I haven’t spoken to Ezra since the dinner incident. His sister called me the very next day and apologized on his behalf. She told me she gave him a good scolding for his behavior. Apparently, Ezra didn’t tell her what happened to his hand. He said it was an accident. I don’t know what Julian said to him that night that convinced him to keep his mouth shut.
One good thing that came out of the ordeal is that Lauren and I have actually grown closer in the last few weeks. She truly does have an eye for design.
I quickly sent her a text to let her know I was on my way out the door. Placing my phone on my desk, I grab my bag off the chair.
“Hey, Tiffany,” Emily, one of the design assistants, stops at my door. “Do you have a few minutes? I need your opinion on something.”
“Sure, I can help.”
She smiles warmly. “Good, I’m in meeting room C.”
Grabbing my bag, I head out of my office following the junior assistant.
It took me seven minutes to help the girl find the program she was looking for before I could head out. Jake opens my back door as I climb into the SUV.
In no time, we are on the road headed to the restaurant I’m meeting Lauren at. Placing my design books back in my bag, I go to grab my phone to check in on Noah and Ms. Rose when I realize I left it at the office.
“Crap,” I say out loud.
“What’s wrong?” Jake asks, looking through the rearview mirror at me.
“I left my phone on my desk.”
He shakes his head. “Want me to turn around?”
“No. It’s okay. I’m six minutes from the restaurant, and I’m already a little behind. You think you can go back and grab it after you drop me off?”
Immediately, I can tell he’s uncomfortable with that suggestion. The way his face pinches up tells me he doesn’t like the idea.
“That’s okay.” I wave him off. “I can be without a phone for an hour. Just let my husband know so he won’t be looking for me.”
He shakes his head. “Hold on.” He presses a few buttons on the steering wheel, and then the sound of a ringing phone fills the car.
“Yo,” a male’s voice says through the speaker.
“I got Boss Lady. I need you to go back to the office and get her phone.”
“It should be on my desk,” I shout to Cyrus.
There is silence on the other end. “You sure you want me to turn around?”
Jake chuckles. “Yeah, I got her.”
“Alright, turning around now,” Cyrus says, and then the line goes dead.
“I guess having two of you guys following me comes in handy for something.”
Jake grins at me through the mirror. “I knew we’d grow on you. Boss man was right.”
I’m at the point where I don’t argue with anything Nico does anymore. If it ever comes down to my safety vs my comfort, Nico will always go with safety.
“Please, that man is—” my words are cut off when a large truck runs into the side of us.
I have only a second to scream before the SUV flips through the air like a spinning top. When it comes down again, the breath is knocked out of me. My head slams against the glass window, and blinding pain shoots through my skull.
The truck lands upside down. The pungent smell of gasoline permeates the air. My hearing is going in and out, and so is my vision.
I focus on the front of the car. It takes a moment for the blurriness to wear off, but I spot Jake. His body is hanging loosely upside down. There is blood dripping down onto the roof of the car from somewhere.
