Bait for a Gentleman novel Chapter 112

Silence hung on the other end of the line.

Zachary pressed on. "I just had a round of talks with her, and we added a few clauses to the agreement. I just sent the revised version to your phone. Look it over for her."

"Fine," Sebastian replied concisely, his tone devoid of any major emotional fluctuation.

The sudden quiet that followed was a strange, unspoken understanding between the two men.

After a moment, Zachary finally figured out how to voice the question gnawing at him.

"Are you two together?"

The metallic click of a lighter echoed from Sebastian's side before he spoke. "Do you even hear what you're saying?"

"Then tell me why you issued that statement for her," Zachary challenged. "Since when does a firm the size of Everest Law Group care about some minor rumor mill involving a client? And the trending searches—you squashed them for her, didn't you?"

"Ms. Monroe is my client," Sebastian stated. "When a client is defamed, Everest has an obligation to clear their name. As for the trending searches—"

He paused, calmly exhaling a plume of smoke. "Zachary, you bought those search terms to smear your own fiancée. Do you really think you have the moral high ground here? That was Willow's car, and you know damn well you looked into it."

Zachary didn't answer. His reflection in the windowpane wore an ugly expression.

"Forget it." He turned around, leaning his back against the windowsill. "I just never thought you and I would end up here over a woman."

Sebastian countered smoothly, "Legally speaking, she is an independent individual first, a woman second, and your fiancée last. Ask yourself, since the day you got engaged, have you ever actually respected her?"

He thought of the photo Carter had sent him—Audrina slumped over the table, her face completely buried in her arms.

It was a still image, yet he could feel her trembling. Crying until she couldn't breathe, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

A man who couldn't even respect her didn't deserve a single one of her tears.

And he certainly didn't deserve to stand beside her.

"Zachary, you're the one who messed up."

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