Chapter 30
JACE
She never responded to my email.
I stood across from Scarlett’s apartment building, watching windows glisten in the dark like a hundred judging eyes.
What the hell was I doing here? The NDA terms could wait until tomorrow.
There was absolutely no rational reason I needed to review them with her tonight, off company grounds, in private.
Except you’re not here about the NDA, are you, Lockwood?
No. I was here because ever since my day concluded, my mind had been consumed with one thought: who had hurt her and what I would do to him when I found out. The rage simmering beneath my skin demanded action, demanded answer tonight, not tomorrow.
I’d told my driver it was a quick business matter. I’d only been here once before, for Scarlett to grab clothes before going horseback riding. Back before everything got complicated.
God, what was I becoming? Standing here like some obsessive stalker outside an employee’s apartment. A woman’s apartment. A woman who’d just endured workplace harassment, no less.
Walk away. Now.
The business side of my brain was screaming at me to leave before I crossed a line I couldn’t uncross. Because if I went up to that apartment … the image of Scarlett’s lips, the memory of her laugh, the way she’d felt in my arms—
Stop.
That was it. I couldn’t do this. Wouldn’t do this.
I took a deep breath and turned to leave, to walk back to where my driver waited down the block, when suddenly, I saw her.
Scarlett was outside.
My gut dropped when I registered that something was wrong. Her stance was rigid, protective, as she positioned herself in front of another woman who was older and trembling. They were both facing someone. A man.
My body tensed, my instincts screaming that she was in danger, even if I didn’t know why. There was something in the way he moved, the shift of his weight, the darkness in his posture that set off every alarm.
I cocked my head, watching the interaction, and as I did, I realized something in horror:
This guy was a predator.
And he was advancing toward Scarlett.