Chapter 250: He Was Afraid
Levi stared at the newspaper spread open on his mahogany desk, his knuckles white where they pressed against the edges of the page. The headlines screamed in bold, cruel letters:
"LOVE TRIANGLE OR LOVE SQUARE? LYSE STIRS UP STORM WITH EX, HUSBAND, AND BILLIONAIRE""BRANDON THROWS PUNCHES FOR HIS PRINCESS — LYSE PULLED FROM PAPARAZZI FRENZY"
The images were worse than the words.
There, right on the front page, was a picture of Brandon with his arms protectively around Lyse. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with fear—but she was pressed against him, her body curled into his like it belonged there. Another shot showed Brandon mid-fight, a fist colliding with a paparazzo’s jaw, his expression murderous.
Levi’s stomach turned.
His heart, however, lurched.
It should have been him.
He should have been the one protecting her. Holding her. Standing between her and the cameras. Instead, he’d spent the night drinking whiskey in his empty apartment, wondering how everything had gone so wrong.
The door creaked open behind him.
He didn’t look up.
Footsteps padded in, slow and measured. Then a sigh.