Page 33 of Break Me Not

My mind went to Jax. How she crowded my space outside my old house, her face darkened by the helmet.

How I threw her desire for me in her face.

That was back in the club. This is real life.

That had been a low blow, and I knew it.

She hadn't shown up at my apartment that night, and that was two nights ago. I saw the crew in the morning on my way to work, but that was it.

There was still a group working outside my gallery that would be on their way soon, but all the security cameras had been updated. Jax even sent me an email with a link to all the security portals I needed.

But she hadn't talked to me since.

I felt… awful. She’d been trying to help when I was being reckless. And to make matters worse, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Almost as if I… wanted to see her again.

Maybe even… missed her.

Even though I barely know her. And she’s Claire’s best friend.

My stomach twisted.

“No one,” I said quickly, realizing I'd been silent for a while.

She made a noise of disbelief, and I pushed off the island before she could see my embarrassment.

“Oh my God, there is someone. Who is it? Does Claire know?”

I tried to hide my face, but it was no use because she maneuvered around me and forced me to look at her.

“You're blushing! Wait!” She lowered her voice. “Was it that good of a lay?”

I peeked up at her through my fingers.

“It was really fucking good.”

She squealed and jumped up and down. “That’s my Liz⁠—”

I quickly covered her mouth with my hand, looking over her shoulder, just as the real estate agent glanced into the kitchen with a look of obvious disappointment at how loud we were.

“Sorry,” I whispered and shot Andy a look. “Keep your voice down, okay?”

“Nope, girl, this is bullshit.” She pulled me out of that house as fast as she could walk in her little flip-flops. “You get in your car and drive me straight to that apartment of yours. Then we’re going to open a bottle of wine, and you're gonna tell me all about your perfect night.”

I couldn't fight her, so I decided to listen for once.

Best laid plans…

“This is so fucked! I’m so sorry.”

Andy was trying to comfort me with her arm around my shoulders as we looked at the mess of my apartment. My security team was already there and handling everything.

It was more than just a break-in.

The door had been kicked open. There was glass everywhere. They took everything from my refrigerator and threw it onto the floor. I supposed they had meant to make as much of a mess as possible, and they’d sure as hell succeeded.

As I was standing in the entryway of my ruined apartment, a very familiar voice came from behind me. My heart jumped in my chest, recognizing it before my mind caught up.

“I’m sorry, Liz. If I knew this would happen, I would have stationed them outside your apartment instead of just following you. He’s faster than I gave him credit for. This is all my fault.”