Not You It's Me (Boston Love #1) - Julie Johnson Page 0,51
mine. “I’m not overreacting. I’m not projecting my anger onto him,” he says resolutely. “He’s charming. He always was. And he’s smart enough to cover his tracks. Maybe he seems harmless to you, maybe you still think none of this shit applies to you, but I need you to believe me when I say that you’re wrong, Gemma.”
I somehow manage to nod as horror washes over me for an entirely different reason.
I was so lost in his story, I forgot, for a moment, that the same, fledgling monster who killed a horse at sixteen years old is now fully grown and, apparently, has set his eyes on me.
Holy shit.
My breaths start coming faster as my panicked eyes shoot up to the ceiling, as though Brett can somehow see through the many floors of plaster and steel currently separating us. I feel exposed, utterly alone, as naked terror pumps through my system.
“Gemma,” Chase says, shaking me lightly.
My eyes fly back to his — I know they’re wide and full of fear.
“You’ll be fine.” His voice is steady, strong. “I promise I won’t let him touch you. I won’t even let him get near you.”
“I… But...” I try to speak, but find I can’t articulate even one of the many hysterical thoughts clanging inside my head.
Chase opens his mouth to speak again, but it’s not his voice I hear.
“Folks, just hang tight. Looks like the factory reset isn’t working. I’m going to call the firefighters, now.”
“Fuck,” Chase curses.
He stares into my eyes for a long moment, then finally sets me back on my feet, turns, and pushes the button to restart the elevator. I can hear him speaking rapidly into the intercom, telling Jim something, but for the life of me I can’t make out his words. The steady, static buzz of panic quickly overwhelms all my senses and drags me under.
***
Twenty minutes later, I’m having a serious case of déjà vu.
It’s raining, the sky is getting dark, and I’m sitting in the back of a town car as it winds through the streets of Boston, being carted around by Evan, the same salt-and-pepper-haired chauffeur I met the other night. Oh, and there’s a gorgeous, totally mysterious man sitting next to me, who I still know almost nothing about.
We don’t speak as Brett’s neighborhood is left behind.
We’re both lost — me in worry, Chase in fury. I can tell he’s barely holding on to his control; it’s there in the tight clench of his jaw, in the way the tips of his fingers press against his pant legs so tight, the skin around his fingernails goes white with lack of circulation. My mind churns with nerves as I replay my conversation with Brett over and over. In retrospect, everything he said seems like a thinly-veiled threat, a dark innuendo I missed at the time.
You’ve got spirit…. Then again, so did his stallion.
A shiver moves through my body.
“Cold, miss?” Evan asks, his eyes finding mine in the rearview mirror.
I shake my head. “No, I’m okay. Thanks.”
Swallowing hard, I turn back to the window and let my gaze go unfocused as the buildings whiz past. Chase doesn’t say a word, but after a moment, a big hand lands on my thigh and squeezes lightly, a silent offer of comfort. And right now, that’s enough. His warm touch seems to drive away some of the demons running rampant through my mind, and I feel a little of my panic ebb. Leaning back against the soft leather, my eyes slip closed — and stay that way, until I feel the car slow to a stop.
When my lashes flutter open and I catch sight of the building outside my window, my eyes swivel to Chase, wide with confusion.
“This isn’t my building.”
His lips twitch. “Observant.”
“I’ll rephrase,” I say, my eyes narrowing. “Why aren’t we at my building?”
Chase shrugs. “Why would we be?”
“You said you’d take me home!”
“No,” he corrects softly. “I said I’d take you away from Brett. I never said I was taking you home, nor did you insist on going there.”
A squeal of frustration escapes my lips. “It was implied.”
“Implication and instruction are vastly different creatures, sunshine,” he drawls, sounding every inch the successful businessman.
“So help me god, if you start quoting Sun Tzu right now…”
His lips twitch as he reaches out and laces his fingers through mine. “Come on.”
“Where are we?” My eyes swing back to the window, and I see we’re below ground, in a parking garage of some kind, but I don’t recognize