Chapter 21
Jace
"Who is he?"
Anna froze just enough for me to notice the tiny shift in her breathing and the way her fingers tightened around the tablet in her hands.
She looked away first. That was answer enough.
Her ex was an actor. She’d told me that at the cabin while rain pressed against the windows and the fireplace crackled softly between us. Famous enough that I’d know the name if she said it out loud.
And today, only one famous actor walked into Hunter Interactive.
Tobias Hart.
He’d sat twenty feet away from me in a conference room for almost two hours while Anna slowly folded into herself and I hadn’t noticed. The realization hit me like thunder. I should’ve noticed. I notice everything.
"Jace," she said quietly, but I was already moving.
She caught my arm before I reached the office door. "Don’t."
I looked down at her hand wrapped around my sleeve. Her fingers were trembling.
"Please," she whispered. "He’s not worth it."
The bruise stood out against her skin in angry red fingerprints and something sharp twisted in my chest.
"Stay here," I said.
"Jace—"
"Stay here."
My voice came out calmer than I felt. That seemed to unsettle her more.
I walked out before she could argue again.
The corridor outside the executive offices was quiet. Most employees were still inside discussing the project, but I barely registered any of it. All I could see was her wrist.
The elevator took too long. Every second scraped against my nerves.
By the time the doors slid open into the underground parking garage, the anger had settled into something colder.
I spotted him immediately. Black sedan, driver waiting beside the rear door, and Tobias standing there checking his phone like he didn't have a care in the world.
Relaxed. Untouched.
He looked up when he heard my footsteps and smiled.
"Jace Hunter." His easy charm slipped into place instantly. "Great meeting today. I think this project is going to be something special."
"We need to talk."
His smile flickered slightly. I looked at the driver. "Alone."
The driver glanced at Tobias automatically. Tobias studied my face for a moment, reading something there. Then he nodded. "Give us a minute."
The driver got into the front seat and shut the door, and the garage went still. Nothing left but concrete pillars and the distant hum of ventilation.
Tobias slipped his phone into his pocket. "What’s going on?"
"You can start by explaining the bruise on Anna’s wrist."
He blinked once. Then let out a soft, dismissive laugh that made my blood heat.
"Seriously?"
"She walked out of that conference room without bruises," I said evenly. "She came back with one. Why did you grab her?"
His expression shifted into careful confusion. "I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding."
"I asked you a question."
"I heard the question." His tone sharpened slightly. "I’m just surprised she’s still doing this."
I held his gaze steadily. "Doing what?"
Tobias sighed like this conversation exhausted him. "Look, Jace. I’m going to say this because I respect you. Anna has a habit of twisting situations. She gets emotional. Dramatic." He leaned casually against the car. "When things don’t go her way, she creates narratives. She told you I hurt her?"
"You left fingerprints on her wrist."
"I didn’t touch her."
The calmness in his voice made my hands curl inside the gloves.
"She tried this with me before," he continued. "Accusations. Manipulation. Making herself look helpless so everyone rushes to protect her." He shook his head. "Honestly, I hoped she’d grown out of it by now."
Every word sounded rehearsed. Polished. Like he’d delivered this exact speech before. Maybe he had.
"I dated her for more than a year," Tobias said. "Trust me when I tell you—she knows exactly how to play people. She’s very good at making men feel sorry for her." He added, "You seem smart enough not to fall for it."
I stared at him for a long moment. He mistook my silence for uncertainty. That was his second mistake.
The first was touching her. The second was assuming I didn’t know what deception looked like.
I’d built an entire career around identifying patterns. Human behavior wasn’t code, but it followed systems all the same. And Tobias Hart was overperforming. Truth had gaps in it. Hesitations. Contradictions. Liars polished their stories until they gleamed.
"Are you finished?" I asked quietly.
His smile faded a little. "I’m trying to help you."
"No." I stepped closer. "You’re trying to control the narrative before she tells me the truth."
Something cold flashed behind his eyes. Gone in a second. But I saw it.
"I never touched her," he said flatly.
