Page 62 of Unbreak Me

Day’s big gray eyes stared at me.

"I don’t know why, but it gives me strange pleasure that you’ve divided it into three blows. I feel the hand of justice in this, as if you were a messenger of Fate—" Suddenly, he closed his eyes, cut off, and sighed deeply.

His hand slid slowly to his chest, then to his thigh in a strangely sensuous manner, his cheeks slightly pink. I observed it with some surprise, and unexpectedly he whispered, "It’s close, Jan."

There was a long moment of silence as I fought off some inappropriate physical reactions to the idea of spending his heat together.

Day’s hand rose, and he touched his left gland. As he pulled his collar aside, it became clear that his gland was slightly pink and a bit swollen.

"You know, I’ve always been one of those people for whom sex was a very intimate experience. I’ve never had a one-night stand. Nico was my only boyfriend. What happened with Ferguson—" he cut off again.

I knelt next to his chair and took both of his hands, looking him straight in the eyes. "Day, don’t put pressure on yourself. I understand everything… We still have time."

He shook his head. "No, that’s not what I meant. I want this, despite what happened. My readiness is growing. I would like to experience sex again… in a positive way. This heat may be the best thing; it really makes all of this so much easier." Day furrowed his brow. "It's just a little… intense. And quick."

I kissed his hand. "Remember, Day, you decide here. If you still want to consider suppressing the heat—"

Day shook his head almost violently, but then his phone unexpectedly rang.

For a moment, I felt waves of fear; who could it be? But I was almost certain that Day had a different phone number now, and Ferguson couldn’t call.

"It’s my father calling; I have to take this," Day said and got up to go to the terrace.

He spoke with his father for a while, and I stayed inside, not wanting to eavesdrop.

Buddy came over and whined softly, as if picking up on the tension—and he wasn’t wrong. The stress was written all over Day’s face—the moment he stepped into the terrace doorway, I knew it wasn’t good news.

"Father says that yesterday a taxi pulled up to their house, and some young, pretty omega got out of it, asking about me. But when they said I no longer lived there, he started inquiring if he could get my new address. But luckily, he faced my alpha father, who is very distrustful. Father told him they had no contact with me and didn’t know where I was. It’s a real miracle that his intuition told him to say that."

"Wait… Who was that omega?" I raised my eyebrows.

Day sat next to me on the couch. Both dogs came closer and lay down next to us.

"From my father’s description, a tall, beautiful blond guy—it seems it was Jared Ferguson."

For a moment, I stared at Day with a puzzled expression.

Well, we’d talked about the chance of someone showing up before, but Jared acting so quickly caught me off guard. Day simply spread his arms and shrugged.

"Father said he behaved quite agitatedly, stubbornly insisting on getting in touch with me."

I saw the concern on Day’s face, a vertical crease forming on his forehead, so I wrapped my arms around him.

"Strange that he came alone, almost like he was doing it on his own; somehow, I doubt Ferguson sent him."

Day nodded. "He must’ve come to his senses and is probably mad at me now for potentially costing him his luxurious life with a millionaire. Jared had a very tough life before he met Ferguson; he was a young model who had to sleep with photographers to get gigs. He told me about it once in a moment of honesty, that despite his looks, he couldn’t make a career out of it. Especially because many companies use AImodels now; not many want to spend cash on real people. The competition is brutal. Mark was then one of the directors at DarenCo, not yet in the CEO position, but he had enough money to help Jared’s career. He organized private sessions for him and helped him find gigs, thanks to his own contacts."

Suddenly, something dawned on me.

"Hm. The email I sent to Jared didn’t actually say the video would go public. Maybe he thought he was the only one who got it, so he paid up to settle the matter. But now that Mark’s been fired, he’s probably realizing whoever sent that email isn’t backing down."

Day glanced at me, nodding thoughtfully. "Yeah, that makes sense. He might’ve thought at first you were just some ‘friend’ sharing the video privately, so he figured paying me would take care of it. But now he knows it’s a way bigger deal."

I furrowed my brow. The explanation seemed to fit, though I didn’t know Jared’s personality. I could only try to extrapolate what I would do in his place.

"If I were to guess what he wants, it’s to beg you to testify that it was consensual."

Silence fell; Day blinked rapidly, as if my guess itself was incomprehensible. Then he snapped out of it and scoffed in frustration.