Page 171 of Meet Me In The Dark

“You fucking bitch.” The words are spit, not spoken. His eyes lock on me like I’ve just pulled the rug out from under him.

I tilt my head, all polite curiosity. “Come again?”

“Know anything about Blackwood & Calloway Holdings buying my company this morning?” His tone is venomous.

I have no idea what he’s talking about, but I don’t tell him that.

Instead, I let one shoulder lift in the faintest shrug. “I couldn’t possibly keep up with all of Julian Blackwood’s business decisions.”

Kingsley’s nostrils flare and his face is a shade of red that looks medically unsafe.

He starts pacing, muttering incoherent fragments about vultures, traitors, and deals going sour under his breath.

Then he snaps.

With a violent sweep of his arm, he sends everything on my desk crashing to the floor.

I stand and smooth my skirt. Security’s more than likely already on their way, and for his sake, they better hurry.

I take a slow step toward him. “He warned you not to come near me again, Kingsley. Did you honestly think he wouldn’t know you were here this morning?”

For a second, he looks like he’s struggling to catch his breath. Then something ugly twists across his face.

“You mean your guard dog?” he sneers. “Blackwood’s nothing but a thug in a suit. Dragged up in some foster care gutter, probably still smells like it. Men like him—”

“Men like him,” I cut in sharply, “built themselves from nothing. Men like him didn’t need to prey on people weaker than them to get ahead. Heearnedwhat he has. You? You leeched off better minds until you ran out of them.”

I lean against my desk. “You want to talk about Julian? He’s dangerous, yes. Not because of where he came from. He’s dangerous because he’s smarter than you, stronger than you, and he has more power in his little finger than you’ve scraped together in your entire career.”

I’ve never seen anything like it. His face flushes deep red. There are veins standing out in his neck.

He takes a step toward me, then another. It’s a predator’s stalk.

“Careful,” I warn.

He doesn’t listen.

The moment his hand twitches like he’s about to grab me, instinct kicks in. The right hook Julian drilled into me connects with his jaw hard enough that pain shoots up my own arm, but not enough to stop the satisfaction that floods me when he stumbles back, clutching his face.

His already-bruised right eye is swelling darker by the second, and now the left is well on its way.

Two black eyes.

A matching set.

I’m a little proud.

Look at Julian and me working together.

But I get it now. The possessiveness in Julian’s voice when he talks about me. The way he plants himself between me and anything that even looks like a threat. I used to think it was over the top.

Now I understand.

Because that man is mine.

Julian ismine.

And I will defend him until the end.