Chapter 24 The Shadow
THE SHADOW
KAIDEN
The glow of my phone screen is the only light in the car. The investigator's report is brief. A grainy photo of Emma walking into The Movement Studio after work. An update that she left fifteen minutes ago. Another photo of her chatting with a brunette outside.
I told her I would wait for her to come to me.
I'm a liar.
II watch her building from across the street, engine off.
I know exactly what this makes me. Controlling.
Paranoid. The kind of man my father would approve of.
I've been burned too many times to take chances.
Brianna played me for years. My own family turned my trust into a weapon.
I want to believe Emma is different. I want to believe she's real.
Trust doesn't come easy, and I can't bear to walk away. So I watch.
A figure moves in the darkness of her entryway. Pulse picks up. Not Emma. A man. He's leaning against the brickwork with a proprietary slouch, like he has every right to be there.
I watch him. No one comes out to meet him. He doesn't leave.
Emma turns the corner. She's walking with a lightness that loosens something in my chest. Hair tied back, gym clothes, small smile on her face. The sight of her makes it easier to breathe.
Then she stops.
The man steps out of the shadows.
Emma's whole body changes. She recoils. Keys slip from her fingers, hit the concrete with a sharp clatter. She shrinks, trying to disappear into herself.
I'm out of the car before I've decided to move.
“Get away from me, James.” Her voice carries through the quiet air. Brittle. Shaking.
I close the distance fast. He lunges, snatches her upper arm, fingers digging in hard enough to yank her toward him. Emma gasps, twists to break free.
“She told you to get away.”
James spins around. Shorter than me, wiry, with the look of a man who builds himself up by tearing others down. He takes in my suit, the car behind me. Expression shifts to something practiced. Charming, almost.
“Hey, no need for hostility.” He holds up his hands, smiling like we're old friends. “I'm just trying to talk to my girlfriend. Emma and I go way back. She gets emotional sometimes, you know how women are.” He glances at her. “Em, tell your friend everything's fine. You're making a scene.”
Emma is frozen. Mouth opens but nothing comes out.
“She's not your girlfriend,” I say. “And she asked you to leave.”
His smile falters. “Look, I don't know what she's told you, but Emma has a history of exaggerating. She's fragile. She needs someone who understands her.” He reaches past me toward her shoulder. “Come on, Em. Let's go inside and talk like adults—“
I catch his wrist mid-air and squeeze until I feel the bones shift under my grip. James's face goes white, then red.
“You think the suit means I won't get my hands dirty?” I say slowly, leaning close so only he can hear. “Touch her again, and you won't use this hand for anything more complicated than holding a cup.”
I shove him back. He stumbles, eyes wide. He expected a businessman. Someone who'd threaten lawyers and walk away. He didn't expect this.
“You're crazy,” he spits, rubbing his wrist. He looks at Emma, then back at me. His mask cracks, and the real James surfaces. “Fine. Keep her. She's a broken mess anyway. You'll get tired of fixing her eventually. You’ll beg me to take her back.”
He turns and walks away. Fast. Uneven.
I don't watch him go. I turn to Emma. She's pale, trembling against the wall.
“I'm fine,” she chokes out.
I crouch, pick up her keys. Press them into her palm, let my hand linger.
“I'm taking you inside.”
I walk her to her door. Check the locks. Scan every corner of her studio. Once I'm sure she's safe, I pull out my phone.
“Rex. It's Rhodes. I need that favor we discussed. Security detail. Discreet but solid.”
Rex's gravelly voice confirms the Iron Wolves will have someone in place by morning.
I hang up, look at Emma. She's sitting on the sofa, staring at nothing.
“You don't have to be afraid,” I say. “He's not getting close to you again.”
She looks up at me. Eyes wet, but she's fighting it. “I'm okay. I just wasn't expecting him to find me here.”
She starts to stand. Her knees buckle. I catch her elbows before she can fall. She doesn't pull away. Instead, she leans into me, forehead against my chest. A sob breaks loose, then another.
“He called me broken,” she whispers. “He always said that. He spent years making me believe I was nothing without him. I worked so hard to get away, to build something new, and he just shows up and—“ Her voice cracks. “It all disappears.”
I pull her close. I want to tell her she's the strongest woman I've met. I want to tell her James is a coward who only feels big by making others small. Instead, I hold her until the shaking slows.
“I lost people, Kai,” she says, muffled against my shirt. “My family. I don't have anyone left. He knew that. He used it.”
I close my eyes, rest my chin on her head. I already knew. Maddox's background check mentioned the accident, but reading a file isn't the same as hearing her voice break.
“You're not alone anymore,” I murmur, stroking her hair. “I'm here. I'm not going anywhere.”
She pulls back. Face flushed, tear-streaked. Exhausted.
“Will you stay? Just tonight?” She swallows. “I don't want to be alone here.”
“I'm staying,” I say. It's the easiest decision I've ever made. “I'm not leaving until you tell me to.”
I walk her to her bedroom door, wait until she's inside. Then I settle onto the small sofa. I don't sleep. I sit in the dark, eyes on the door, listening to her breathing settle into a steady rhythm.
I think about all the ways I'm going to make James pay for what he did to her.