There was a beat of silence, and then his voice dropped to a terrified whisper.
“Saif.”
Jemma stopped walking.
Right there on the sidewalk, the strap of her tote bag clutched in one hand, phone in the other, the city rushing around her.
A horn blared nearby.Someone muttered as they stepped around her.But Jemma didn’t move.
Saif.
Her throat tightened.She swallowed hard and pushed forward, walking quickly now, away from the noise, away from the memory that name had just unleashed.
“What did you do, Jasper?”she asked, trying—and failing—to keep the fear from her voice.
The subway station loomed ahead, commuters flooding down the stairs.Jemma stepped aside, pressing herself against a building just across the street.She needed the support.Just hearinghisname had knocked the breath from her chest.
“I just...I got angry last night, okay?He doesn’t give you any money for child support!”Jasper whispered urgently through the line.“Things got out of control.”
A chime interrupted him—another call coming in.
Jemma glanced at the screen.
Her stomach clenched.
Saif.
She pressed the phone back to her ear.“Jasper.He’s calling me.Right now.What’s going on?”
“Don’t answer!”Jasper’s voice dropped to a frantic whisper, as if Saif might somehow hear him through the wires.“Please, Jemm.Just come home.I’ll explain everything when you get here.”
“Jasper—” she began, but the line went dead.
She stared at the phone for a beat, her heart thudding hard.Another vibration.Another call.Still Saif.
Eight times today.
Jemma sighed and looked around, suddenly wary of the crowd around her.No one was watching her, but it still felt like she was being followed.Or hunted.
She couldn't ignore the call again.Not with Jasper acting like he’d kicked a hornet’s nest.
“Hello?”she said, pressing her hand over her other ear to muffle the din of the station.
“Jemma.”
Just one word.But his voice—deep, clipped, colder than ice—sent a shiver crawling down her spine.
Gone was the warmth he used to wrap around her like silk.Gone was the teasing tone, the sly charm that once made her smile in spite of herself.
Now he was all steel.
“We need to talk.”
Her mouth went dry.“What about?”she asked, trying to sound breezy, like this wasn’t the worst possible timing.
“Come to my office.Right now.”
She heard the faint rustle of fabric—likely him adjusting the cuff of one of his custom-tailored shirts to check the time on that absurdly expensive watch.
