Page 19 of Come Inside

It reminded him of his own eyes, it was why he so easily recognized it.

They werehaunted. Listless. Teetering on the cusp of broken.

What in the hell has this womanbeen through?

He was feeling needlessly outraged on her behalf. He didn’t understand his visceral reaction to this woman.

To this muchyoungerwoman.

His attention shifted up and found a particularly long scar across her forehead.

Fury pulsated up his spine, skittered along his skin, settled into his stomach. A fiery rage he wasn’t sure how to put out or exactly where the feelings manifested from.

Except, that wasn’t true.

He couldn’t deny it, he was invested in Yara’s story, in what had happened to her.

He had an inherent need to know more about her, to understand what cruelties this world had pushed this woman through.

What is she doing to him?

Yara shifted uncomfortably, adjusting her hair, letting it fall forward to cover the scar.

J.W. watched as she squared her shoulders, narrowed her eyes, and physically transformed before him into a confident, threatening, businesswoman.

It was eerie watching the mask slide itself into place.

“I am your match.” Her attention was focused over his shoulder still, out the window. “If you agree to it.” Without looking she pulled a folder out of the briefcase he hadn’t observed prior.

He was too busy examining the woman herself.

He had lowered his guard, not noticing every piece of information he could.

It was a trick that got him ahead in his career.

If only it had worked the same in his personal life. If only he had seen the signs.

J.W. shut down that line of thought.

He was uncharacteristically drawn to this woman, so much so it took longer than he cared to admit to realize what she had said. “You?” he cracked out. His heart pounded a painful beat in his chest. He swallowed thickly, reaching for his glass of water and chugging a few gulps before straightening his shoulders and adjusting his tie.

Is his business partner—the man that recommended this site—setting him up for some sick joke?

“You?” This time the word came out stiffly.

“Mr. Wright, if you could please look through the folder. At the bottom is where you can sign. Due to the,” she paused folding her hands, “natureof my proposition, you would be refunded your payment for our services.”

He stared at the woman; he couldn’t deny he was interested in her, but she wastooyoung.

“I can see the indecision warring across your face. So, how about this? We have dinner, you think on it, and at the end of our meal we can go our separate ways?” She smiled at him before glancing over her shoulder and then returning her attention to him.

His attention found who she was looking at. A man was staring unblinkingly their way.

He knew enough about her company to also know about the infamous Kazi. The man was never more than ten feet from Yara.

J.W. weighed his options. He hadn’t really put himself out there in years and the woman before him was sexier than he had expected, her smile lighting up her face in an almost iridescent way.

Additionally, he didn’t really have the time to go out on the socially acceptable number of dates to fuck, and he really needed to get laid. Typically, he stuck to keeping his company running and staying as busy as possible to forget the tragedy that hit him years ago, but he could tell he neededsomething to give. The stress had been affecting him more than he cared to admit, and his business partner had noticed.

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