second glance for her to recognize Mia's younger sister. It had been almost five months since she'd seen Lucy, and the time had not been kind to the twenty-year-old.
The skin-tight mini-skirt she wore barely covered her ass, and her four-inch heels looked ridiculously out of place in the casual shop. It was the caked on make-up and over-processed hair that made her look like a hooker.
Mia chose that moment to join them from the back room, carrying a large bouquet in her arms. She almost dropped the flowers when she saw her younger sister. "Lucy?"
"Hey," was all the youngest member of the family managed, dropping her duffel bag to the floor.
Mia got over her surprise first. "Thanks for coming home. We need your help around here."
Lucy plunked her purse down on the counter next. "I'm not staying. I have a life, you know. I've been taking acting classes and going on auditions. I even got a callback this week. I just came home for a couple of days."
Mia was furious. "Listen, it's summer. Your classes are over and you need to come home. It's busy, and you need to earn all of the money I've been sending you."
Hannah watched as the two sisters argued.
"Aren't you listening? I'm on the verge of being a big star. I don't have time to play with flowers."
The dinging of the shop door opening was a welcome distraction from the stressful family reunion, until Hannah looked up to see none other than Jake Davenport standing a few feet away from the counter. He hadn't taken his sunglasses off yet, but she still felt his icy blue eyes raking over her. Her heart thumped hard as they stood in a standoff. She wouldn't have dreamed he would seek her out here.
How foolish of her.
Mia spoke first. "I know who you are, and you have exactly one minute to get the hell out of here before I call the police." She rounded the end of the counter to place herself between Jake and Hannah, as if the little wisp of a young Asian-American woman could be a match against the muscular Jake Davenport should he choose to overpower her.
Mia refused to take her eyes off Jake as he let a slow grin light up his face, reaching to slide the sunglasses from his face to expose the humor in his blue eyes. He was enjoying Mia's show of loyalty and that just pissed off Hannah all the more.
"I'm sorry to disturb you ladies, but I've come to talk with Hannah for a few minutes," he said.
"She doesn't have anything to say to you, you sonofabitch. Now get the hell out before I call the police."
Jake wasn't bothered in the least. In fact, he looked like he was having fun. "Such language, Ms. Yoshito. And I'd love to know what it is exactly you think I've done that the police might be interested in."
"Don't act all innocent with me. I saw the bruises you left on Hannah after your date."
Jake let his cool gaze move to Hannah, his glare penetrating her. "Hannah, dear. I think you need to set your friend straight. The last time I checked, you were a willing participant in our... date. More importantly, I wasn't aware you had lodged a formal complaint with the police."
He was right, of course. She should have gone to the police to report that he'd drugged her—forced her to have sex, but even as she had thought it, she'd known nothing would have ever come of her complaint. She'd gone out to dinner with the man. She'd gone with him willingly to his house. And with her history, she somehow didn't think the police would be impressed with the news that Jake Davenport had whipped and paddled her to multiple orgasms against her will.
She'd seen the cold look in his eyes as he'd overpowered her. The scariest thing was that she had sensed he'd been holding back. As sure as she stood there, she knew he was capable of atrocious depravities, and she felt lucky enough to have only seen the tip of the iceberg. She wasn't willing to take the chance of being alone with him again for fear he'd unleash his full psychopathic brand of crazy on her.
His smug smile told her he knew where her thoughts had turned. "I didn't think so. Let's go, Hannah. You have work to do."
She found her voice. "I told you. I'm not looking for a new job."
"Don't be silly. You