JENNIE

My mind struggled to catch up, my limbs frozen in place. I'd opened my office door expecting to find Lisa Manoban and was now staring down a man who'd recently threatened my life.

Fuck.

What the fuck.

Where had he come from? How? Why?

With my attempt at a step back, Mark Alvarez lunged to grab my blouse. "You didn't deliver my message," he said, anger flashing in his brown eyes.

"I did. I swear, I did." My heart slammed against my ribcage. Out of nowhere, sweat trickled down my temple. "But Taehyung doesn't work with the DA's office anymore," I rushed out, pleading. "He can't just get someone out of jail."

"It's Taehyung's fault my brother's in there, and he'll find a way to—"

Fear surged in me. I kneed Mark in the balls. He released me with a curse. With no time to be shocked over my instinct to hurt him, I darted to the right.

I was almost past him when a fist in my hair yanked me back. "I don't think you understand," Mark said, dragging me deeper into the office. He pulled a knife from his waist. "Taehyung fucked with my family, and now I fuck with his. Eye for an eye."

My heartbeat whooshed in my ears, and the room began to spin. The short blade, silver and jagged, looked nothing like a kitchen knife, but my mind went blank like I was thirteen again.

Mark shoved me, and with my eyes on the knife, I backed away until I hit a wall.

"This is your second warning." Mark advanced until he was nearly on top of me, breathing hotly in my face. He put the blade to my throat. "And we'll keep coming back. Lou should've got out with me. We did the same crime. Your husband must've fucked up."

My head began to throb where I pushed it against the wall, trying to keep my throat from the blade. "I'll tell Taehyung, I promise." I wasn't sure what Taehyung could do, but I needed to say anything to escape the knife. "Don't hurt me."

"Hurt you? Nah. I'm going to make you feel good." He stuck the blade between his teeth and ripped open my blouse with both hands. Buttons scattered on the carpet as I screamed.

He smacked me across my cheek, and my face flew to one side. "Shut up or I'll gag you."

I went silent. I'd never been hit. It shocked me into immobility, but I had to move.

Run. Escape.

This wasn't a warning. It was a message. It was life-altering, world-shattering—something I'd never recover from. I stretched my jaw as it throbbed with pain and willed myself to fight back, but the knife sharpened in my view as my vision blurred with tears.

The thought of blood instantly nauseated me. I could already see it smeared on my pajamas, pain searing through my side, the shouting, my father's voice soothing me between roars to call 9-1-1, the sirens, my mother's sobs . . .

Mark put the tip of the knife to the spot he'd hit me, stinging my cheek with the cold blade. Without breaking skin, he dragged it down my face, my neck and chest, between my breasts. When I flinched, a slow smile spread across his face. "I want there to be no question," he whispered, pressing his body flush to mine, "that Taehyung Wilson understands what we're capable of—"

Mark flew backward and landed on his back with a smack so loud, it knocked the wind out of me. Standing over him, Lisa Manoban looked like a superhero in a pressed suit.

"Run," Lisa commanded me. "Now ."

She grabbed Mark by his shirt, levied him off the ground, and hit him square across the face, putting him back on the ground.

I yanked my blouse closed as my entire body shook. Where was the knife? Lisa was definitely bigger than my attacker, but Mark fought dirty and had an axe to grind.

Blood trickled from Mark's nose as he writhed. "Who the f—"

"Go, Jennie," Lisa said, anger shaking her voice. She lifted Mark by his shirt collar just enough to hit him again. Mark groaned but reached under himself, searching for something in his waistband.

"He has a knife," I cried.

Still bent over my attacker, Lisa whipped her head up to me, her hair and suit disheveled. "I said get the fuck out of here, Jennie. Go—"

Mark rammed his boot into Lisa's stomach, sending her onto her back. Mark scrambled to his hands and knees, shot up, and ran.

On her feet in the next second, Lisa put a hand out. "Stay here, Jennie. I fucking mean it," she said and bolted out.

I searched the office for the knife, but it wasn't there. Mark still had it. As much as that fact made me want to hide, I had the stronger urge to help Lisa, who'd put her life on the line by coming back here.

I fisted my top closed with one hand and hurried through the doorway. Two shadows darted through the dark office's cubicles and crashed through the lobby's glass doors.

