Chapter 13
Jules’s grip tightened around Hank’s wrist, his knuckles turning white. The lobby fell silent, every eye drawn to the confrontation unfolding before them.
“How dare you,” Jules’s voice was deadly quiet. “How brave do you think you are to raise you hand against Jules Prime’s woman? How delusional do you have to be?”
Hank’s face paled slightly, but with Lola watching, he couldn’t back down. He squared his shoulders, attempting to pull his arm free.
“Well,” he sneered, “before being your woman, she was mine. For six years.”
Jules didn’t release his grip. Instead, his fingers tightened incrementally, causing Hank to wince in pain.
“And?” Jules asked, his tone conversational despite the murderous glint in his eyes. “How does that concern me? She’s my queen now, isn’t she?”
Hank’s lips curled into an ugly smile. “Yeah, she’s just a second–hand sex toy anyway.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. I felt my cheeks burn with humiliation and rage. Six years together, and this was how little he thought of me?
Jules went completely still. For a moment, the entire lobby seemed frozen in time.
Then he laughed.
The sound was chilling–not the warm laugh I’d come to associate with him, but something hollow and dangerous. He turned to glance at the gathering crowd of employees and onlookers, flashing them a disarming smile before returning his attention to Hank.
In one swift movement, Jules twisted Hank’s wrist so violently that Hank dropped to his knees with a yelp of pain. Then, just as suddenly, Jules released him.
“I apologize, Monica,” Jules said, turning to me with that same unnerving smile–a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Behind the practiced pleasantness lurked something dark and predatory. “We’ll meet again, Hank. We’ll definitely meet soon.”
Hank scrambled to his feet, rubbing his wrist. “Yeah, we will,” he spat, desperate to salvage his pride. “Now run away like the good little boy you are and tell your used whore to teach you good bout me and who I am.”
Beside him, Lola smirked, her earlier tears mysteriously gone as she looped her arm through Hank’s. She looked so proud of him, so certain of their superiority.
But I wasn’t watching them anymore. My attention was fixed on Jules–on the careful blankness of his expression, on the way his body had gone completely still, like a predator calculating its attack.
To my surprise, Jules’s face suddenly brightened. He waved cheerfully at Hank and Lola, “Bye now!” he called, his voice light and carefree. He took my elbow gently, guiding me toward the exit. “Let’s go, Monica.”
Once inside the car, Jules fell silent. The jovial mask he’d worn moments ago vanished, replaced by a focused intensity that made me nervous. I wanted to ask what he was planning, what that exchange had meant, but something told me to wait. The silence between us felt charged,
Chapter 13
2:48 am
:
dangerous.
When we reached the estate, Jules helped me out of the car but didn’t follow me to the door.
“I’ll be back soon,” he said, already reaching for his phone. Before I could respond, he was back ir the driver’s seat, the phone pressed to his ear as he drove away.
I stood in the doorway, watching his car disappear down the driveway. A knot of anxiety tightened in my stomach. What was he planning? And why did I have the terrible feeling that Hank had just signed his own death warrant?
Two hours crawled by. I paced the mansion, unable to focus on anything. When my phone finally rang, I lunged for it.
“Jules?”
“Monica.” His voice was calm, controlled. “I’m sending a driver your way. Please get ready and
come to me.”
“Where are you?” I asked, already moving toward my closet.
“Somewhere secret,” was all he said before ending the call.
Ten minutes later, a sleek black SUV with tinted windows pulled up to the mansion. The driver dressed in an impeccable suit, opened the door for me with a respectful nod.
“Where are we going?” I asked as we pulled away from the estate.
“Boss has asked to say nothing about it. Sorry, Miss Wells.”
I settled back against the leather seat, my mind racing with possibilities. The anticipation was killing me. What could Jules possibly want to show me? And why all the secrecy?
The drive took us out of the city, past industrial areas and into a part of town I’d never visited. When we finally stopped, I was surprised to find ourselves outside what appeared to be an abandoned school. The building was dilapidated, windows boarded up, surrounded by an overgrown field.
The driver helped me out, and I immediately noticed two men in black suits standing guard at the entrance. They straightened as I approached.
‘Miss Wells,” one said with a slight bow. “Boss has been waiting for you.”
They led me through the abandoned building, where more suited men with guns stood at strategic positions. We descended a staircase I wouldn’t have noticed on my own, leading underground to a heavy metal door.
“Boss is inside,” my escort said, stepping back.
Heart pounding, I knocked. The door swung open. My eyes widened at what I witnessed in front of me.
