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“Jude,” I croak out in a ragged tremble. “Thank—”

“Running away already?” Jude demands, body vibrating with anger.

What?

“I thought I made it clear the library was your new office. Where you’d take your meetings from here on out,” Jude bites out. “And the car was a test. You failed.”

Fear. Relief. Confusion.

My emotions are run through the gamut, settling on anger.

“Excuse me?” I say, seething.

“You heard me.” Jude releases me like my skin is on fire. He takes a step back before crossing his muscular arms over his chest. “Explain yourself.”

Indignation detonates a bomb inside me. I’m no longer afraid or relieved. I want to punch this big idiot in his Michael Myers face!

“Unbelievable.”

“My thoughts exactly,” he says dryly. “I knew this was all a game.”

Unable to hold back, I take a step toward him, poking him in his rock-hard chest. “You, Jude, are out of line right now.”

He makes a chuffing sound of disbelief. “That makes two of us.”

“No. It makes one of us. You. I came out here to fetch groceries for Violet. When I saw my car had been moved, it freaked me out considering I have the keys in my bedroom!” My voice turns shrill and I can feel the hysteria clogging my throat. “Excuse me if I was having a moment of panic!”

He doesn’t move or say anything. Probably because he knows he’s being an idiot.

“I guess I’m just a captive here, huh?” I demand. “Is that what this is? And here I thought an actual human lived underneath that mask!”

I’m being mean and completely unprofessional, but he’s pushed me over the edge.

“Captive?” Jude snorts. “With the money my father pays you, you’re hardly a captive, Tate. You’re a scammer.”

A scammer?

“I’m not a scammer,” I huff.

“And you’re not a captive,” he throws back.

“Well, you’re still a dick,” I growl. “You bring in the groceries. I need a minute to breathe before I have my first meeting this morning.”

He steps aside but doesn’t apologize for overreacting.Not that it’s his place to micromanage me anyway.I know this job is worth a bunch of money, but is it worth losing my own sanity over?

I’m attracted to Jude, yes.

But he also slightly terrifies me and really pisses me off.

I wasn’t lying when I told Dempsey I fall for toxic men. I’m seeing similar patterns with how hard I fell into Sean’s overbearing grip.

That won’t happen again.

It can’t.

I refuse to let it.

Battling my warring emotions, I storm inside, ignoring the taunting scent of bacon. I stomp up the stairs like a child to grab my notebook, where I’d written everyone’s meetings for the week. By the time I get back downstairs, Jude is carrying in the groceries. I refuse to help him and escape to the library. On the table beside where I sat last night is a steaming mug of coffee and a hot breakfast sandwich. At least Violet is a ray of sunshine in this shit-smeared hellscape I’ve found myself in.