With a gunshot, I yelped. Lisa. I sprinted forward, my eyes frantically roaming the dark. When I reached the dimly lit lobby, I found Mark on his back with Lisa straddling him. Each one of then had their hands locked around the other's neck.

Lisa wasn't shot. She wasn't bleeding. Relief didn't come, though.

The gun sat a few feet away on the glossy porcelain tile. I snatched it off the ground. Small but undoubtedly powerful against my trembling palm. Jesus. Growing up, my father had kept a gun in the house, but I'd never held it.

And I'd certainly never aimed one. I did now, raising it at both of them.

Was I really going to shoot someone?

I couldn't. My heart hammered too hard. My hands too unsteady. And they were moving too much.

"Stop," I pleaded. "I'll shoot."

Lisa's back straightened, and she released Mark's neck. When Mark looked over at me, Lisa pummeled her fist into his face over and over until Mark groaned and started to go limp.

Lisa got to her feet, came toward me, and took the gun. "I told you to run," she rushed out, sticking it in her waistband. She whipped off her suit jacket.

"I wasn't going to leave you."

A charged pulse beat between us until Lisa wrapped the blazer around my shoulders and turned around. Gun in hand, she raised it. "Get back," she said to me over her shoulder, then spoke to Mark. "You. On your feet."

The self-possessed Lisa I knew had returned, her posture straight, at ease with the gun, as though she'd done this before.

"Who the fucking shit are you?" Mark asked, struggling to his feet.

"The cops are on their way," Lisa said. "But take a step in her direction, and I'll blow your head off."

"Fuck you," Mark said, wiping blood and saliva from his chin. "You don't think more of us will come after her? After you ?"

"Let them try," Lisa said.

It occurred to me that Lisa had just willingly stepped into the middle of a bad situation. She'd risked her life and possibly put a target on her back. For me? I pulled Lisa's blazer closed around my ruined blouse, mildly soothed by hints of her cologne.

But my ease was short-lived. Vibrating with rage, Lisa took two massive steps toward Mark, backing him into a corner. I gasped as she shoved the gun into Mark's neck.

"Anyone goes near her again," Lisa said slowly, "I'll shove this down your throat and blow your guts out your ass. You, and everyone you care about. You fucking hear me, you piece of shit?"

My throat dried. Lisa's conviction almost convinced me she was capable of that. But she couldn't be. Could she? She was a businessman, not law enforcement, nor criminal or superhero.

"Let me go," Mark said. "If I get arrested, others will come."

"Then maybe I should just kill you now to send a message."

"Do it," Mark said. "See what happens."

Even in the dimly lit space, I could see the hatred radiating off Lisa. She cocked the gun with a click and pushed it under Mark's chin, forcing his eyes up.

"Lisa," I said as calmly as I could manage. "Stop."

Distant dings signaled that the elevator was on its way up.

"Lisa," I repeated. I wouldn't let her kill a man, even to defend me. Especially not with the chance the cops could walk in on it. "Someone's here. Please, Lisa."

After a moment, her shoulders eased, and she took a step back. With her free hand, she grabbed Mark, flipped him, and shoved his cheek against the wall. Lisa stuck the gun in the waist of Mark's jeans and leaned her forearm across his back to hold him there.

The elevator opened and three policemen flooded out, guns drawn, followed by a heavyset, forty-something man in an ill-fitting suit. "Well, well. Mark Alvarez," the man said gruffly. "Lou's going to love that you're coming for a visit."

Taking in the scene, the officers kept their guns raised but laughed at the joke.

As my adrenaline ebbed, my split cheek prickled. I touched it, and my fingertips came back bloody. My head thundered as my heart skipped a beat. Blood . . .

"He's armed," Lisa said somewhere in the distance as I tried to expel the metallic smell from my nostrils.

My head swam. Metal clinked as a policeman cuffed Mark.

Suddenly, Lisa was in front of me, her broad shoulders blocking me from the policemen. "He hit you," she said, lightly cupping my cheek to turn my face. "Did he—did he hurt you anywhere else?"

The pain didn't bother me. I hated the smell, sight, and sticky feel of blood on my skin. I just needed to breathe through this. I couldn't answer, or I'd gag. I just shook my head.

"You're too pale." Lisa's brows knit. "What's the matter?"

I shook my head as the urge to vomit rose in me.

"You might be in shock," Lisa said gently. "Or is it something else?"

