Page 141 of The Re-Proposal

“Tell me you’re okay,” I growl. “I need tohearit.”

“I’m okay.”

My chest heaves and my fingers curl into fists on either side of her. I can feel my temper slipping out of the cage I keep it in. The cage that always stays locked,always, unless it’s about her. Unless someone puts her life in danger.

You’re the reason she’s in danger.

The truth knocks me cold.

I’m the one who put her in the crosshairs. My life, my choices, my enemies… I’m more dangerous to her than Hatchen.

“Cody?” she whispers.

“Go with Vargas,” I grind out.

“Cody, you’re bleeding.” Her fingers swipe against the side of my neck and come back bloody.

Damn this woman.

“I saidgo,” I hiss.

Vargas opens her door, which he could have easily done from the inside since all the glass is freaking crumbs at my feet.

Clarissa’s fancy stilettos crunch against the shards as Vargas half-pulls her out. I can feel her worried eyes on me, beautiful brown pools locked in my direction.

I take a breath, fixing my expression into a cold, hard line. There’s no use getting pissed off about this. Emotions serve no purpose in business. They only cloud the mind. Scramble objectives. Make it hard to root out festering problems.

My gift,mysuperpower, is the ability to shut those emotions off and weed out anything that would keep a well-oiled machine from functioning.

This time, the machine happens to be mine.

I climb out of the car, pulling darkness all around me. In the distance, I see that the security guard in pursuit has been joined by several others. They’re trying to chase down the motorcycle on foot.

Ridiculous.

I pull out my phone.

Clay answers curtly. “I don’t work for you, Cody. You’re family. There’s a difference. So if this is about Hatchen—”

“Someone just threw a rock through my car window.”

He goes silent.

I stick a hand into my jacket pocket and take out the rock. “It looks like a spark plug porcelain.”

“The perp did some research.”

“He’s unoriginal.”

“You have anyone in mind?”

The list is too long. “The weapon of choice is specific. Could be someone from an engineering firm.”

“Doesn’t have to be. Spark plug porcelain is easy to get your hands on. One google search will tell you it’s strong enough to break a windshield.” There’s a thoughtful lull before he says, “Was anyone hurt?”

“No, but it could have been worse. Clarissa was in the car.”

Clay goes silent again.

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