Page 29 of Tempt My Heart

"Alison, breathe."

Her eyes flitted around the room but saw nothing, it was a hazy blur as her vision darkened inexplicably.

"Breathe!"

The sharpness of the command forced her to suck in a deep, measured breath and the darkness in the corners of her eyes faded as oxygen began to filter through her system again.

Christopher was on his knees in front of her, peering into her eyes as he ran one hand absently over her hair, her cheek, as if searching for injuries that weren't there.

"I won't let him hurt you," he said quietly and she nodded, her body still feeling out of sync with the rest of her mind. "Denver and I will be there the whole time, okay? You won't be alone."

She bit her lip to stop its trembling and stiffened as her boss tugged her roughly to his chest before she relaxed, her head resting on his shoulder.

Denver stood near the windows, like he'd backed off to give them privacy, and a soft smile was on his face as he watched them.

She pulled away and smoothed a hand over her hair before nodding to herself. "I'm okay. I can do this."

"We've got a few hours until you need to meet him later, so why don't you head home and—"

"No," she interrupted, and then smiled slightly. "I need to stay busy. But thank you. I appreciate it."

Christopher nodded and a silence descended that felt awkward. Probably because she'd essentially just had a breakdown in her boss' office.

"Okay then," she said, awkwardly standing and smoothing the sleek hem of her dress. "You know where I'll be."

They watched her leave and she didn't turn around, knowing what she'd find on their faces—a mixture of pity and concern. She understood it, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

"Everything's going to be fine," she muttered as she sat at her desk, and didn't let herself examine why that felt so much like a lie.

ChapterSixteen

“Arms up,” Denver said and she obeyed as he looped a wire around her stomach and taped it in place just under the front of her bra between her breasts.

Wearing a wire to this meeting seemed a little overkill to her, but if it gave her any evidence she could actually use against Jared so she could take this to the police then it would be worth it. Though who she’d even approach that wasn’t in his pocket, she wasn’t sure. She had no idea where Denver had gotten the equipment from, and when she’d asked he’d just shrugged and said he knew people.

Christopher was standing off to one side and she’d felt his eyes on her more than once, but when she’d looked to him he’d seemed preoccupied with making sure Denver wasn’t getting handsy. It was almost like he was… jealous.

“We’ll be right out here,” Denver said as she tugged her top back into place and twisted her hands together nervously. “If you need us, just text okay?”

She nodded and blew out a long breath as Christopher approached, his dark eyes taking her measure. She tilted her chin and gave him a firmer nod. She could do this. They wereso closeto being done with all of this.

“You’ve got this,” he said quietly and the words were still ringing through her head as she walked into one of the best burger joints in the city.

Arthur’swas never really ever quiet, which was great if you didn't want to be overheard. Unfortunately, it rendered the recording device Denver had insisted she bring with her in case Jared said anything incriminating absolutely pointless.

They'd arrived at the meet nearly twenty minutes early after Christopher had seen her stress cleaning her desk for the fifth time and declared they should get ahead of any traffic.

It had seemed stupid not to walk, but she hadn't argued. The sooner this meeting was over with, the better.

Ali looked up from checking her phone just as a tall frame slid into the seat of the cheap plastic booth opposite her.

Jared.

"What have you got for me?"

She slid an envelope over the table and watched as he lifted it curiously before slipping it open to find a blank sheet of paper.

"Explain."

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