Chapter 36
Rachel: I need your signature on some final insurance forms for the match. Sorry it’s so last minute!
Jamie: Had to work. Can’t get away for a while.
Rachel: I’ll come to you.
Jamie
I’m standing on the front steps of a stately Malibu home when I see Rachel walking around the bend in the path, hurrying toward me. She’s holding several folders but manages to juggle them to the side and extract an arm so she can wave at me.
I wave back. When I met her, I thought she was cold and robotic. But since we’ve been working together on getting things ready for the boxing match, I’ve realized how wrong I was. She’s restrained, efficient, and capable, sure. But she’s loosened up a lot. Now I’d even call her a friend.
“Thanks for meeting me here,” I tell her when she gets close. “And for everything you’ve done to put the fight together. I can’t tell you how much Uncle Vito and I appreciate how hard you’ve worked.”
Her smile is small, but warm. “Actually, I’ve enjoyed it. Ethan was right, I love to organize things. Hopefully the event will run without a hitch.”
I cross my fingers. “Hopefully.”
“Why are you here?” she asks, looking up at the large house behind me.
“My new client is holed up in the house while her crazy stalker is in the wind. I’m coordinating around-the-clock protection for her, but one of the security guards didn’t turn up.
I’m only here until his replacement arrives.
” I glance over my shoulder at the security cameras I placed around the house.
“I told the client this place was hard to protect with so many obstructions blocking my line of sight, but she insisted she wanted to stay here.”
Rachel frowns, looking worried. “You’re not going to miss the fight, are you?”
I shake my head. “Gregory swore he’d be here soon. Once he turns up, I can leave.”
“Okay.” She gives me a relieved smile. “Good. I saw Ethan this morning, and he was more tense than he’s been in weeks.
” She leans in, clutching the folders to her chest. “Understandable, considering he’s about to get in the ring with Miles.
But honestly, I was worried about him. It almost seemed like the old Ethan was back. ”
I bite my lip, guilt flooding through me. Our argument had happened at the worst possible time, and I feel bad for walking out on him yesterday.
“The old Ethan?” I ask.
“Well, he’s so different since meeting you.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Different how?”
“You know. Less grumpy. Softer. Kinder. More thoughtful. You must have noticed how Ethan was changing?”
Frowning, I think back to when I first met him. “I think he has changed,” I say slowly. “I hadn’t realized it, but you’re right.” And she’s calling him Ethan now, not Mr. Kane. When did that happen?
She smiles. “It’s been nice watching it happen. And he’s a better boss now, so thank you. You’ve made my life easier.”
“Um. You’re welcome.” I blink at her, feeling overwhelmed as the realization sinks in. It’s funny, I’ve been so worried about Ethan changing me, I hadn’t even noticed I was changing him too.
After Kayla said he’d probably have trouble adjusting to living with me, I tried my hardest not to mess up his apartment.
But he never complained about the wet towels I accidentally left on the floor, or about watching movies with me instead of doing whatever he used to do before I came along.
He laughed off the crumbs in his bed, and made sure Marcus didn’t put walnuts or cauliflower in any of our meals after I mentioned not liking them.
He tried to make things as easy for me as he could, and I was too consumed by my fear of change to fully appreciate all the nice things he was doing.
And it was unfair of me to throw the gym renovations at him like an accusation. When I tried to give him all the money we got from the ticket sales, he waved me off and changed the subject. It’s like he doesn’t even want me to pay for all that work his team did.
Truth is, I over-reacted yesterday. Ethan deserved better. I should have stuck around and talked things through.
“Anyway,” Rachel says. “I need you to sign these forms.”
She pulls some papers from the top of the stack in her arms, then offers me one of the folders to put the paper on so I can scrawl my childish signature in the places she points to.
When I hand the forms and folder back, she juggles the other papers she’s holding to her other arm so she can take them.
A piece of paper slips out and falls to the ground, and she clicks her tongue. “Whoops.”
I pick the paper up. It’s thicker than regular paper, more like thin cardboard, and it’s square. On it, a short sentence is hand-written in neat capital letters: Big Day Today! Remember To Breathe.
“What’s this?” I frown at the card, and at her careful, perfect handwriting.
“Oh.” She laughs. “It’s a little embarrassing. Every day I write a note to myself. Sometimes it’s to set my intention for the day. Usually, I write something inspirational, but it depends what kind of mood I’m in.”
“Do you always use this kind of cardboard?”
She looks mildly puzzled by the question, but nods. “I’ll often prop it against my monitor so I can see it while I work. The card works for that.”
I level my gaze at her. “Did you write a note a few weeks ago that said you wanted to kill Ethan Kane?”
She flinches back, looking genuinely shocked. “Of course not!”
“Are you sure?” I find a photo on my phone and hold it up so she can see it. “Ethan’s security team found a piece of card just like this at his front door of his building. That’s why he hired me.”
She holds the papers with one arm and grips my hand to steady it so she can look at the photo.
Her fingers dig into my arm and the color drains from her face.
