Page 237 of Mine Again
“Your husband,” he says quietly, “has just poked the bear.”
Hearing the confirmation of what I suspected makes my heart stutter with joy.
“What do you mean?”
Hale moves toward me with a fluid calm, a predator certain of the outcome before the chase even begins.
“He left a fingerprint in the dark. Not loud. Not sloppy. Justenough for me to know it was him.”
He stops in front of me and crouches, bringing us to eye level.
“He’s watching. Which means he believes he’s close.”
I keep my face neutral. It’s a skill I learned from my father. Never show emotions, not when men like him are watching. But my fingers curl tight around the hem of my napkin.
“He’s smarter than I gave him credit for,” Hale muses, almost to himself. “But he’s also predictable. He can’t help himself where you’re concerned.”
He stands and strolls back to his desk, hands in his pockets, eyes never leaving me.
“And the more time I spend with you, the more I feel the same way.”
I choke back a gag. Gross.
He clicks to another screen, pulling up a camera feed from earlier today. Me, lying in bed. Me, brushing my hair. Me, pacing the room while I waited for Gerard.
“I wonder if he realizes… that I’m watching, too.”
My stomach drops, but I don’t let on. I knew this prick had cameras on me, but suspecting it and seeing it are two different things. My skin crawls as though the walls themselves are watching. The urge to smash the screen pulses hot, but I keep my face blank.
“I’ve let him get this far,” Hale says lightly.
Did he really, or is he trying to cover up?
“I wanted to see what he’d do when he thought he had a shot.”
His tone is almost admiring. Almost.
“But we both know this won’t end with him getting what he wants.”
Like hell it won’t.
He glances back at me, his eyes like cut glass. They take on a mixture of malice and lust I’ve never seen before. A cold dread floods me from the inside out.
My throat tightens. It’s hard to breathe past the sudden pressure in my chest.
Hale’s setting a trap for Luca—
The screens go black.
At first, I think nothing of it. Screens do that when they’re idle. They go to sleep.
But Hale seems alarmed. His head snaps toward them, and, in an instant, his fingers tap the keyboard, trying to bring the screens back to life.
Nothing.
He keeps at it, a look of horrid surprise on his face.
BOOM.
