Chapter Twelve
Jade
I wrapped both hands around my coffee mug and let the warmth seep into my palms. The sky above stretched clear blue with only a few wisps of clouds.
Two weeks since Eric’s call, and I’d managed to convince Rip that I needed fresh air beyond Haven’s walls.
The man took such good care of me, it made me smile.
Rip was a world away from any other relationship I’d ever known.
The coffee shop patio offered exactly what I needed. I could sit here in the pleasant mid-morning sun and enjoy being my own person.
“You good?” Rip asked, standing at the edge of our table, a shield between me and the rest of the world.
I nodded. “Yeah. Better than good, actually.”
It was the truth. Two weeks of quiet had helped settle my nerves.
Rip had been beside me whenever I needed him, while Mia and I tentatively began rebuilding our broken friendship.
Best of all, there had been no other word from Eric.
Whatever legal maneuvers Rip’s brother launched either worked, or the other shoe would drop any minute now. I chose to believe the former.
Rip looked down at me, his dark gaze scanning my face. “I’m getting another coffee. You want a refill?”
“Please. Same as before. Thank you, Rip.” I meant it for far more than the obvious reason and, judging by his expression, I thought Rip knew that.
His features softened. “I’ll be right back.
” He leaned in and threaded his fingers through my hair in back and pulled me to him to kiss my forehead.
Then he turned and I watched him walk into the coffee shop, broad shoulders pushing through the door, and felt a flutter in my chest that had nothing to do with fear.
We’d shared a few more kisses since that night in the security office, but that had been all.
True to his word, Rip never pressed me. Hell, he never initiated intimacy other than to drape his arm around my shoulders lightly when we sat together to watch TV.
I closed my eyes and tilted my face toward the sun. The sounds of traffic, conversations, and the occasional burst of laughter wrapped around me. Normal life. For the first time in a very long time, I believed I could have this again.
“Enjoying yourself, Jade?”
My eyes snapped open. Eric stood on the other side of the table, perfectly groomed in tailored gray slacks and a pale blue dress shirt. I glanced toward the coffee shop door. No sign of Rip.
“You can’t be here,” I said, my voice steady despite the sudden racing of my heart.
Eric pulled out the chair across from me and sat down, arranging himself with practiced ease. “Public place. I’m just getting coffee.”
“There’s a restraining order.”
“Is there?” His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I must have forgotten.”
He looked exactly as he always had. Perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect posture.
The image he’d carefully crafted to present to the world.
I used to find his polish attractive. Now I saw the hollow shell it concealed.
And its purpose. He used his money, power, and expensive good looks to lure people close to him.
So he could sink his claws into them and take their very souls in a way they’d give in to his desires willingly. Including myself. Before.
“You need to leave.” My hands curled into fists under the table.
“I wanted to check in, see how my little star is doing.” His voice dropped, intimate and venomous. “You’ve gotten quite the viewership, you know. That video has made the rounds. More people than you can imagine have seen exactly what you look like when you’re --”
“Stop.” The word came out sharper than I expected.
His smile widened. “Oh, those videos are nothing compared to others I’ll have. You know. As soon as I make them. Will you be more cooperative this time? Or will we have to do things the hard way?”
My hands trembled, but I kept them hidden under the table. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
“The thing about videos,” he continued, leaning forward, “is that they never really go away. Knight can try to scrub them all he wants. Your ex-con boyfriend can play protector. But I’ll always be there, Jade.
In every job interview. Every new friendship.
Every potential relationship. They’ll find it eventually.
Because I will make sure of it. You’re going to be as miserable as you’ve made me, Jade.
Mia was going to be my prized possession, and you ruined everything. ”
“Perhaps you should have thought about that before you took advantage of Mia’s absence to assert your dominance over me, Eric. No. I shared a part of what happened that day to ruin your relationship with Mia, but that situation was of your own making.”
Eric’s face changed. The practiced smile vanished, his expression hardening.
“You ungrateful whore.” He reached across the table and grabbed my wrist, fingers digging in with bruising force.
“I own you. You’re nothing but a slave to my every whim.
You think your new friends will protect you?
