathan, Alex, and eventually Logan once he was out of prison. "Damn it, Jean, I need you to tell me that you're going to be safe."