"You’re lying."
His posture changed immediately. Not completely. Just enough for the uglier version underneath to show through.
"I’d be careful throwing accusations around," he said.
"And I’d be careful putting your hands on women," I shot back.
He scoffed, "You don’t know anything about our relationship."
"I know you are a horrible person and did horrible things."
That hit something. His expression hardened.
"She always did know how to put on a show."
Anna—pale, terrified—flashed through my mind so vividly my heart felt unsteady. I took another step toward him.
Tobias straightened away from the car completely now.
"What exactly are you trying to do here?" he asked.
"I’m removing you from the project."
For the first time since this conversation started, genuine surprise crossed his face. Then he laughed.
"You can’t be serious."
"I am."
"The contracts are already finalized. You pull out now, your company loses tens of millions."
I let him finish with the lies and the threats that followed. Adjusted my glasses. Unhurried.
"I'd lose money." I held his gaze. "I have money."
I let that land.
"What I don't have is tolerance for a man who puts his hands on a woman and then stands in my parking garage calling her a liar," I continued.
Hart shifted his weight. I didn't move.
"My legal team will be in touch with yours soon." I straightened my cuffs slowly, trying my best to stay restrained. "I also suggest you consider, very carefully, whether you want this to be resolved quietly or publicly."
I stepped closer. Close enough to see the calculation behind his eyes start to falter.
"Because I have the resources and the motivation to make it very, very public."
His irritation sharpened into anger. "You’re willing to destroy a major partnership because your assistant got upset?"
The words landed wrong.
Assistant. Upset. Like Anna was some irrational inconvenience instead of a woman trying very hard not to fall apart after seeing her abuser again. Something dangerous moved low in my chest.
"You should leave," I said quietly.
Tobias stared at me. "Excuse me?"
"You should get in your car and leave before I stop being reasonable."
His eyes narrowed, and for one long second neither of us moved.
Then he scoffed. "This is insane."
"No." My voice stayed calm. "What’s insane is thinking you can hurt someone in my building and walk away untouched."
"You have no proof."
"I don’t need proof to decide who I work with."
"You’ll regret this."
"No," I warned. "You will."
I turned and walked away before the urge to hit him became something harder to control. My footsteps echoed through the garage. I didn’t look back. Because if I looked back, I might’ve broken his jaw.
The elevator doors slid shut in front of me. Only then did I realize how hard I was breathing.
My hands shook in anger. I curled them into fists and held them there until they stopped.
I leaned my head back against the elevator wall and closed my eyes. All I could see was Anna’s wrist. Red fingerprints against olive skin. His hands on her.
The thought made my stomach twist hard enough to hurt.
I wanted to hit him. Fuck, I wanted to. Wanted to feel his jaw crack under my fist and wipe that smug expression off his face permanently.
But violence came with consequences. Blood. Skin contact. Contamination. My brain would spiral so fast I’d drown in it.
So I’d kept control. Barely.
The elevator opened onto my floor. I walked straight to my office bathroom and locked the door behind me. Then I ripped the gloves off and shoved my hands under scalding water.
Too hot, didn’t matter. I scrubbed hard enough for my skin to burn. Soap. Water. Soap again. My breathing slowly steadied. The rage didn’t disappear. It just changed shape.
I dried my hands carefully and pulled a new set of gloves back on.
Then I called Miles.
He answered on the second ring. "What’s happening?"
"I’m canceling the contract."
"You’re what?"
I winced slightly at his sharp tone.
"I want Tobias off the project immediately."
"Jace, do you have any idea how much money that’s going to cost us?"
"Yes."
"The board is going to lose their minds."
"I don’t care."
"You should care a little."
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Miles." Something in my voice made him stop talking.
A beat passed. Then his tone changed completely.
"What happened?"
"He hurt Anna."
"Jesus Christ."
I stared at the sink. "He’s hurt her in the past, and now he appeared in front of her again. I should have noticed the bastard in the meeting."
"That’s not your fault."
