le. Her vision blurred. The humiliation was a physi
se sparked. A raw, desperate fury.
and burst through the café door. She saw him a hundred f
him, her low-heeled boots click
ut her voice was swall
ramp into the garage. The air sme
a sleek black Porsch
an,
was glacial. "I believe our business is conc
. That final disregard br
bbed his sleeve, fingers d
h word with chilling precision. "This
lly constructed facade she'
tracking clean paths
nymore. I'm in trouble. Jake... he's not who I thought
speration, her fear, her foolish plan
ard lines of his face seemed
her tears track through the grime on her face, he felt something he hadn't felt in years. Not sympathy. He didn't do sympathy. Something mo
seemed to be fightin
is thumb brushed away a tear from
dn't touch people. He managed them, assessed them, dismissed them. He didn't reach for them in parking garages because
an Reynolds didn't have gentle moments. They had strategies. She just couldn't figure out what his was. And that not-knowing was more dangerous than any cruelty he'd shown her so far. Cruelty she could predict. This-the
hifted be
UN
uiet. Someone had slammed their
amed, spinn
"I knew it," he snarled, pointing a trembling finger at Kassie. "Yo
ed towa
assie behind him with one hand while the other
ying whisper. "You will get in your car and drive away. And
went out of him, replaced
at Kassie, but his eyes w
ful shove. Jake stumbled back, ki
his car sped up the ramp. The
the side of the Porsche, arms wrappe
was gone, replaced by ice. He looked down at her with
his hallway. But as he watched her tremble against his car, the clinical detachment he relied on refused to come. S
he passenger side and
t i
e wheel, never once looking at her. The
building, he left the engine run
glove co
small white p
ke
d the bag
left h
ce. "Make sure you clean up any poten
e end. That wa
led out, slamming it behind her. Th
de down the side of his car, when he'd felt her tear against his thumb, he'd known he would give it to her tonight. Not because she was a loose end. Because she was bec
that seeped into your bones and made you forget the difference between anger and surrender. He'd protected her. He'd humiliated her. He'd done both in the span
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