Chapter Twenty-Eight Unwelcome Visitor
SUTTON
I spend the next day at the performance center while Jayce is at practice, holding up my blueprints to compare my designs to the space and soaking in the potential the building holds.
It’s nice to get out of the penthouse now and again.
Sometimes I sit at the coffee shop across the street from the center, and some days, like today, I walk around the building, inspecting it more closely.
I lift my blueprints, aligning the drawing with the wide expanse in front of me. I can see it so clearly in my mind.
This could really happen…and then the other thought crashes in.
This only happens if I nail the presentation.
My stomach drops.
None of this matters unless I can stand in front of Romero and his board and convince them I deserve this project.
I lower the blueprints slowly, staring up at the building as the memory of my last panic attack during a work presentation creeps into my mind again. I can’t rely on Dad stepping in and saving me this time.
What if that happens again, though?
What if I walk into that boardroom, open my mouth to speak, and nothing comes out? Or worse…what if I start panicking in front of all of them?
My grip tightens around the edge of the blueprints.
I shake my head, forcing the thoughts away.
I can’t let them get the better of me. I can do this.
My parents haven’t seen me panic in years, and I’m so much more experienced than I was right out of school.
I’m confident in my work and my abilities, and I can make this presentation without losing it.
Tucking my blueprints away, I decide it’s time to go back home.
Deep breaths.
You can do it,
I don’t convince myself of that far-fetched possibility, but as I leave the building, I do get my mind far enough away from the presentation that it’s not freaking me out as badly.
By the time I get back to Jayce’s building, I’m feeling refreshed and energized and I’m brimming with new confidence.
About other things, at least. Not the presentation.
The moment I step into the lobby of the apartment building, those feelings of accomplishment and contentment vanish when I see a tall figure with slicked back blond hair standing in front of the reception desk.
I freeze in place, my stomach twisting with dread.
Leon.
What the fuck is he doing here in Denver?
His glare locks onto me. It’s clear he’s been waiting for me.
“Sutton,” he says with a weirdly nervous smile that doesn’t touch his eyes.
Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! Pretending not to have heard him, I turn and rush down the hallway to my left toward the elevators.
When I reach them, I hit the button repeatedly, willing it to magically appear that instant.
I hear his footsteps hurrying toward me, his long strides eating up the distance too fast for me to escape.
“Sutton! Hold on!”
Oh, God, I don’t know what to do. The elevator isn’t opening, and I can’t keep pretending I don’t hear him. I thought blocking his number would send a clear message that I didn’t want to talk to him.
Apparently, I was mistaken.
“Sutton!”
He grips my upper arm and yanks me around. Leon holds me tight, glaring down at me, his brown eyes dark with fury.
“Leon, what are you doing here?” I ask, fighting to keep a steady, calm tone, even as I try to pull from his grasp.
He doesn’t let go and gives me a hard shake.
“You can’t be engaged to another man,” he says with a low rumble in his throat. “You were promised to me! We have family history… something you don’t have with that fucker.”
“Let go of me, Leon,” I hiss, but he just presses closer, trapping me between his body and the strip of wall between the elevators.
“You’re mine, you hear me?” He’s on the verge of shouting now. About to lose control. His face is too close to mine. His spittle sprays over me.
A shiver of fear runs up my spine. He looks crazy…
like he could do just about anything to me right now.
I glance around, desperate to find someone who can help me, but there’s no one in sight.
Damn it, I should’ve just gone to the attendant at the desk, but I panicked when I saw Leon.
Maybe if I yell, the attendant might hear me…
Suddenly, the elevator dings and the doors slide open.
To my disbelief and absolute relief, Jayce steps out.
His eyes immediately lock on Leon and me.
Leon tightens his hold on me. Fury flashes in Jayce’s narrowing gaze.
He strides toward us, shoves Leon away from me, then grabs my hand and pulls me behind him.
“Get lost,” Jayce snaps at Leon, his voice low and dangerous. “Don’t ever come near her again, and don’t fucking touch her.”
He doesn’t say anything else. No threats of bodily harm or retribution, but it’s there in his tone and in his stance. Leon appears to see that too. He stares at Jayce for several long moments, clearly wanting to push the issue, but he wisely backs down. Raising his hands, he starts to back away.
“Fine,” he grumbles, glancing at me. “I’ll go. Don’t want to cause trouble.”
Yeah, right. If he didn’t believe Jayce could kick his ass—easily—he wouldn’t be surrendering like this. Given his audacity to show up here in the first place, though, I highly doubt he’s giving up completely.
Jayce continues to glare at him as he walks away, and it’s only when Leon’s out of sight that he pulls me into the elevator and hits the penthouse button.
Wrapping his arms around me, he holds me tight against him. I relax into his chest, my body trembling as my anxiety melts away.
“Are you okay?”
I silently nod, reaching up to grip the front of his shirt. He doesn’t say anything else as we ride up to our floor, but he doesn’t release me the whole way.
When the elevator reaches our floor, I move to step away from him, but he doesn’t let me. Instead, he scoops me up into his arms, provoking a surprised yelp out of me.
“Jayce? What are you…?”
He cuts me off with a quick, firm kiss to my lips, then proceeds to carry me out of the elevator and toward the penthouse door.