The rumpled-suit man came and planted himself nearly between us. "Detective Cooper," he said to me. "You all right?"

The detective wasn't forty-something like I'd thought. Up close, under the lights, he looked too young to be balding. Maybe even close to Lisa's age. His calm demeanor reminded me that this could've gone much worse. I drew up my shoulders with a deep inhalation. All things considered, I was . . .

"Fine. I'm fine." I glanced at Lisa. "You called the police?"

"I saw that asshole in the lobby downstairs." Lisa nodded at Mark as they led him away. "He was boarding the elevator. I only saw his face a second, but something felt off. I thought I recognized him."

"How?" I asked. "You've never seen him."

"You told me his name over the phone. I, uh, may have looked into him."

Of course she had, I thought, exhaling a breath. She was always keeping an eye on me.

"Sorry I didn't get here sooner," Lisa added, "but I took the stairs."

My mouth fell open. "That's fourteen flights."

"I couldn't wait for the elevator to come back down and then up." Lisa turned to the detective. "Cooper's a friend. I called him immediately."

"Before you even knew for sure it was Mark?" I asked.

"I never ignore my gut."

"Never?" I asked.

"Never." Lisa wet her lips, holding my gaze. "Even when it gets me in deep shit."

"How do you know Mark Alvarez?" Detective Cooper asked, looking from Lisa to me, getting out a notepad. "Why was he here? Did he threaten you, and if so, how exactly? Word for word."

It'd all happened so fast. My clutch tightened on Lisa's blazer, keeping it closed. "I . . ."

"Not now, Coop," Lisa said. "Can we do this later?"

"I need a witness account to detain him, Manoban," Cooper said, then sighed when Lisa raised her brows. "But I suppose it can wait until tomorrow." He turned to me, her expression smoothing. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."

I extended my hand. "Jennie."

Instead of shaking, he handed me a card.

Detective Cooper , Chief of Detectives

Chicago Police Department, Organized Crime Division .

I repeated it to myself, trying to think of why it sounded familiar.

"Can I give you a ride somewhere, Jennie?" he asked.

As I started to accept, Lisa cut me off. "I'll take care of it."

"I'm asking her," Cooper nearly growled.

"Come on, Coop. You know me."

Coop gave Lisa a very ungracious look. "I don't care," he said. "This is about her, not you."

Both of them turned to me.

"It's best that we end our personal and professional relationships here."

Lisa's words from earlier came back in a rush, stinging all over again. I had no desire to leave the bubble of her protection, but she'd made it clear she didn't want me around, and getting closer to her wasn't a good idea on any level.

Especially if she intended to cut me out of her life once tonight was over.

"I appreciate the offer, Lisa," I said carefully, "but I think I'll go with Detective Cooper."

"Jennie, wait." Lisa took my elbow and withdrew when she seemed to think better of it. "I'm not letting you out of my sight until I know you're home safe. Even if that means I get in Coop's car with you."

"I'm not taking you home, Manoban," Cooper warned.

Lisa inhaled through her nose and kept her eyes on me. "Do you trust me?"

"Do you trust yourself?" I said back, echoing her earlier words.

She didn't. Not around me. She'd made that clear, and the right thing to do here was keep the promise to each other that we wouldn't make this any harder than it already was.

Lisa's expression eased. "Yes, I do," she said. "I'm not leaving your side until I know you're a hundred-percent safe. Even if that means sleeping outside your door tonight."

My cheeks warmed at the bold declaration, and at the irritatingly thrilling thought of Lisa guarding me all night. She would absolutely do it, too.

I sighed. "I don't want to put you out, Detective. I'll go with Lisa."

"Are you sure?" Cooper rubbed his jaw. "It's no problem at all."

Lisa nodded dismissively. "You heard her."

"All right." Cooper's shoulders slumped back into their default position. "If you need anything else, you call me," he insisted. He slapped Lisa lightly on the shoulder. "I'll be in touch tomorrow, Fish."

Cooper walked over to where Lisa and Mark had tussled and squatted with the remaining officer, who was putting Mark's knife into a plastic bag.

"Come," Lisa said, nodding for me to follow her to my office. As we approached, I stopped in the doorway. At some point, we'd overturned a chair. And my little white blouse buttons dotted the carpet.

My throat thickened. If Lisa hadn't come back . . .

