Page 149 of The Man Upstairs

“Who told you?”

“Jayden.”

“Ah.” He stroked my cheek. “Maybe she will tell you herself one day soon. Who knows? Fate can be very kind.”

I grinned. “Yeah, sometimes. It brought me you.”

He held me tight, rocked me, soothed me. Made sure I was stable on my feet, and had let out the hurt.

“Fate’s very, very kind,” I said, when I’d gathered myself.

“And so are you. You’re an angel.”

“Thanks.”

“On that note, take a seat, please,” he said, and gestured to the laptop on the table.

“For the scene?” I managed to laugh. “Not sure I’m feeling all that horny right now.”

He laughed back. “No, no, I wouldn’t expect so, but this isn’t a dirty scene, don’t worry. It’s something rather different.”

“Different?”

He had a strange look on his face. A beautiful one. Majestic, and loving.And nervous.Weirdly nervous. Something was going on.

“Sit down and take a look, please,” he said, and I did.

He followed me, and called up a document. One I hadn’t seen before.

The Girl Downstairsthe header said.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Julian

I lookedat my princess as she settled down to read, pushing her glasses up her nose as she got comfortable. I was feeling nervous, heart racing a little, my soul well and truly exposed in the words onscreen.

I’d been writing in the background for weeks, showing Rosie selected chapters – the filthy ones – but the majority were not. Especially not chapter one.

The Girl Downstairs

I’d bared it all.

The way my angel first appeared at my door, with the frantic rapping as she called for help. Her panicked breaths, the pleading in her beautiful eyes. The way I saw her beautiful, caring soul in that moment, and the way she always wore her heart on her sleeve. The way from that very moment I’d have followed her into hell to keep her safe from evil.

I’d written about her loyal protectiveness as she took her mother’s hands on the sofa, desperate to ease her pain. The way she’d been so grateful for my help as she’d wrapped her arms around my waist with a deluge of thanks that didn’t need to be said.

I’d described her in crystal clarity. From the sweet bobbing of her ponytail as she walked, to the cuteness of her dimples when she smiled. Her sweet addictive laugh, and the way she covered her mouth so adoringly when she got consumed by the giggles.

The perfect pitch of her voice, and the tender whispers of thanks she gave far, far too often.

She never needed to thank me. I’d give her everything I had to give, just for one little sparkle in her light blue eyes.

Chapter one was an outpouring of how Rosie had reached into my soul and brought me back to life, starting right from the moment she’d asked for my help. How I’d seen straight into her soul in return.

My first glimpse.

The glimpse that had changed my world and picked it up from the dregs of nothing.