They won’t. Especially after they’re all dead. ”
“Let go of me.” I kept my voice level.
“You took away my happiness. Now I’m going to take away yours.” His voice had gone soft again, almost tender. That was always when he was most dangerous. “When I’m done, you’ll be begging me to let you come home.”
“I said let go.” I yanked at my arm, but he held tight, his thumb pressing into the soft underside of my wrist.
“You don’t give the orders here, Jade.” He leaned closer. “You never did.”
Movement caught my eye beyond Eric’s shoulder.
Inferno was crossing the street toward the coffee shop, his attention on his phone.
He glanced up, scanning the patio, and his expression changed when he spotted us.
Anger flashed across his features as he went back to his phone, tapping with his thumb before putting the phone to his ear.
He spoke as he changed direction, heading straight toward our table.
For a split second, I thought Inferno was angry at me, like he might think I’d welcomed Eric’s attention and knew Rip wouldn’t like it.
But when I looked at Inferno again, I saw his gaze centered squarely on Eric.
Eric didn’t notice. He was too focused on me, on making sure I understood exactly how powerless he believed me to be.
“You think you’re safe?” His grip tightened further.
“You think these bikers can protect you? They’re criminals, Jade.
I don’t even have to do anything to remove them from the situation.
One call to their parole officers and half of them go back to prison. ”
“Let me go, Eric. I’m not telling you again.” I spoke through clenched teeth.
“Or what?” Eric’s lip curled. “What exactly do you think you’re going to do if I don’t let you go?”
I stared directly into his eyes and said what I should have said years ago. “Whatever I need to.”
I spotted Rip through the coffee shop window.
He balanced two fresh drinks in his hands as he navigated between tables toward the door.
He found me through the glass, then immediately locked on Eric’s hand gripping my wrist. I recognized the look on his face.
I’d seen it in court the day Eric’s lawyer tried to break me down with Eric looking on so smug.
Rip would have no problem killing him. Right here, in front of everyone.
And then he’d go back to prison. I couldn’t have that.
The very thought made me panic. I absolutely could not imagine the rest of my life without Rip there to keep me safe.
Rip set our drinks on an empty table by the door and stepped out onto the cafe patio. Inferno also approached from the street, phone still pressed to his ear. They were both coming to rescue me. Again.
The realization hit me with sudden clarity. I didn’t want to be rescued. Not this time.
“You’re hurting me,” I said loudly enough for the people at nearby tables to hear.
“Lower your voice, Jade,” Eric hissed, his fingers digging deeper. “Or I will hurt you. You know I will.”
I thought about every talk I’d had with Ada. Every self-defense move Rip had taught me. Every night I’d spent rebuilding myself piece by piece. I wasn’t the same woman Eric had broken anymore. I wasn’t whole yet, but I could see myself getting there eventually.
Using the same motions Rip had taught me in all those self-defense classes, I twisted free of his grip.
The movement surprised Eric enough that he jerked back.
I used the momentum to reach for his coffee cup and knocked it directly into his lap.
Hot liquid splashed across the table and onto his expensive gray pants. He jumped up with a curse.
“There’s a restraining order on you, Eric,” I announced, my voice clear and steady. “You’re not supposed to be near me.”
The surrounding tables went quiet. Heads turned our way.
A woman at the next table pulled out her phone and aimed it at us.
Then another person did the same. Within seconds, at least five phones recorded everything happening at our table.
Eric’s eyes darted around, taking in the witnesses, the phones, the evidence being created in real time.
His face flushed dark red as he brushed ineffectually at his coffee-stained pants.
“You’re making a scene over nothing,” he said, attempting to regain his composure. His voice had shifted to the smooth, reasonable tone he used when trying to convince others I was unstable. “Jade isn’t well. She’s been having episodes --”
“The restraining order says you need to stay five hundred feet away from me at all times,” I cut him off. “It’s very specific.” I looked around the patio. “His name is Eric Blackwood. My name is Jade Harper. The restraining order is a matter of public record.”
“These people don’t understand our history,” he said, lowering his voice, trying to make it intimate again. “We can talk about this privately --”