Chapter 34 #2
“After that, she made various attempts to leave, but again, none of them stuck. Sometimes, she would go back because, financially, she was struggling. She would run out of money, or she would lose her job. But mostly, he just had this psychological hold over her that I could never seem to cut, no matter how hard I tried.” My voice hardened.
“This is the longest she’s stayed away from him, and I swear to God, I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure she never goes back. Not this time. Not ever again.”
I walked to the couch, but didn’t sit, just leaned against it for support. “I know this isn’t my fight. I know that she is the one that has to leave him, and she has. But I can’t let something as small as finances get in the way.”
I raised my chin, defiant, despite the bruise forming on my cheek.
“That’s why this job isn’t just a career to me.
It’s a lifeline. A single missed paycheck isn’t an inconvenience; it’s the difference between my mother’s safety and her returning to him and his escalating abuse.
I can’t gamble with that. I won’t.” I met his gaze directly, something fierce in my own.
“So, maybe you look at me and say I’m not a very brave person because I’m reluctant to give up the company harasser’s name without some forethought.
But you don’t understand the complicated chess match that I’m in.
One wrong move, and it’s not just me that will suffer the consequences. ”
“Scarlett.” Jace stepped forward, his voice turning raw.
“You’ve got to be the bravest person I’ve ever met.
You stood between your father and your mother, faced down a man twice your size, holding a knife, knowing exactly what he was capable of.
” He shook his head, eyes never leaving mine.
“That’s brave as hell, so don’t you dare think for one second I see it any other way. ”
My eyes burned with unshed tears as I realized how much his confession mattered to me.
“Every day of my life, my biggest fear is answering a phone call from an unknown number because I’m terrified that it will be the morgue telling me that my dad finally got to her, and this time, he finished her off.
” A tear finally escaped, tracking down my injured cheek.
I brushed it away angrily. “I will not allow that to happen.”
Jace crossed the room in three long strides, stopping just short of touching me. “Let me help financially.”
I took a step away, shaking my head, recoiling from the idea.
“I won’t transfer power from one man to another, Jace. You seem like a really nice guy, but the truth is, I really don’t know you very well. My dad was very charming in the beginning, too, and then once he had all the power, everything changed.”
His brow furrowed, his muscular arms crossing over his broad chest.
“I hate him for doing this to you,” he growled. “For making you suspicious of any man who cares about you.” I swallowed. “But you don’t have to be afraid of me, Scarlett. I would never do that to anyone. Especially not you.”
“Well, I will not accept that kind of help from anyone, especially not a man. And especially not someone who holds an immense amount of power over my life already.”
Jace’s expression softened, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly.
“You know, my favorite book as a child was called The Keeper’s Compass,” he said.
“It’s about a child entrusted with an ancient compass that always points toward those in need.
” His voice grew quieter, more vulnerable.
“My mother read it to me when I was feeling lost after we moved to a new town. She taught me that helping others provides direction when you feel adrift yourself. It’s a virtue she instilled in me. ”
He took a careful step back, giving me space. “I’m not trying to control you, Scarlett. I just … see someone in need, and everything in me wants to help. It’s who I am.”
“I appreciate it,” I said. “But no thank you. I’ll figure this out.”
For a long moment, he just looked at me, and the fury toward my father began to waver into something different. Something like awe.
“For the record, you’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met,” he said finally.
I felt my defenses lower, just slightly. “For the record, you don’t know me … not really.”
“I’m starting to,” he insisted. “And I want to know more.”
I looked down at my hands, feeling suddenly vulnerable, the image of him fighting my father unleashing all kinds of confusing feelings.
“No one’s ever stuck up for me like that before,” I admitted.
Okay, that seemed to bother him. But to his credit, he swallowed it and cleared his throat.
“What if I want to keep doing it?”
Squaring my shoulders, I replied, “I don’t need you to.”
Jace took a careful step closer, the heat of his body igniting my own. There was something wonderfully jarring about being near him, like little cells in my body had come alive with electricity, their light fading when they were no longer in his presence.
“Need has nothing to do with this.” His eyes held mine, intense and searching. “You’ve kept yourself safe and successful for years. I’m not suggesting you need saving. I’m saying I want to help shield you. From your father. From whoever hurt you at work.”
Something fluttered in my chest, a feeling I’d long ago buried, and now, that NDA paragraph requiring a name felt very different. Protective rather than controlling. Like maybe for once, someone with power wanted to use it to defend rather than dominate.
“What if I said I want you to be mine?” His voice was almost a whisper.
I stood there, stunned, the word mine bouncing around the chambers of my heart. Trying to plant seeds and grow and rise in a sun that I’d never experienced before.
“You said company policy—”
“What if I don’t care about the policy?”
The question hung between us, charged with possibility.
I felt my defenses waver further. “That would be … complicated.”
“I’m good with complicated.” He was closer again, one hand lifting cautiously to hover near my uninjured cheek, giving me time to pull away.
I didn’t.
His palm cupped my face, thumb brushing gently across my skin. “And I meant what I said earlier … I want to know more about you. All of you.”