Once inside, he crosses to the couch in the living room and sits down, arranging me on his lap. Brushing a lock of hair behind my ear, he finally speaks in a firm but gentle voice.
“Something about him doesn’t sit right with me. Tell me everything you know about that asshole. Again.”
I release a long breath, exhausted by the prospect, but I begin.
“Okay, I didn’t know any of this at first, but Aunt Delilah has slowly filled me in.
From what I can figure out, Mom and Aubrey, Leon’s mother, were close in college.
They both married wealthy, but after school they lost touch when Holloway Architecture fell into financial trouble.
Mom once mentioned that Aubrey wanted Dad to join in on some business deal with Leon’s father, Leon Senior, but my dad turned it down.
That was before Colson, and well after, I don’t think my mom was in any shape to try to maintain friendships.
I believe Leon Senior passed last year and I’m guessing that’s when Aubrey got back in touch.
Mom always felt guilty for how things ended between her and Aubrey when the deal between the firms fell through. ”
“Why?” Jayce asks.
The question catches me off guard for a moment.
“Well… I guess she thought if they’d agreed to the deal, they wouldn’t have lost touch, like their friendship would have remained stronger or something.
Plus, I think now she believes it would’ve taken some of the stress off Leon Senior’s shoulders or something and maybe he’d still be here. I don’t know. It’s all weird to me.”
“So the deal fell through, and after years of not speaking, they suddenly reconnect only for the purpose of marrying Leon?” Jayce states, pushing the conversation forward.
I nod. “Yeah, pretty much. It’s pretty fucked up when you consider it all.”
“Yeah, it is.”
Silence stretches between us for a moment, but the knot in my stomach only twists tighter.
My fingers fidget together in my lap, the compulsion to bite my nails riding me hard. “There’s…more.”
Jayce’s gaze snaps back to me. “What do you mean, more?”
I hesitate for half a second before blurting it out. “He was texting me when I first got here, and then again once the photos of you came out. He kept saying things like we were meant to be together. That our families had already decided everything. That I was his first…stuff like that.”
Jayce’s jaw flexes.
“I blocked him,” I add quickly. “It just…freaked me out.”
“Good,” Jayce growls. “I’ll look into it myself. If he bothers you again, you tell me immediately. You should also think about getting a restraining order, especially for those times I’m not around.”
“Okay,” I agree, even as part of me feels sick at the thought of not having Jayce around. “I just hope he’s not at the heart disease gala later this month.”
“What gala?”
I shrug. “Oh, it’s a yearly fundraiser my family sponsors. Mom’s the chairwoman. It’s in New York.”
He looks thoughtful for a moment. “I’ll check my schedule. If I can go with you, I will. Run interference if Leon is there.”
Before I can say anything else, he wraps his arms around me again and hugs me. In the circle of his strong arms, I immediately relax. Jayce has my back. He’ll keep me safe.
After several moments, he leans back and smiles down at me. “Good. Now, how about I heat us up some food? You hungry?”
“Starving, actually,” I answer, only now realizing that I was so focused on work today that I skipped lunch. I’m surprised I still have an appetite after the Leon business.
Pressing another kiss to my lips, he lifts me off his lap and onto the couch next to him before he pushes to his feet. “All right, then.”
I watch him cross to the kitchen before I stand up as well and make my way over to the kitchen island, where I set up my laptop and sit down. While he heats up the food, I try to focus on work, but my mind wanders.
I can’t believe Leon came all this way. What is wrong with him?
How entitled can a person possibly be? It’s totally creepy to think of him skulking around, waiting for me.
Thank God Jayce was there when I needed him.
I can’t believe how much I trust him to take care of me…
how I kind of always have. Everything goes so quiet and calm when I’m around him, but is that naive of me?
There are still so many things about him I don’t know.
How can I trust someone I don’t really know?
My mind conjures up those photos his brother released. The ones of him at that club.
A sex club.
Curiosity gets the better of me and I look up at him.
For a moment, I watch him move around the kitchen.
The way his muscles move beneath his white t-shirt is mesmerizing, and the dark jeans he’s wearing go above and beyond in showing off his assets.
I bite my lip and clench my thighs together as my pussy pulses and my imagination starts to run away with itself.
I find myself wondering what Jayce is like in a sex club. How much more dominant and kinky he might be. The thought sends a warm shiver down my spine.
The truth is, a few months ago I never would have pictured myself thinking about things like this.
If someone had suggested I might be curious about any of it, I probably would have laughed it off.
It all would have sounded too intense, too unfamiliar, too far outside the neat, carefully controlled version of myself I’d always tried to maintain.
Jayce changed that, though. Not by pushing me or pressuring me, but by making me feel safe.
Safe enough to be curious, to ask questions, to explore, and to admit when something sparks a little thrill in my chest instead of pretending it doesn’t.
With him, nothing feels shameful or strange.
He looks at me like every reaction I have is completely normal, completely accepted.
Somehow that acceptance has opened a door inside me I didn’t even realize was there.
Clearing my throat, I choose my words carefully. “You know, I never asked you, how did your brother even get those photos? What is that place, anyway? The club?”
There’s a long moment where he doesn’t say anything and I think I might have crossed a line, but then he meets my gaze.
When he speaks, his voice is even, his words deliberate.
“Do you want me to show you?”