***
The next day, I did everything I could to get Hanna to forgive me. I called, texted, sent flowers, even sent one of those gigantic edible arrangements of fruit and chocolates shaped to look like flowers. Of course, I knew none of those things could possibly begin to undo the hurt…but I had a feeling that once I got the chance to talk to her, she’d understand.
Or maybe she wouldn’t. Maybe I’d fucked up so royally that she’d never give me the time of day ever again.
At Magnate Group, I went by her office. Hanna was sitting at her desk, working quietly. When I knocked on the door and stuck my head inside, her head snapped up. For a moment, I saw confusion in her bright green eyes. But that confusion was very quickly replaced by hot anger, and Hanna flicked her eyes back down to her keyboard and began typing away, pounding furiously at the keys.
“Hanna, please,” I said, stepping inside and taking a deep breath. “I really need to speak with you.”
“I’m really busy right now,” Hanna said. She didn’t look up. “Please, can you leave?”
“When are you free?”
Hanna shook her head. “I’m not,” she said curtly. “Please, James. I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
“Please, it’s really important.”
“I’m not interested in whatever it is you have to say,” Hanna said. She bit her lip and lowered her head. As I watched her face contort into an expression of pain, I felt like someone was reaching inside my chest and ripping my heart out. “Please leave.”
“Hanna, I would never have done something like that and kept it from you,” I said. “I swear – this isn’t true. Someone’s lying, or trying to get attention. Or get me in trouble.”
“Well, it worked, didn’t it?” Hanna finally looked up and I realized she wasn’t about to cry – if anything, she was about to take a swing at me. Her cheeks were pink with anger and her green eyes were narrowed into emerald slits. “I’m very upset with you, James, and I don’t think there’s a way to come back from this.”
“You have to hear me out,” I insisted.
“I don’t have to do anything,” Hanna said in a toneless voice. “Now, get out of my office before I call security and tell them you’re threatening me.”
I sighed. “I swear to god, Hanna—”
“Get out!” Hanna yelled. She got to her feet and glared at me. “And stop calling me, for fuck’s sake! It’s ridiculous!”
I left Hanna’s office feeling defeated. If I hadn’t had work to do, I would’ve left the office and gotten very drunk in some random hotel bar. As it was, the urge to give into temptation was strong. But I couldn’t quit now – not when I still had to get to the bottom of whatever it was that was going on.
When I got back to my office, I shut the door, locked it, and sat down in front of my computer. The document I’d been working on just looked like a page full of meaningless words and I sighed, slamming my laptop shut and burying my face in my hands. I couldn’t believe that someone would be vicious enough to try to bring down my entire company with such a false, outrageous rumor. I’d always thought the best of people…at least, I’d always tried to. That was just one of many reasons why I’d stayed friends with Harry, even though I knew he was a dog. Deep down, I thought he was a good person…albeit a very misunderstood one. Picking up my phone, I unlocked it and dialed Andrew. Holding the phone to my ear, I kicked my feet up on the desk and reclined in my chair.
“Hello?”
“It’s James,” I said shortly. “And I need to find out if there have been any development in the case. Things are getting really bad, Andrew. I can’t wait around in limbo forever.”
Andrew cleared his throat. “Yes, James,” he said stiffly. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any updates for you. I’ve had one of my paralegals compile a list of everyone you associated with in London, but it’s slow going. And if you could provide information on any possible suspect, that would be greatly appreciated.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I already did that,” I said angrily. “I sent the list over to you last week! Didn’t you get it?”
“James, I assure you, we’re working as fast as we can—”
“Oh, forget it,” I said angrily, hanging up the call and slamming my phone down on my desk. It was only a little after noon, but I knew that I’d be useless if I stayed at the office for the rest of the day. Sliding my laptop into my bag, I got to my feet and walked out of Magnate Group with my tail between my legs.
When I got home to my condo, there was a box sitting outside of my door, wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. Christ, I thought as I squatted down and ripped open the string with both hands. It’s probably a pipe bomb…and maybe I’d be all the luckier if something would just take me out here and now. My heart was in my throat as I tore the brown paper off the box and tossed it to the side in a wadded heap. When I opened the cardboard flaps and peered inside, I braced myself for an explosion. But there was nothing – just a bunch of papers.
Frowning, I reached inside. My hand touched something smooth and I lifted it out, looking down at the photo in my hand. It was me, months ago, in London. I was walking down into a tube station, wearing a long coat with my hands shoved in my pocket. The photo had obviously been taken with a long-range lens, and I shivered at the meticulous detail – even the faint line of stubble on my face was visible.
My stomach twisted into a painful knot as I threw the picture to the side and reached further into the box. All of the papers on top were blank – and once I lifted them away, I gasped. There was a huge pile of photographs, all of me, all taken with a long-range lens. Some of them had been taken in London, some of them in Boston, but they were all unmistakably me.
“No,” I muttered under my breath as I threw picture after picture to the side. “This can’t fucking be happening to me, no fucking way is this real life.” My heart was thudding anxiously in my chest as I looked down at the hundreds of pictures around my feet.
And that was when I saw it. A photo of me and Hanna, walking into Langdon’s Christmas party.
Someone was stalking me.
And if I didn’t figure out their identity soon, I knew Hanna would be in just as much trouble as I.
Chapter Twelve
Hanna
“Look, there has to be some kind of reasonable explanation,” Danielle said. “I can’t believe James would do something like that and keep it from you.”
I looked up from the fashion magazine on my lap. “That’s what he says,” I said, a trace of anger creeping into my voice. “Whose side are you on here, anyway?”
Danielle gave me a pleading look. “Hanna, please,” she said. “Don’t bite my head off. I’m only trying to help you.”
I shrugged. “I don’t want to date a single dad,” I said, shaking my head. “Especially not a lying, cheating, scumbag of a single dad who thinks he can get away with everything because he’s richer than Croesus.”