Chapter 15 Harper
Harper
It wasn’t fair.
It wasn’t fair that Chad cheated.
It wasn’t fair that the first chance I got to claw myself out of rock-bottom, I got matched with my boss.
And it was really not fair that my heart wouldn’t stop racing every time he got close. Like it was trying to break out of my chest just to reach him.
Did Chad ever make me feel like this?
Did he ever trace his fingers along my skin like it mattered? Like I mattered?
Did he ever whisper quiet, intoxicating things to me while making me coffee in his kitchen—blindfolded, no less?
No.
Chad had never looked at me like I was dangerous. Or precious. Or both.
He had never made my knees weak with a whisper.
He had never made silence feel safe. Or sensual. Or like it might swallow me whole if I wasn’t careful.
Ambrose was the first person who didn’t ask me to smile through it. He was the first one who saw through my silence and didn’t back away.
And somehow, that was even more terrifying than being left.
Because I knew that he was something I could never have.
I leaned forward, resting my head against my steering wheel, ignoring the fact that I was in my work parking lot.
“God, Harper,” I whispered. “You really did it this time.”
Then—
Bam!
The jarring sound of a palm slamming against glass. I screamed, jerking upright—
And my stomach plummeted.
Chad.
His face was flushed deep red, his features twisted in rage, contorted like I’d never seen before. He slammed his hand against my windshield again, louder this time, more threatening.
“Get the fuck out of your car, Harp! Now!”
My breath caught, panic coiling in my throat.
Because this man—the one who broke me—he was not done.
And the worst part was, he’d never looked more unrecognizable than he did in this moment.
My hands began to tremble as I reached for the handle.
He can’t do this.
Not here.
Not at my work.
I released a breath, doing my best to steady my heart as I opened the door, stepping out onto the pavement.
“Chad you can’t be here—”
He grabbed my wrist, cutting me off as he wrenched me forward.
“You know I thought you were fucking crazy when you tossed the ring. But you keyed my fucking car? How can you be that fucking stupid. It cost more money than you’ve made in your entire fucking life.”
Tears welled in my eyes as I pulled back against his hold, his hands crushing my wrist.
“Chad, please,” I gasped, “you’re hurting me—”
Not just my wrist, but everything. The pieces I’d just begun to glue back together… they were splintering all over again. Like I had made no progress, like Chad would always be there, poisoning any growth I made.
He pulled harder on my wrist causing me to stumble forward as he turned to look at me, grabbing my face in his hands, pressing on my jaw.
It hurts.
It fucking hurts.
“Now is when you shut the fuck up and get in my fucking car. Do you understand?”
Tears finally began to fall down my cheeks, leaving wet streaks as they trailed over his fingers and down his wrist.
“Do you know how easy you had it?” he snarled. “All you had to do was stay home, look pretty, and eventually be a fucking mother. That’s it. But no. You couldn’t give me that. You had to ruin it. You had to ruin me.”
His words cracked against me like a whip.
“You know men have needs, Harp. Biologically, we’re wired differently. We weren’t made to stay with just one woman.”
I wanted to scream. I wanted to run.
But I was paralyzed.
“I hate you,” I managed to choke out.
Before Chad could react, a blur of white and gray barreled into him, ripping his hands away from me as he was tackled to the ground.
I stumbled back from the force, falling on my ass.
Looking up, I saw Ambrose was now on top of Chad, punching him in the face. One blow after another he growled as his fist connected with Chad’s jaw, a grotesque wet cracking sound drowning everything else out.
Chad fumbled to push Ambrose off, but the man was a solid, immovable wall of muscle. He was solid and unrelenting.
He was every bit of rage I felt.
“Ambrose,” I said in a throaty whisper.
He didn’t stop. He just kept hitting him. Over and over again.
“Ambrose, stop,” I said again, this time louder as I scrambled to my feet.
Finally when he stopped, leaving Chad a broken and bloody mess, he stood up but didn’t face me.