“Oh my God,” she whispers. “Is that the first threat they found?” She lets go of my arm to clap her hand to her mouth. Her eyes are wide with shock.
“It is,” I say sympathetically. Her reaction couldn’t possibly be faked, and it’s obvious she had no idea.
“When Steve told me Mr. Kane had received a death threat, I never imagined it was…” She breaks off, shaking her head. “If he’d shown it to me, I would have recognized it. I would have said something.”
“Why did you write it?”
She swallows, shifting the folders into her other arm.
“It was the first morning he was supposed to have boxing training with you.” Her voice has dropped.
It’s quiet and strained. “That was an awful day. There was a mess with Miles, and Ethan had to spend the day with the lawyers. He was grumpier than I’d ever seen him, and I had to rush around changing everything on his calendar, as well as making sure the lawyers had all the paperwork they needed.
Then Ethan asked me to cancel the charity boxing match and tell you he didn’t need your services.
You’d already been waiting a few hours by then.
He was so demanding, and I felt so fed up.
I was angry with him for letting people down and making me deliver the news. ”
I remember how cold she’d seemed when she told me Ethan wasn’t coming. Now that I know her, I understand that was her way of holding herself together and doing her job under difficult circumstances.
“So you wrote that you wanted to kill him.” I shoot her a smile, trying to reassure her. “Believe me, I get it. Totally understandable.”
“I was blowing off steam. I didn’t mean it, and I never meant for anyone to see it.”
“His security team thought someone had pushed it under the door. But you probably dropped it when you left the building.”
She’s still pale, and she looks like she might cry. “Ethan will fire me.”
“No.” I put my hand on her arm. “He won’t. Anyway, you don’t have to tell him. He thinks Ulrika’s bodyguard sent that note as well as the photos, and he’s decided not to take it any further. He just wants to drop the whole thing and pretend like it never happened.”
“You really think I should keep this from him?”
I shrug. “Honestly, he might even see the funny side. But I’ll let you decide. One thing I do know is that he values you and doesn’t want to lose you. There’s no way he’s going to fire you.”
She finally gives me a weak smile. “Thank you, Jamie.” She sighs. “I’d better get these papers to the insurance company, then go to the gym and make sure everything’s ready for tonight.”
“Okay. I’ll be there soon to help.”
She nods, and hurries back down the path.
I watch her go, relieved that the full mystery is finally solved.
But where the hell is Gregory? I can’t let Rachel do everything on her own today, and Uncle Vito will get flustered if I’m not there.
I check the time on my phone. The fight starts at six, and it’s already two o’clock. I need to talk to Ethan and make sure he’s okay, and I want to do it in person and apologize for rushing off yesterday. Whatever issues we still need to resolve, he can’t let it distract him from the fight.
When I look up from my phone, I see a man striding around the bend in the path. Thank goodness. Gregory’s late, but at least he’s here.
Weirdly, he’s not wearing his suit jacket, but a black hoodie.
Wait. Why the hell is Gregory holding his gun like that? He has it in his hand, rushing at me with it ready to fire. I drop my phone and grab for my own firearm, but it’s too late, he’s already too close, his gun aimed directly at me.
My heart stutters.
It’s not Gregory.
It’s the stalker.
An icy wave washes through me and my brain empties of everything except one fact.
His gun is pointed at my chest, and there’s no way I can draw my firearm before he shoots me.
Slowly, deliberately, I take my fingers off my gun handle and raise both hands in the air. “Hey,” I say in a soothing tone. “No need for that. Let’s take it down a notch, okay?”
“Get out of my way, bitch,” the stalker snarls. “You’re fucking dead!”
Gregory appears behind the man, coming into view on the path. He stops dead when he sees us. His eyes dart between the stalker and me, taking in the gun.
The stalker doesn’t look around. He doesn’t seem to have heard him approach or have any idea Gregory is behind him.
Gregory unbuttons his suit jacket and eases his gun out of his shoulder holster.
“Let’s talk about this,” I say, talking loudly to cover any noise and keep the stalker’s attention on me. “We can work something out, right? It doesn’t need to get messy.”
Gregory brings his gun up and points it at the back of the stalker’s head. “Drop the gun!” he shouts.
The stalker’s eyes widen. His finger squeezes the trigger.
It seems to happen in slow motion, but before I can dive to the side, I hear the sharp crack of his gun going off.
Pain sears through me and the force of the bullet striking me launches me backward.
As the ground slams up to meet me, I think how stupid I was not to wear a bulletproof vest today. I was distracted and in a hurry, and I left it behind. I should have listened to Ethan. Been more careful. But now it’s too late.
Another gunshot rings out. I think it must be from Gregory’s gun, and he’s probably taken down the stalker, but I can’t lift my head to check.
The pain is intense, and my body is suddenly freezing.
Closing my eyes, I hear Gregory cursing. He drops to his knees beside me, yanks his phone out and calls for an ambulance.
God, it hurts. It hurts so bad.