I shook the thought away. I couldn't go down that path, especially not with Lisa's curious eyes on me, looking as if she could read my mind clearly. I had to be strong.

I stooped to pick up a couple buttons, but either the motion or the act of witnessing what could've been made my stomach churn. When I stood, I met Lisa's broad, hard chest inches away.

She pulled me into her arms. I knew I should protest, but I didn't have the energy to resist the only thing that felt right in that moment—her warmth, her strength, her stability. In her all- encompassing embrace, safety surrounded me, even when danger had nipped at my heels.

"Let go," she murmured. "You can't pretend this didn't happen or that it's not a big deal." Her muscular arms wrapped around me so firmly, I could barely move. "Try to relax."

I thought I already had relaxed, but now, my shoulders loosened, and my cheek rested against her hard chest.

"Oh." I pulled away reluctantly. "I don't want to get blood on you."

She ghosted her thumb over my cheek, but I still flinched. Lisa shut her eyes, sighed heavily, and opened them again. She was so close, the brackish musk of fresh sweat lingered.

"I should have fucking shot him," she said with complete conviction.

"If you had, you could be in the back of that police car."

"Self-defense," Lisa said.

"It's not a guarantee," I said. "I've seen that defense collapse in some of Taehyung's cases. Usually, there's gray area."

"I'm taking you to the hospital," she said, ignoring me. Or ignoring the mention of my husband? "No," I insisted. "No, I'm fine."

"Fine?" She repeated. "You're shaking."

I hadn't realized, but while in her arms, I'd begun to tremble. "I'm really fine," I said, trying to even my tone. "Just a little frightened."

She pulled me close again, running her hand slowly over my back. After a beat, she gathered the hair from my neck, sweeping it into a loose ponytail. She pulled lightly to get me to look up. With her other hand, she lifted my chin higher to inspect the cut. My head was almost vertical, and I focused on the ceiling.

"It's not deep enough for stitches," she said, licking her thumb and wiping away some blood. "But it's probably a good idea to stop by Northwestern."

"No," I said. Panic entered my voice. If Lisa made up her mind to take me to the hospital, I wouldn't be able to convince her otherwise, and I didn't do hospitals. Sterile, cold rooms, doctors and nurses pricking me with needles, stitching me up. "I don't need to go. Please," I begged her. "I've had a rough night. I just want to go to sleep."

"Okay, shh," she said, rubbing my arms. "I just think it would be wise to check your head. What if you hit it—"

"No ."

She smiled for the first time all night. "You're a little stubborn, aren't you?" she asked.

I glared at her.

"All right, no hospital," she conceded. "But you can't be alone tonight. If Mark's threats held even an ounce of truth, I'm not taking any chances."

I glanced at the ground. If I was honest, I didn't want to be alone. What if there were others looking for revenge against Taehyung? If Mark could find and corner me at my workplace, they could easily get to me in my apartment.

But if Lisa was suggesting what I thought she was, that was equally as dangerous in a different way.

Slowly, I raised my eyes to her. "What do you propose?"

"Come home with me tonight."

I bit my lip then released it quickly. To spend the night with someone like Lisa—any woman would be a fool to turn her down.

"You know I can't do that," I said.

"You can when your safety is on the line."

"What about everything you said earlier? You can't even communicate with me without a liaison."

"Forget it." She smiled a little and held out her hand for mine. "Come on. We can start being finished with each other tomorrow."

I crossed my arms. "No. Either we start now or . . ."

"Or what? We don't start at all?" She arched an eyebrow. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, but I'm not sorry I said it. I needed to be firm. I needed it to stick."

"So?" I asked. "This isn't firm. This isn't making it stick. Look, it's fine. I get it. It's done. Just let me get a cab home."

"I just said—Jesus, Jennie." Her tone harshened, suddenly deep with bass. "I'm not letting you out of my sight. We can discuss all of this tomorrow, but tonight is not up for debate." She stepped closer to me, waiting until I looked up and met her eyes. "I swear to you, Jennie, you'll be safe tonight. Not just from predators, but from . . . from me as well. I can control myself."

I suppressed a shudder. Lisa implied that she was as dangerous as Mark, that she was such a threat to me, she had to restrain herself—and it didn't scare me one bit. It excited me that she had to make us both a promise she'd refrain from ravaging me once she had me alone.

I believed she'd behave, so I nodded my agreement. "I'll get my things."