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Through great effort, my lips stretched to an upward tilt. “Oryou’vemissed me, Jasper?” I spoke in a sultry tone. There was a fight to be fought here, and I had to do it smartly. As much as the idea of being seductive toward Jasper when Elliot’s scent and warmth still clung to me repulsed me.
Though I really, really didn’t want to get any closer to him, I rounded the counter, sauntering toward him, aware of how little I was wearing—just a workout bra and leggings.
Jasper turned his body to face my approach, his expression blank, but I didn’t miss the flare in his nostrils.
“You have missed me.” I clutched the lapels of his blazer, almost expecting it to coat my fingers in blood.
Jasper was impeccably groomed, not a speck of blood near him. He was always that way, even if he had just murdered someone ten minutes ago. He barely broke a sweat when he fucked me. Always so controlled. So emotionally distant. But none of that had stopped me reaching for him, had it? And I’d gotten proverbial blood all over my hands in the process, blood I was still trying to wash off.
“I get it.” I fluttered my eyelashes. “No one else measures up to me. You have to resort to stalking methods in order to have a conversation with me.” I hovered close to him, not willing to brush my body with his. “Unfortunately, that ship has sailed.” I dusted an imaginary fleck of dust from his lapel before stepping back.
“I haven’t missed you.” It was cruel, but cruelty was the only language I spoke. The only one he understood. “And I haven’t missed my work. Which is done with.” I made my tone inflexible.
“You’re not done, Calliope,” he said softly. “With your work. Or with me.”
I squared my shoulders. Apparently, a battle with Jasper was going to be my warmup for the kickboxing class I’d signed up for.
Before I could open my mouth and let out a thorned insult, my cell phone rang. I glanced at the screen, my body tensing as I read ‘Maybe Beau Shaw’ on the screen.
There was no reason for Beau Shaw to be calling me at 6:00 in the morning. Unless it was bad news.
Eyes on Jasper, I lifted the phone to my ear and answered. “What happened?” I forced calm into my voice because I didn’t want Jasper to have the satisfaction of seeing me panic and because I didn’t want there to be a reason to panic. Something could warrant the call that wasn’t a disaster.
But the second Beau spoke, I knew it was nothing less than catastrophe.
I froze as I listened to the person on the other end of the phone. The words.
Elliot. Fire. Accident. Hospital.
There were details padding the information, but I could barely hear them through the clamor in my ears.
I hung up the phone, staring at Jasper whose face was impassive. As it always was. But right then, I wanted to tear that blank look right off his fucking face.
“Elliot’s on the way to the hospital.” I was struggling to remain calm.
Jasper’s expression did not change. “Dangerous job. Putting out fires.”
I stepped forward. I wasn’t armed, wasn’t equipped to go up against someone as dangerous as Jasper, but with the acidic fury smoldering through me, I might have had a fighting chance. “A fireyouset.”
A glint of something flashed in his eyes. Satisfaction. Warning. “Not as dangerous as thinking that something I own is his.”
I was thankful for the comment because it meant rage spewed up from inside me, overwhelming the terror I felt for Elliot.
I took another step forward, endorphins flooding my system, hands fisted, ready to plow through his face. “You do not own me,” I snarled. “Nor does he. But I am his. Simply because he does notwantto own me.” I took another step forward. Our bodies were almost brushing, my chin tilted upward to meet his gaze. There was nothing intimate about my stance, though. I wanted to be as close to him as possible so he could see my eyes. See the truth in them.
“If Elliot does not walk out of that hospital whole and healthy, I am going to end you.” It was a promise I intended to keep. “I am going to ensure that your death is long, painful and humiliating, and I will bury you myself before I spit on your grave. I promise you that. I vow that to you. And regardless of what happens to Elliot, this is the last time I’ll ever lay eyes on you again.”
I didn’t break eye contact, taking him in. The man I had once thought I loved. The monster I’d thought was a monster to everyone but me.
Yet that was the thing with monsters… They eventually hurt everyone, even the ones they pretended to love.
Nothing moved on his face, but I felt it. I felt the words hit home as I watched understanding dawn behind his eyes. That I’d slipped from his grasp because he only knew how to squeeze the life out of things.
For a split second, he looked scared. Vulnerable. He looked like the boy I’d once known, the one who read Harlequin andTolstoy, whose favorite film wasMy Girl, who did yoga, and held my hand in the moonlight.
For a split second, I felt guilt. Felt pain. For that boy I had loved. Who I believed was still inside of Jasper.
But only for a split second. Because that boy was dead. And even if he wasn’t, Elliot mattered more to me than he ever would.