HE GRABBED HER ARM—THEN THE MAN BEHIND HIM SAID HER NAME
HE GRABBED HER ARM—THEN THE MAN BEHIND HIM SAID HER NAME
The champagne glass shattered the moment Caleb grabbed Emily’s arm.
“Let me go!”
Emily’s voice cut through the rooftop restaurant.
Caleb tightened his grip.
“You're coming with me.”
Three hundred feet below, Manhattan glittered through the glass walls.
Nobody moved.
Nobody wanted to get involved.
Then a quiet voice came from behind Caleb.
“Take your hand off her.”
Caleb turned.
The man standing there was wearing a black suit, no tie, and an expression so calm that it somehow made the entire room colder.
Emily's breath caught.
“Daniel…”
Daniel Cross looked at her first.
“Are you hurt?”
Emily shook her head.
Then Caleb laughed.
“This doesn't concern you.”
Daniel looked at Caleb's hand.
“It concerns me now.”
Caleb finally released her.
Emily immediately stepped backward.
She rubbed her wrist.
Caleb stared at Daniel.
“Who are you?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at Emily.
“You know him?”
“My ex.”
Caleb scoffed.
“Ex because she thinks she's too good for me now.”
Emily's eyes hardened.
“You emptied my savings account.”
“I paid bills.”
“You spent thirty thousand dollars on a car.”
“I was going to replace it.”
“With what?”
Caleb went silent.
Emily took a breath.
“You disappeared for four months.”
“I was working.”
“You were living with another woman.”
A few people nearby looked away.
Caleb's face reddened.
“That wasn't serious.”
Emily laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Neither was our relationship, apparently.”
Caleb stepped toward her again.
Daniel moved between them.
“Stop.”
Caleb glared.
“You think you're her bodyguard?”
Daniel's expression didn't change.
“No.”
“Then move.”
“No.”
The single word landed harder than shouting.
Caleb looked around.
“You people are really going to let some stranger threaten me?”
Daniel finally looked at him.
“I haven't threatened you.”
He reached into his jacket.
Caleb tensed.
Daniel pulled out his phone.
“I've been recording since you grabbed her.”
Caleb's face changed.
“You're bluffing.”
Daniel turned the screen toward him.
The recording was still running.
Caleb stared at it.
“You can't—”
“I can.”
Daniel lowered the phone.
“And the restaurant cameras can confirm the rest.”
Caleb suddenly looked at Emily.
“You called him?”
“No.”
“Then why is he here?”
Emily looked confused.
“I don't know.”
Daniel said quietly,
“Because I was meeting someone.”
Caleb laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
He pointed at Emily.
“You always needed someone richer, didn't you?”
Emily's eyes filled with anger.
“No, Caleb.”
Her voice trembled.
“I needed someone who didn't make me afraid to come home.”
Silence.
That sentence changed everything.
Daniel looked at her.
For the first time, the calm expression on his face disappeared.
He looked angry.
Not loud.
Not reckless.
Just controlled.
He turned toward Caleb.
“You're leaving.”
Caleb stepped closer.
“Or what?”
Daniel leaned slightly forward.
“Or the police get the recording.”
Caleb stared at him.
Then at Emily.
He smiled.
“This isn't over.”
Emily swallowed.
“Yes, it is.”
Caleb turned toward the elevator.
But before the doors closed, he looked back.
“You'll regret embarrassing me.”
The elevator doors shut.
Emily finally exhaled.
Her hands were shaking.
Daniel noticed.
“You're still shaking.”
“I hate that he can still do that to me.”
Daniel nodded.
“He doesn't have that power.”
Emily looked at him.
“It feels like he does.”
Daniel pointed toward the empty chair.
“Sit.”
She hesitated.
“I don't need someone telling me what to do.”
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“Good.”
“Good?”
“Because I wasn't telling you.”
He pulled the chair out.
“I was asking.”
Emily stared at him for a moment.
Then she sat.
Daniel placed a glass of water in front of her.
“You handled yourself.”
“I froze.”
“You told him no.”
“I was scared.”
“Those things aren't opposites.”
Emily looked down at her wrist.
A red mark was already forming.
Daniel noticed it.
His voice became quieter.
“Do you want me to call the police?”
Emily hesitated.
Then she looked toward the elevator.
“No.”
Daniel nodded.
“Your choice.”
She looked surprised.
“You're not going to insist?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Daniel sat across from her.
“Because someone taking control away from you isn't protection.”
Emily stared at him.
For the first time that night, her shoulders relaxed.
Then Daniel's phone suddenly vibrated.
He glanced at the screen.
His expression changed.
Emily noticed.
“What is it?”
Daniel turned the phone toward her.
A photograph appeared.
It showed Caleb standing outside her apartment building earlier that afternoon.
Emily's face went pale.
“He was following me.”
Daniel nodded.
“And that's not the worst part.”
He opened another message.
Emily stared at the screen.
It contained one sentence:
“She doesn't know what she took from me.”
Emily looked up.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel's eyes met hers.
“I was hoping you could tell me.”
Emily shook her head.
“I have no idea.”
Daniel looked toward the elevator Caleb had disappeared through.
Then back at Emily.
“Then we have a bigger problem.”
And suddenly, the man who had grabbed her wrist wasn't the reason Daniel was worried anymore.
Someone else had been watching her all night.
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