gun at his chest. He’d looked like every other victim I'd seen who'd known they were about to die. His eyes hadn't been lifeless or cold. They'd been full of emotion and life.
Worst of all, they’d been full of regret.
That was what kept me from saying the words Hayes clearly wanted to hear. I just couldn't do it, not even for Mike. I’d find another way to save Mike's company. I wouldn't be the reason he and Amelia lost everything, but I also wouldn't be the reason that the beautiful but foolish Jude Archer ended up six feet under.
Hayes tapped the cane one more time and the passenger door was quickly jerked open. My dismissal was loud and clear. I made a move to get out of the car, then stopped. I couldn't say what was holding me there. Or maybe I could, but I didn't want to admit it.
"He may have had a wake-up call today, but it won't be enough," I murmured. I'd seen it in Jude's eyes when he’d realized the whole thing had been a setup. His fury had been the presiding emotion and that would translate into defiance. I was as sure of that as I was of anything. "If you care about him, you'll make sure he remembers those few seconds where he knew he was going to die."
I made a move to get out of the car but was surprised when Hayes's cane sprang up between me and the door. I could have easily grabbed it and yanked it from the old man's grasp, but I chose to look at him instead. Like with Archer, his eyes were unexpectedly filled with emotion. The validation that he definitely had some kind of emotional connection to Jude left me with a strange sinking feeling, but I pushed it aside. It was absolutely none of my business.
"Can you protect him?"
There was just the slightest tremor in Hayes's voice as he asked the question.
"Not if you interfere," I said.
The man's jaw tightened again, but he nodded. I took that as agreement that he wouldn't. "I will speak to Jude tomorrow," he finally said.
I shook my head. "No, you won't." My audacity was clearly pissing Clifton Hayes off, but he didn't fight me on it. "I'll also need more specifics on what kinds of threats you or he have received. I don't care how small or insignificant you think it is, I want to see it."
It seemed to take forever for Hayes to nod his head. I didn't even know how to process it when he did. He lowered the cane back to the floor, which I took as a dismissal. "I'll be in touch," I said as I stepped out of the car. I paused and added, "Thanks for dropping the charges, by the way." I leaned in so Hayes could see I was being serious because, despite everything, he’d done me a solid when it came to that.
"I didn't," the man said gruffly. He tapped his cane on the roof and right before the driver shut the door, I heard Hayes add, "Jude did."
Chapter 4
Jude
From the moment I stepped through the building’s doors, I felt them.
The looks of pity.
And the voices. The whispered ones as people began retelling the events of the night before to those who were just hearing about it for the first time.
Fucking Nikolai Falkov.
The mere thought of the man who'd made a fool out of me simply to make a point had everything inside of me tightening up. It was the last thing I needed because as hard as I tried, I was still wound up from what had happened. After telling Simon to notify security, the man had done something to his gun, presumably to remove the bullets, before placing it on a side table. Everything after that had happened in slow motion and I'd been completely helpless to do anything but stand there and watch it go down.
Alarms had blared as security had burst through the door to my office suite, but I hadn't found out until later that it had taken a good two minutes for them to get there. By then, Falkov had dropped to his knees and put his hands behind his head. There should have been some satisfaction in watching him be handcuffed and dragged off by the cops who’d shown up a few minutes after the security guards, but the ringing in my ears had been too loud. I thought it had been from the