Page 55 of Cruel Dominion

Jaden let out a low sound, muttering something I couldn’t hear. He tried to shove Carter off, but Carter just pulled him forward and slammed him into the glass again, hard enough that his head knocked into the frame and he went down in a dazed heap on the floor.

My heart skittered to a gallop, thrumming in my ears.

“Anna, look at me.”

I did.

“What did I say?”

“Umm…”

“Go to the car. It’s an Aston Martin parked right outside. Lock the doors. Wait for me.”

He nodded, waiting for me to confirm I heard him as Jaden groaned on the floor.

And I remembered.

All the rumors about him. I hadn’t believed them. Not really. Not until right now.

He climbed a mountain of corpses to get to the top.

Swallowing, I turned and walked out, making for the elevator, trying to even out my breathing.

Down the hall, from the mangled entrance to Jaden’s studio, I heard a sharp, disturbing snap and Jaden’s scream of pain and decided I couldn’t wait for the elevator.

I ran for the stairs, clutching my portfolio to my chest as I took them two at a time, just needing to get away. Far away from whatever was happening upstairs.

I didn’t look back until I walked down all five floors of the building. Pressure constricted my lungs and every breath I took felt hot.

Outside, I sank against the wall, helpless against the feelings crashing down on me. Time collapsed along with my body. I might have been calming myself down for a minute or an hour. Finally, my breaths slowed and the world shifted back into focus. I chanced a look over my shoulder in time for Carter to emerge from the building.

“Anna, I asked you to wait in the car, love,” he said, moving toward me.

Red. There was red on his knuckles. On this collar. On his cheek.

Jaden’s blood.

I dodged his seeking eyes as he stopped in front of me, but I could do nothing to avoid the wood and amber scent of his cologne, or how it made me shiver.

“Did he…” Carter’s voice vibrated with lethal urgency.

I shook my head. “No. he didn’t—it didn’t get that far.”

I felt more than saw him relax, but only a fraction. I sighed. “Carter, what are you doing here?”

He shook his head, face still twisted in frustration. “After what happened, that’s what you want to say to me?”

“I told you to leave me alone. Instead, you showed up and interrupted a business meeting.”

“That wasn’t business,” he spat. “That fucking scumbag attacked you.”

“I was handling it!”

“You were white as a sheet and shaking, Anna! You were in no condition to fight him off and you damn well know it. God, why you keep insisting on putting yourself in danger is beyond my fucking ability to understand. You’re smart enough to slip my men but not smart enough to see that you need protection. It’s…it’s infuriating.”

He rubbed his palm over his mouth, brushing the six o’clock shadow there as he fought for a measure of calm.

About at least one thing, I knew he was right. I’d flashed back to Josh’s abuse and completely fallen apart in there. I’d curled into myself. I was placating a man who aimed to take advantage of me. Who knows what Jaden might have been able to do if Carter hadn’t showed up?

---