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L evi ground his teeth when Sara slipped away from him, and he watched her until she disappeared back inside the building before turning to Rebecca Cox.

He hadn’t seen her since she’d gone abroad a few years ago. With her light brown hair, curvy figure, and brown eyes, Rebecca was probably beautiful to some.

But not to him. Now when he saw her, he only saw the calculation behind the artful facade.

“I can’t believe you’re here.” Her smile was tentative.

“I’ll bet,” he said with heavy sarcasm.

Rebecca Cox had walked away with money his father had given her and she hadn’t once looked back.

Levi stepped past her, but she latched onto his bicep with both hands. Rather than send her to the pavement, he shot her a narrowed-eyed glare.

“I’m sorry.” She bit her lip, and Levi smirked.

When Rebecca bit her lip, it was cunning and used for seduction purposes. It was completely opposite to when Sara bit her lip. Sara chewed her bottom lip when she was nervous or shy.

“I’ve been wanting to call you for a long time,” Rebecca said.

“Oh, really now.” His tone suggested she was a liar.

“I have. I just…didn’t know what to say.”

“After taking my dad’s money and leaving me at the altar, what could you say?” His lip curled.

“It wasn’t at the altar.” Rebecca flushed and he pulled his arm from her tight grip.

“Two days before the wedding, it might as well have been the altar.”

Levi walked toward the building and she hurried along beside him.

“I…still love you!”

He spun around so fast, she plowed into him, but he didn’t catch her when she stumbled back.

“Save it. You made your choice the moment you took the money and boarded that plane.”

“But I came back,” she insisted with desperation in her voice, making the words come out higher.

“And it looks like you’ve done very well for yourself.” He ran his eyes over the two bodyguards following her and the gown she wore that probably cost as much as Sara’s dress.

Rebecca flushed and glanced away, wringing her hands.

He hadn’t minded that Rebecca hadn’t been wealthy. He hadn’t minded that she hadn’t been born with a silver spoon in her mouth. What he did mind was her betraying his trust over money.

“It’s not like that…” she begged.

Levi kept walking, he didn’t need to stay and listen to anymore of her bullshit. He would never forget the moment she had taken his father’s money and left him.

“Levi! This is not only my fault!” Rebecca called after him, but he didn’t stop.

She had been a momentary lapse in judgment, and he had made a serious mistake by proposing to her.

Rebecca was as shallow as a puddle , he reminded himself.

But she was also right… their failed relationship had been his fault. For one, he had been neglectful. He had been gone for long periods of time and left her alone. Could he really blame her for taking the easy way out?

She had taught him a valuable lesson. Marriage and a family were not in the cards for him.

Rebecca hadn’t been the first heart he’d broken through the years, but she had been the last.

And he vowed never again.

Sara had bolted from Levi and the woman who had called his name so intimately.

The tall brunette wore a shimmering white ball gown, and two bodyguards stood nearby.

Refusing to look back, her eyes burned from unshed tears, and she wasn’t even sure why she wanted to cry.

Levi was a heartbreak waiting to happen.

And she had bigger things to worry about, one of them being she had yet to start her period.

Sara stepped into the elevator and punched the 10 th floor button.

Damn it, her life was screwed up and she had nobody to blame but herself. At this rate, she should have stayed in Seattle and dealt with the fallout from her relationship with a stalker and killer.

That seemed much safer than falling for a hero who didn’t love her. She could read the writing on the wall and suddenly wished for her girlfriends.

Her best friends were her safety net, her security bedrock. And she felt adrift without them. Of course, Ana flew all over the United States and Carla lived back East, but at least she had more chances to see them when she lived in Seattle.

Here, she had nobody. Even Mandy didn’t know who she really was or of her past.

The elevator doors dinged, and she stepped out into the 10 th floor lobby before hurrying to the restroom to reapply her lipstick and fix her hair.

Levi’s hand had fisted her curls and the back of her hair was mussed. She hadn’t minded when Levi manhandled her. His grip and touch felt nothing like the men who’d attacked her Tuesday night outside of the lounge.

Studying her reflection, she tsk-tsked to herself.

Her lips were swollen and her cheeks flushed from Levi’s kisses. With a trembling hand, she reapplied her lipstick and washed her hands.

She found Kevin in the crowd of noisy laughter talking to Chester, a man who frequented the club. According to Kevin, Chester had been the guy who got them invites to the party tonight.

Kevin placed an arm around her shoulders, and for once, she didn’t pull away.

“Chester, you remember Sara.”

“Hello, Sara.”

The man’s smile didn’t reach his eyes, but some people were just like that. He didn’t reach out a hand, so neither did she. He gave her a weird, satisfied, smarmy smile.

“Nice to see you again,” Sara lied and then turned her gaze elsewhere.

She couldn’t pinpoint why, but the guy gave her an uneasy feeling. Like the creeps. The man just felt wrong to her.

Rather than return to the event upstairs, Levi slid into the back of the limousine and shot a text to Nash.

He fisted his hands. Damn it, he couldn’t be two feet from Sara and not want to jump her bones. The attraction between them was insane, and if Rebecca hadn’t shown up, who knows what the hell he might have done.

Perhaps he would have held Sara against the concrete building, lifted her dress, peeled her panties down and—. He cut off his thoughts and adjusted his dick.

One thing he knew was going to happen, tonight he was going to find out where Sara lived.

Once he had her address, then she would have no hope of escaping him.

No, not him, it was her family. That was the main reason he was there, he reminded himself.

Which brought up the question…why were the Joneses so gung-ho on bringing Sara home when she seemed to be doing fine right where she was.

There had to be more to it.

His palms tingled and his hands felt empty after caressing her curves.

It was times like this that he regretted he’d quit smoking.