Chapter 9 Claire
Claire
There’s a black limo driving up the ramp toward me. When it stops, I can feel my heartbeat in my throat as nausea grips me tighter and tighter.
Alec said he wants me. To actually date me. And now I’m about to do this? Yeah, my head is going to explode.
I have one goal for this meeting, and I know exactly what it is. I need to get McDowell, the man who assaulted me, to say something incriminating—that he did this to me, that he threatened me.
Hell, I need him to threaten me now on camera so Tess can film it.
I can’t believe she saw me at the station. It’s still such a wild coincidence that she was there, but now that I know she was researching Theodore and everything he’s been up to, it makes sense.
I really hope this is how we’re going to get the senator thrown behind bars where he belongs.
He shouldn’t be making money off taxpayer dollars. He shouldn’t be assaulting people. And he needs to go to jail.
The driver’s side door opens, and a man almost as big as Alec steps out. He’s wearing a dark suit with sunglasses on, and he walks toward the back of the car, opening the furthest door on the passenger side.
My breath catches.
Theodore McDowell steps out of the limo like he owns the entire world. And maybe he thinks he does. His movements are slow, deliberate. Controlled. He buttons his suit jacket with one hand, then straightens his cuffs.
He doesn’t look at me right away.
That’s somehow worse.
When he finally does turn his head, his eyes find mine across the parking garage, and everything in me goes cold. There’s no warmth there. No humanity. Just calculation. Like he’s already decided exactly what he’s going to do to me tonight.
Like I’m prey, and he’s been waiting for this.
He smiles. That too-white, too-perfect smile that makes my skin crawl.
“Well, well, well.” His voice echoes off the concrete walls as he approaches, his fancy shoes clicking with each step. The sound is unhurried. Patient. “Look who’s come crawling back to me.”
I swallow down everything else I’m feeling right now aside from determination, because what I need to do is make this guy think I’m sorry.
I need to make Theodore believe that I want him, that I’m remorseful and still… attracted to him.
You can do this. Get him talking. Get him on tape.
“I knew you’d see the light eventually.” He stops about ten feet away, close enough that I can see the cruel glint in his eyes. “They always do.”
They always do. How many women has he done this to?
“This has gone too far, Senator.” I force my voice to stay steady. “I’m sorry that I made you feel threatened. I assure you that I have no intention of saying anything more about this to anyone.”
He cocks a brow at me. They’re dark slashes above his light eyes. He looks the same as he always does—a dark suit that costs more than my apartment, his salt-and-pepper hair combed into a slick, unnatural shape.
But there’s something different tonight. Something coiled tight beneath the surface. Like a snake waiting to strike.
“Is that so?” He takes a step closer, and I have to lock my knees to keep from stepping back. “And how am I supposed to believe that?”
Stand your ground. He wants you scared. Don’t give him that.
“Because I have nothing to gain from fighting you.” I lift my chin slightly. “I’m a nobody. You said it yourself. Who’s going to believe me over a senator?”
Something flickers in his expression. Satisfaction, maybe. He likes hearing me say that.
Good. Keep him talking.
“I’m a generous man,” he says, moving closer still. The distance between us shrinks with every word. “I’ve been charitable with my money and where I spend it. And this is the thanks I get?”
When he takes another sudden step forward, I have to stifle a flinch. Alec is here. He’s right over there. I’m safe. I’m safe. I’m safe.
“I’m sorry. You’re right.” I make myself hold his gaze even though every cell in my body is screaming at me to run. “You were trying to be generous. I was… I was so wrong, Senator. Please. You don’t need to keep sending people after me. I get it.”
Come on. Say something about the people you sent. Say it.
McDowell scoffs, rolling his eyes. “If you found yourself in a shit situation, that’s on you. My career isn’t going to go down anytime soon, stripper.”
The word hits like a slap, but I don’t let myself react. He wants to hurt me. He wants to see me crumble.
Not tonight.
“You’re right,” I say quietly, and I take a step toward him instead of away. His eyes widen slightly—he wasn’t expecting that. “I’m just a stripper. I’m nothing. And at this point…” I let my voice drop, let it go soft and desperate. “I’m willing to do anything to make this right.”
I know exactly what I’m doing. I know what he’ll hear in those words.
And I hate myself for saying them. But I need him to incriminate himself. I need him to think he’s won.
Theodore’s eyes flare wide, and something dark and hungry shifts behind them. He cocks his head, studying me like I’m something he might buy. When he takes a step toward me, leaving only a foot or two between us, I can smell his cologne.
Expensive. Suffocating.
The same cologne from that night on the yacht.
My stomach lurches, but I hold my ground.
“Anything?” He reaches out, and before I can brace myself, his hand shoots forward and grabs my wrist.
I yelp. I can’t help it.
His grip is crushing. He’s turning my arm backward, twisting it until pain shoots up to my shoulder and I start to crumple.
Time slows.
I can feel every one of his fingers digging into my skin. I can hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears—fast, too fast. The parking garage tilts around me, and all I can see is his face, twisted with rage.
