Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Summer
The sting on my cheek was still burning, but the pain barely registered.
Anger coursed through my veins, hot and unrelenting, as I stared at the man in front of me, refusing to back down.
The park, once filled with laughter and the hum of conversation, had gone eerily quiet.
People were watching, their curious whispers swirling around us like a growing storm.
But none of them mattered. Right now, it was just me and him.
I squared my shoulders, my voice sharp and steady despite the lingering shock. "Did that make you feel like a big man?"
The man scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest, a sneer twisting his lips as his eyes raked over me. "You should learn when to keep your mouth shut, sweetheart."
The word made my skin crawl. His tone, condescending and laced with arrogance, set my teeth on edge.
I let out a slow breath, steadying myself, my pulse hammering against my ribs.
"You just hit a woman in front of a child," I stated, voice like steel.
"And now you’re standing here like you deserve a trophy for it? "
A few murmurs rippled through the small crowd that had gathered. Some people looked disgusted, others uncertain, but I could feel the shift in the air. They were paying attention now.
His sneer deepened, eyes narrowing as if he couldn’t believe I was still talking. "Maybe next time, you won’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong."
I let out a sharp, humorless laugh, folding my arms. "So, what? You were going to hit a ten-year-old instead?" My voice rose slightly, heated, unrestrained. "Is that how you get your kicks? Picking fights with people smaller than you?"
His face darkened. He took a step forward, his sheer size looming over me, but I didn’t flinch. I refused to give him the satisfaction.
"You don’t know who you’re talking to," he muttered, his voice lower now, quieter, but somehow even more dangerous.
My stomach twisted at the certainty in his tone, but I kept my expression blank. "And you don’t scare me," I shot back, though I wasn’t sure if that was entirely true anymore.
That was when I saw it.
The shift in his posture, the way his anger didn’t explode like before but instead cooled into something worse.
Something calculating. His sneer curled into a slow, knowing smirk, his gaze dipping slightly before settling on the logo embroidered on my shirt—the insignia of the social services office I worked for.
My pulse quickened.
Something about the way he stared at it, his lips twitching like he had just uncovered something amusing, sent a chill down my spine.
"You have no idea who you just messed with," he murmured, shaking his head, his voice laced with something close to pity.
I swallowed hard, refusing to show even a flicker of doubt. "Then why don’t you enlighten me?"
He chuckled, shaking his head as if the answer was too obvious. "You don’t recognize me, do you?" His eyes gleamed with something dangerous, something almost mocking.
I studied him carefully, every detail of his face, the way he carried himself. There was something familiar, though I couldn’t place it. Then he smirked wider, and it clicked.
He wasn’t just some random aggressive guy at the park.
He was someone with power.
My stomach clenched as realization dawned. The way he carried himself, the arrogance, the smug assurance that nothing could touch him. I had seen it before, heard whispers about men like him, the ones who thought the rules didn’t apply to them because of who their families were.
He saw the recognition flicker in my eyes, and his smirk widened.
"There it is," he murmured, tilting his head. "Took you long enough."
I felt my hands curl into fists, nails digging into my palms. "Who are you?"
His smirk never wavered. "Let’s just say my father runs things around here."
My heart sank.
A politician’s son.
It explained everything—the entitlement, the confidence, the absolute certainty that he could do whatever the hell he wanted and get away with it.
A slow, sickening feeling crawled over me as his smirk turned into a full grin, his voice dropping lower so only I could hear.
"You just made a very, very stupid mistake."
I swallowed, ignoring the icy knot in my stomach, keeping my expression steady even as dread curled around my spine. "Threatening a social worker in public? Bold move. Almost like you think you’re untouchable."
His eyes glinted with amusement. "That’s because I am."
His voice was casual, too casual, as if he were simply stating a fact. And the worst part? He believed it.
"You should be careful," he continued, rocking back on his heels, his smirk never fading. "People like you… they tend to regret pissing off the wrong people."
Something in the way he said it, the calm, assured way he spoke, made my blood run cold.
"What’s that supposed to mean?" I asked, my voice quieter now, my anger still burning but laced with something else. Wariness.
His smirk widened. "You’ll find out soon enough."
A sharp exhale left my lips, my hands tightening at my sides. I wanted to argue, wanted to tell him he was full of shit, but deep down, something told me he wasn’t bluffing.
And then, without another word, he turned and walked away.
I stood frozen in place, heart still hammering, my pulse loud in my ears. The weight of the moment settled over me like a dark cloud, but I forced myself to shake it off. There was no way in hell I was going to let someone like him intimidate me.
I turned back toward Jake, ready to tell him that we were leaving, that we had spent enough time in this damn park. But as my eyes scanned the spot where he had been standing?—
He was gone.
Panic surged through me so fast, so violently, that my breath caught in my throat. My heart stopped, then slammed into overdrive.
I turned sharply, scanning the crowd, looking left and right, my mind racing too fast to process anything else.
"Jake?"
My voice was hoarse, but there was no answer.
"Jake!"
Louder this time, sharper, panic creeping into my tone as I pushed past people, searching, scanning, praying to see that small frame, that familiar hoodie.
Nothing.
I pivoted again, eyes darting across the park, a sick feeling growing in my stomach, the fear climbing higher and higher, suffocating me.
He was gone.
And just like that, the uneasy feeling I had before turned into something far worse.
Pure, gut-wrenching terror.