Her terrified voice.
She shook where she stood, tears gathering in her eyes. And Jasper forced himself to retreat. A single step. Heavy as stone.
He wiped the blood from his knuckles onto his jeans, breathing slow and deep, clinging to whatever self-control he had left.
“In thirty minutes, I want you home. Not a minute later. If you don’t show up—you’ll regret it.”
And he walked out of that damned office, still trying to process what had just happened.
The cold air outside slapped him across the face, but the burn inside him didn’t fade. He’d had one problem before. Now he had two.
CHAPTER 48
Nina had just stepped out of the shower when the doorbell rang. Strange, she wasn't expecting anyone. And the security team wouldn’t have let a stranger through without warning her first.
She quickly grabbed a tracksuit from the closet, pulled it on, and hurried to the entryway. She opened the door and froze.
Jasper stood on the porch.
With two cups of coffee in his hands.
She blinked several times, trying to understand whether she was imagining this. It was the middle of the night, and he… was here. And he looked like chaos was tearing him apart from the inside: a tense jawline, uneven breathing, and that same dangerous, wild gleam in his eyes that chilled her to the bone.
Instinctively, Nina glanced past him toward the yard. The guards stood at the driveway, which meant they had let him in without calling her.
What the hell?
She turned her eyes back to Jasper. He stared straight at her, unblinking.
“Can I come in?” he asked, his voice low.
She hesitated for only a moment. Something inside her tightened cautiously. But she nodded and stepped aside.
He walked in. She closed the door and with it, a thick tension seemed to seep into the house.
Jasper silently held out a cup of coffee. She took it automatically, even though she knew caffeine at this hour guaranteed insomnia. But right now she only wanted to know one thing: why was he here? His sudden appearances almost always meant bad news. That had been true for weeks.
He tried several times to say something, but each time clenched his jaw and looked away.
She waited.
Finally, he set his own cup down on the console table and turned to her as if making a final decision.
“I don’t know what to do,” he said hoarsely.
“What happened?” Nina nodded toward the living room, inviting him in.
“It’s Lynn,” he exhaled, dropping onto the couch.“She… she’s with Nolan.”
Nina blinked.
“What do you mean,‘with Nolan’?”
He looked at her darkly.
“I walked in on them today. They were kissing.”
He said it as if he had been betrayed. Nina lowered her gaze. Lynn and Nolan. God.