“You think I’m going to just hop into the sack with you now?” He’s screaming, and flecks of spit hit my cheek as I duck away. “You think the people I sent didn’t report back that you’re shacking up with some guy?!”
His hand tightens. I feel the bones in my wrist grinding together.
“God, I knew you were a little slut, but this is rich!”
Clawing at his fingers with my free hand, I try to pull away. “Please, stop! You’re hurting me!”
“You’re not tanking my career, slut!” His face is purple now, veins standing out on his neck. “You know what I paid for. If anything, I should be demanding my fucking money back!”
He’s flipped the switch so quickly. One moment, he seemed calm enough. The next, he’s some rabid animal, all that carefully controlled rage finally unleashed.
It’s just like before when he tried to force himself on me… when he managed to hit me and use my mouth.
Panic spirals through me, and I think I’m going to be sick. The world is a chaotic blur of concrete and shadows and his cologne choking me. His other hand twists in my hair, yanking my head back so hard that tears spring to my eyes.
He starts dragging me toward his car.
Oh, god. He’s going to do it again. No. No!
Something snaps inside me.
Not again. Never again.
With every bit of strength I have, I yank my arm down as I thrust the heel of my hand up into his face. It meets his nose with a sickening crunch, and Theodore goes flying backward, forced to drop my wrist and hair.
Blood gushes from between his fingers as he clutches his face. “You bitch!”
Before I can say another word, Alec rushes up to the guy. Just as the senator looks up at him, Alec lands a punch to his face.
If his nose wasn’t broken before, it certainly is now.
Theodore crumples, and Alec is in front of me instantly, his body a wall between me and the monster on the ground.
“Are you okay?” His voice is rough, urgent.
I can’t speak. My throat is locked. I just nod my head.
Did that really just happen? What are we supposed to do now? Did we get what we needed?
I eye the dark corner where I know Tess is hiding, but I don’t see her or the signal that we’re good yet. Then commotion draws my attention back to Theodore.
He’s getting up.
Blood streams down his face, dripping onto his expensive suit, but he doesn’t seem to notice. His eyes are wild. Unhinged. All that careful control is gone now.
What’s left is pure, murderous rage.
“You!” McDowell screams, jabbing a blood-stained finger at Alec. “I hired you, you moron! I’m going to make your life a living hell for this!”
Watching the interaction, I’m frozen in place. This man is so much more dangerous than I realized. The mask is off. There’s nothing human left in his eyes.
Alec is standing firm, though. He doesn’t move. Doesn’t flinch. And I have to believe he can handle himself.
I have to believe that or I’ll lose my mind.
He has to be okay. Please, don’t let anything happen to him.
“I think I’ll be fine,” Alec says, his voice cold as steel. “And I think you won’t be touching a single fucking hair on Claire’s head ever again. Hell, touching anyone’s gonna be pretty damn hard behind bars.”
If possible, Theodore’s eyes flare even wider. He looks around the empty parking garage with wild, desperate eyes. When his stare drops to the floor, he’s shaking his head.
“No, no, no. You won’t ruin me.”
His hand moves.
Slowly. Reaching around to the small of his back.
My blood turns to ice.
“No one—” the senator’s fingers close around something beneath his jacket “—ruins Theodore fucking McDowell!”
He pulls out a gun.
The world stops.
I can’t breathe. I can’t move. My legs are rooted to the concrete, and all I can see is that black metal gleaming under the fluorescent lights.
This is how I die.
The thought is cold and clear and absolute. He’s going to kill us. He’s going to kill us both, and no one will ever know what really happened down here.
As quickly and discreetly as I can, I force my frozen eyes to flick toward Tess’s hiding spot. The glint of the camera lens is only just visible, bouncing off the light just right.
That’s the signal.
Looking back at the scene, Alec’s eyes catch mine, and he nods. He saw it too. We’re good. We have everything we need.
We can get out of here.
But how?
He turns back toward the senator. “You’re going to wanna put that down. You’re already in enough trouble. You don’t want a murder charge added to that rap sheet of yours.”
“No rap sheet when I don’t get caught, fucker.” Theodore raises his arm. The gun shakes in his grip—whether from rage or fear, I can’t tell. His finger hovers over the trigger. “So, bye fucking bye.”
No.
Alec’s muscles coil.
No, no, no—
“No!”
My scream tears through the parking garage as Alec launches himself at Theodore. He barrels right toward him, going for his waist.
Time fractures.
I watch the senator’s aim drop, tracking Alec as he rushes him.
I watch Alec’s arms reach for the gun.
I watch Theodore’s finger squeeze.
BANG!
The sound is deafening. It echoes off the concrete walls, bouncing back again and again until it fills the entire world.
And then—
Silence.
Neither of them is moving.
They’re both on the ground, a tangle of limbs and blood, and I can’t tell whose blood it is. I can’t tell who’s breathing. I can’t tell—
My heartbeat screams in my ears.
My hands fly to my mouth.
Oh, god.
Please.
No.
I just found him. I just found this man who sees me, who wants me, who promised to protect me. I just let myself love him.
I can’t lose him.
I can’t—
Please, no. I can’t lose Alec.
I love him.