“Never touch her again. Never come near her again,” he growled, his hands dipping into his pocket, pulling out his wallet.
“If I ever catch your scent upon my Flower again, I will show you the meaning of hell.” Ambrose tossed a business card on the ground next to Chad’s face. “Feel free to contact legal.”
I froze.
My breath caught in my throat as I stared at his back.
Flower.
Fucking Flower.
“You—” my voice cracked, like the final piece of whatever held me together finally shattered. “You called me your Flower?”
Ambrose turned slowly, his eyes widening as his brows pinched together in worry.
“You knew.” The words fell from my lips without effort. “Please, tell me I am wrong. Tell me I am wrong… and I will believe you. Okay?”
More tears began to slip free, my lips quivering as I searched his eyes for any hint of denial.
But he didn’t answer.
Oh my god.
Oh my god.
My hands balled into fists at my sides, trembling.
“You pretended not to know… all those nights, all that time—” My voice cracked again, a sob ripping from my throat but I didn’t care.
“You knew. And you let me think I was just some random fucking call girl, some—some—S-S—” I choked on my own words, unable to catch my breath.
Ambrose took a step toward me, but I backed up, holding out my hand.
“Harper, I—”
“Was it fun seeing me struggle? Seeing your fucking assistant, so desperate to move on from her cheating ex-fiancé, that she was willing to join a fucking app to sell herself to whatever rich guy willing to pay? It must have been so amusing…”
I could feel the anger rising like a tidal wave, crashing against the dam of my self-control.
I knew he was not the only one at fault.
But I couldn’t stop.
“All those lies, Ambrose. All the things you said to me… you knew. You knew who I was. And you let me feel things for you. Let me believe—”
I choked on the words.
Ambrose’s eyes glazed over, his mouth opening and closing as if wanting to speak.
“I—” He reached out like he wanted to touch me, his fists bruised and cut but I flinched, taking another step back.
“Don’t touch me.” The words were harsh, the edge of my anger cutting deep into the fraught silence between us. “Just… just don’t touch me anymore.”
“I love you,” he blurted out, the words hanging between us.
“What?”
“I… love you, Harper.”
“Don’t do that. Don’t you dare put that on me, Ambrose. You can’t tell me you love me when you kept me hidden in your house like a dirty secret. Never meeting anywhere else. Never being seen with me.”
Tears burned down my cheeks.
For a moment, he looked like he wanted to deny it. His hands reflexively opened and closed at his sides, his eyes desperately searching mine.
“And I get it,” I added, voice shaking with bitterness.
“I’m a fucking mess. What would people think, right?
What would the board of directors say? The tabloids?
Fuck, what would Patrick fucking James write?
Poor, broken Harper—sleeping with her boss for a few dollars.
And Ambrose the boss who fucks his assistant.
” I laughed. Empty and gutted by my own breathing. “I am so fucking stupid!”
And with that, I turned and got into my car, leaving him standing in the parking lot.
And I didn’t stop.
Not when he called after me. Not when my hands shook on the steering wheel. Not even when I nearly missed my exit.
I drove like I was trying to outrun what I felt.
Everything felt as though it were a blur.
Like it wasn’t real.
When I got to Damien’s, I walked straight into his apartment and collapsed onto the couch.
Everything was a blur.
I wasn’t even sure I had made it here. It didn’t feel real.
Damien didn’t ask questions. He just lowered himself to the floor beside me and waited.
“I’m a mess,” I sobbed, collapsing into myself. “I’m s-such a f-fucking mess.”
“You’re not a mess, Harp,” he said gently. I could barely see him through the tears, but I noticed the way his ears flattened. The way his tail curled tightly around himself, like he was trying to anchor us both.
“I trusted him,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “I trusted him so much. I… I loved—”
“I know,” he whispered back.
And then he was just there.
Holding space.
Holding me.
While I fell apart. Again.
I am such a burden.