My heart hammered against my ribs as he leaned in, his eyes asking permission. Despite every warning bell in my head, I found myself tilting my face up to his, my lips parting slightly in invitation.
When our lips finally met, it was like coming home. To a good home. A warm one, with baked cookies and a normal family.
Jace slipped his tongue along my lower lip, coaxing me to open for him. When I did, the kiss deepened into something primal. Electric. My toes curled, and my heartbeat drummed in my ears as I reached up and threaded my fingers through his thick hair.
He winced slightly.
“Sorry,” I whispered against his mouth, feeling a small lump beneath my fingertips.
I couldn’t tell if it was from my father’s fist or his collision with the concrete sidewalk.
Either way, it was evidence of what he’d done for me.
The bruised knuckles. The cut eyebrow. This lump. Injuries he’d sustained to protect me.
As our kiss evolved, heat pooled low in my belly.
I wanted more. So. Much. More. I wanted to pull Jace into my bedroom, peel off that expensive suit, trail my fingers along the tattoos that I knew were hidden beneath, and feel him inside me, his lips on my neck, his body bringing me to the edge of oblivion.
But reality crashed through my fantasy. Hard stop.
This was happening too fast. Yes, I wanted him, but I’d managed to go through my entire life blocking out feelings for any man, and if I was going to date anyone—and that was properly cataloged in my Never Going to Happen folder—I really didn’t want that person to be someone so powerful.
Rich. Connected. A man who could alter lives with a single phone call.
Specifically mine.
Even though Jace had stood up for me, had somehow unlocked something inside me—a possibility I’d kept firmly bolted—I hesitated at the threshold. Tonight had drained me completely. The last thing I needed was a reckless decision haunting me in the morning.
So, I pulled back, and even though the absence of his warmth was freezing, I said, “I should probably get some sleep.”
His emerald eyes searched mine. “I don’t want to risk leaving you alone.”
“My father is in jail.”
“What if they mistakenly let him out?”
I tried not to let my lips curl at how far-fetched that sounded, but it was adorable. Jace worrying about me when there was no risk. “You heard what the police officer at the hospital said; he’s behind bars until his bail arraignment tomorrow.”
Jace gently tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his bruised knuckles ghosting across my cheek.
“I’m still leaving Red here. He’s a top-notch security guard.
” Since I’d lost every battle over the whole bodyguard situation, I simply nodded, unable to fight the knot forming in my throat.
“How about I pick you up in the morning and take you to work?”
I smiled and placed my hand against his chest, feeling the solid wall of muscle beneath. “That’s not necessary.” A thought suddenly struck me. “But we do have something we need to figure out.”
His uninjured brow arched upward.
“I think we need a cover story.” My finger traced the edge of his bruised eyebrow, careful not to apply pressure. “We can’t show up at the office tomorrow with matching shiners. People will get suspicious.”
His slow smile revealed a dimple I hadn’t noticed before. “And we wouldn’t want that, would we, Trouble?”
The way he said my nickname, like a secret he was keeping for himself, made my heart stutter in my chest.
“Cover story,” Jace repeated as his eyes lit with something that was both mischievous and calculated. “Actually, I have just the right guy for this job.”
“You do?” I asked, suddenly wary.
His smile turned dangerous. “You’re looking at the man who once convinced the board I got a black eye from a charity boxing match that never happened.
” He leaned closer, his breath warm against my ear.
“Trust me, by tomorrow afternoon, our matching bruises will be the most boring topic in the office.”
The tension in my shoulders eased, just a fraction. But then his expression shifted. The playfulness vanished, replaced by something darker. More intense. His jaw tightened as he studied my face.
“There’s one other person I want to protect you from, Scarlett.”
My breath caught when I realized who he was talking about: Grabby Hands. In the chaos of tonight, I’d momentarily, and blissfully, forgotten about him.
“I won’t pressure you about it right now. You’ve been through enough.” Gently, his fingers brushed mine, despite the rage I could see simmering beneath his surface. “But tomorrow, you’ll give me the name of the man who violated you.”
The sudden shift in his tone caught me off guard.
The playful banter from moments ago had vanished, replaced by something cold and precise.
Something dangerous. Before tonight, I’d assumed if I gave him the name, best-case scenario, Jace would fire the guy.
But the darkness in his eyes suggested he might have other plans.
“And if I tell you who did it,” I said carefully, “what will you do to him?”
Jace’s expression gave nothing away, a perfect CEO poker face sliding into place. “Let’s just say, he’ll understand boundaries better after our conversation.”
“Jace.” I pulled my hand back.
I should have been horrified by the implication of possible violence.
Should have recoiled from this dangerous edge he’d revealed.
Instead, a small, dark part of me—the part that still woke up screaming some nights—whispered that sometimes, just sometimes, it might be satisfying to have someone else use their power for good.
His phone buzzed, breaking the moment. He glanced at the screen, then back at me with an expression I couldn’t read.
“Tomorrow,” he said, the word somehow sounding like both a promise.
And a warning.