She rolled her eyes—slow, deliberate, and dripping with disdain—knowing exactly how much he hated being dismissed.
“Because I blocked you, Mark,” she said, each word sharp and deliberate.“And your wife.I told you weeks ago I won’t work with you or Henrietta.I don’t care what she wants, and Isure as helldon’t care what you want.”
His jaw tightened, anger flashing before he smoothed it over with that plastic, salesman smile he’d once used to talk her into almost anything.
“I’m not here about the job,” he said, softening his tone into something that probably sounded romantic in his head.“I’m here for you, Nat.I miss you.”
She stared at him, incredulous.“You…miss me?”
He nodded, as if he’d just made some grand confession.“I miss us.The way things used to be, before you… you know, got all cold.”He took a step forward, smiling like the cat that caught the canary.“I mean, yeah, you were a little stubborn sometimes, but I liked that about you.”His hand lifted toward her hair—proprietary, presumptuous—but she stepped back before he could touch her.
“You’re married, Mark!”she snapped.“Go back to your wife.Henrietta’s a lovely woman—she’s your problem now.”
He scoffed, shoving his hands in his pockets.“Henrietta and I are basically over.She’s frigid, Nat.Cold as ice.And, honestly?She’s gained a lot of weight.I can’t deal with that kind of laziness.”
Natalie’s mouth dropped open.“Wow.You really are an idiot.”
He shrugged, unbothered.“But you—you’ve kept yourself together.You’re still… you know… attractive.Ambitious.You’ve got that fire.You’re the one I should’ve picked from the start.”
She blinked at him slowly, like he was some strange insect.“That’s supposed to be a compliment?”
“You know what I mean,” he said impatiently, leaning closer, the false charm slipping.“When you were at my house the other day, I saw it.You still want me.”
“I did feel something,” she said evenly.“Disgust.Revulsion.Relief that I’m not tied to you anymore.”
His smile faltered.He stepped in, boxing her against the SUV.“You don’t mean that.We were happy, Nat.Sure, you were a bit high-maintenance, but we worked.You know we worked.”
Her temper snapped.She shoved him back hard enough to make him stumble, then yanked the car door open.“Mark, I’m late.I’m not wasting another second rehashing a relationship that died years ago.You live in your own fantasy, and reality doesn’t interest you.”
She slid into the driver’s seat, slammed the door, and locked it before he could react.He rattled the handle, then smacked his palm against the glass hard enough to make her flinch.
“Natalie!”he barked, his face mottled with red blotches.“Open the door!”
She didn’t even glance at him.She hit the ignition, the engine rumbling to life, and reversed slowly, careful to avoid his car.
Mark stood in the driveway, fists on his hips, glaring like a man who’d just been denied the last cookie at a party.The extra weight around his middle and puffiness in his face made him look small, even as he tried to puff himself up.
As she drove off, irritation iced over into something colder.His persistence wasn’t just annoying—it was escalating.The look in his eyes had been sharp, calculating, almost unhinged.
If he tried to corner her again, the new security cameras would catch it all.
But Natalie couldn’t shake the feeling that Mark wasn’t the kind of man who let go.He was the kind who waited until you thought you were safe.
Chapter 27
Pulling out of her neighborhood, Natalie headed in the opposite direction from her office, forcing herself to shake off the ugly encounter with Mark.She wasn’t going to give him space in her head—not today.Today was supposed to be hers and Rylan’s.
A message chimed on her phone, and her first instinct was to check it, but she kept her hands firmly on the wheel.Whatever it was—probably Rylan—it could wait.She’d be at his house in less than seven minutes.
She never made it that far.
The awareness came first—something primal and cold slithering down her spine.She didn’t see the car until it was already on her, a flash of blue in her peripheral vision.The impact slammed into her like a sledgehammer to the ribs.
The sound wasn’t the screech-and-shatter she’d always pictured in a crash.It was worse.A wet, crushing groan of steel being mangled, metal folding like bone under too much force.The jolt wrenched her sideways so violently her teeth clacked together, pain shooting through her jaw.
Then came the silence—thick, suffocating, unnatural.
Her vision went milky at the edges, and the world slowed to a sluggish, warped crawl.The steering wheel seemed miles away.The airbags had deployed, leaving a white, powdery cloud.For a beat, she wondered if she’d gone deaf, because all she could hear was the hollow thump of her own heartbeat hammering in her ears.