It felt like it. I should’ve seen it sooner. Should’ve noticed the way she’d gone quiet the second Tobias entered the room. Should’ve recognized fear faster than I did.
"I need everything you can find on him," I said. "Every complaint. Dig into his life and find anything we can get against him."
Miles exhaled slowly. "Alright. I’ll start making calls."
"I want something by morning."
"You’ll have it."
I hung up. The office suddenly felt too quiet. I walked toward Anna’s desk to check on her.
Empty. Her bag sat beside her chair, laptop still open, half-finished notes still on the screen. But she was gone.
Something in me went abruptly still.
I checked the break room first. Nothing. Then the balcony. Nothing.
I was halfway down the corridor when I noticed the stairwell door ajar. I stopped, then pushed it open carefully.
Anna sat three steps down with her arms wrapped around herself. The stairwell lighting was dim and gray. Cold concrete walls. Faint smell of dust and metal.
A hiding place. I understood immediately why she’d chosen it. Somewhere small. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere nobody would look at her.
She looked up when the door opened. The second her eyes landed on me, relief crossed her face so quickly it nearly undid me.
I sat beside her without speaking. For a minute neither of us said anything. I could hear her breathing unevenly.
"What happened?" she asked finally.
"I found him."
Her fingers clenched around her sleeves. "And?"
"I didn’t hit him."
A shaky breath left her.
I glanced sideways. "You thought I would."
"You looked like you wanted to."
"I did." Honesty felt easier with her than anyone else. "I still do."
She stared down at her hands.
"What did he say?"
"The same things men like him always say." My voice stayed flat. "That you’re manipulative. Emotional. A liar."
Her face crumpled. The words still hurt even after hearing them too many times.
A hollow laugh escaped her. "Sounds familiar."
"I didn’t believe him."
"I know."
The certainty in her voice surprised me. I looked at her fully then.
"You know?" I asked.
"Yes." She swallowed hard. "Because if you believed him, you wouldn’t be here."
Something in my chest pulled painfully deep.
I looked down at her wrist again. The bruise had darkened further while we talked. Anger surged back so hard I had to force my jaw to unclench.
Carefully, I reached for her hands. Her fingers were cold. I untangled them slowly and held them between mine.
"He’s off the project. I'll make sure of that," I said.
Her head snapped toward me. "Jace—"
"I don’t care what it costs."
"He’ll fight you."
"I hope he does."
"You could lose millions."
"I have millions."
She stared at me for a long moment. Then, very quietly, she whispered, "I’m scared."
The admission hit me harder than anger had. Anna almost never admitted fear out loud.
I shifted closer instinctively.
"You don’t have to do this alone anymore," I murmured.
Her eyes closed briefly. When they opened again, they were wet.
"I spent so long trying to convince myself it wasn’t that bad," she whispered. "That maybe I was overreacting. Maybe I was too sensitive. Maybe if I’d just stayed quieter or calmer or easier to deal with—"
"Stop."
She blinked at me.
"His behavior is not your responsibility," I said carefully.
Her lips trembled. A tear slid down her cheek.
I wanted Tobias back in front of me, wanted another chance at him.
I lifted my hand carefully and wiped her tears away with my thumb.
"He doesn’t get to touch you again," I assured.
She looked at me like she wanted to believe that more than anything.
"I mean it."
"I know."
I studied her face for another second before pulling her gently toward me. This time she came willingly. Her forehead pressed against my chest while my arms wrapped around her carefully, like I was holding something fragile and furious at the world for making her feel breakable in the first place.
"He won’t come near you again."
"How’s that going to happen?" she asked.
"We will fight together. Do you trust me?"
Her eyes searched mine. "Yes. I trust you, Jace."
Those words knotted something deep inside me. I pulled her close again, her head resting on my chest.
Hearing her say she trusted me, straight from her own mouth, was the best feeling I’d had all day. It was enough to make the storm inside me go quiet.
No matter what happened, I wouldn’t let Tobias lay another finger on her again. As long as I was alive, he wouldn’t touch her life anymore.