39. Jackson

Isaw red.

The temptation to swing my fist directly into his face and beat him until he was black and blue and red again was overwhelming, but I'd brought the police with me, brought security. I was stronger than that. I could hold back for Mandy's sake, keep her from seeing what she'd already seen once before.

Cops filtered in on either side of me, grabbing Harry before he could protest. I watched out of the corner of my eye as they cuffed him, as he pleaded with his face smashed against the filing cabinets, but my gaze was trained on Mandy. She looked at me in horror, her fingers touching her red, puffy lips. She was shaking.

I moved toward her.

After I'd picked Harry out of the video footage, we'd gotten confirmation that he had sent not one, but hundreds of emails to me. Each one the same, each one from his own log in at the library. After comparing timestamps and videos with every bit of information we were able to obtain, we handed it over to the police. I'd had security on standby for Mandy, far enough away that she wouldn't notice, but close enough to react in case he came into the office. It had made me sick to know that he could show up at any point, but I needed to do it right. I couldn't fuck it up, not this time.

I only wish I'd gotten there sooner.

"How did you know?" She whimpered, her eyes wide as she watched them read Harry his rights.

"I've been working nonstop," I said. I used every bit of energy I had to keep my voice calm as I looked her over — every part of me wanted to kill him, leave him dead somewhere in the woods, run away, and never be caught. The temptation was nearly overwhelming considering the look of shock on her face and what I'd walked into, but I couldn't do that. I just needed to keep it together for her. A part of me knew her panicked cries of stop would haunt me, though. "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head at me. Thank fuck.

"Your shirt is torn," I said, placing my hand on her shoulder, gently turning her. She jumped at the contact, and my heart sank. She had just been assaulted, and here I was, touching her. Idiot.

"It caught on the cabinet. I'm fine."

"You're in shock, Miranda. You're not fine," I bit out.

"I'll be fine," she clarified, her eyes searching mine for something, anything. Likely reassurance. I wanted so desperately to give that to her, but I didn't know how, didn't know if I could with Harry still in the room. I could feel his presence behind me, his eyes boring into my back, his seething tongue desperate to hurtle attacks my way.

I turned to him. The officer held a knee in the small of his back, smashing Harry's face into the cold metal. "Is this what you wanted?" I snapped, my hands balling into fists. Calm down. You have to calm down for her. "You wanted her, right? That's what this was about?"

He pursed his lips. An answer by omission.

"You've fucking traumatized her. You've ruined it for yourself, and it was entirely your own doing, not mine."

"Jack, stop," Mandy whispered, her hand grabbing at my suit jacket.

"Did you really think you were being thorough? Did you think you wouldn't get caught?" I continued, taking a step toward him, anger boiling up again. Mandy pulled harder, and a uniformed arm came across my chest, stopping me in my tracks. "Did you really think you could get one over on me? I own a fucking tech company, Harry!"

"It still worked," he sneered, his teeth showing as a chuckle crept up his throat. "That's enough for me."

"I'll fucking—" I started, stopping myself before I could get the words out in front of the police. Didn't need a death threat charge, not when he was going to have plentyof his own. I hoped with every ounce of my being that he at least got the shit beaten out of him while he waited on his inevitable bail, hoping he would learn some kind of lesson that wasn't at Mandy's expense.

He was lucky we weren't alone this time.

————

Mandy's body shook as she spoke to the police, my jacket slumped over her shoulders. Hopefully it would help a little with the shock, and she could have something familiar to hold on to.

With every interaction she recounted to them, every little detail of Harry's behavior lately, it made me want to vomit. The signs had been there for a while. If we'd only just communicated, elaborated with each other that something was off, not quite right, maybe we would have figured things out sooner. Maybe we'd have ended up with a better outcome.

Stories of him interrogating her about the ring I'd given her, stories of him hurling nasty comments about how she'd end up crying on the floor of her bathroom when I decided I was done with her. I knew without a shadow of a doubt the ways in which I'd gotten things wrong, but never, not in a million years, would I do that. And he tried to make her believe I would. He tried to make her believe that my absence from her life was me pulling back, when in reality, he'd crafted the distraction himself. He'd sought me out that night in the garage, egged me on, and laughed when I punched him. What was it he'd said? God, she's going to love this.

I wanted to splinter the wood beneath my feet.

The police had her sign some paperwork before they left, Harry already long gone and likely in a cell. It was an understatement to say that I hoped he never got out. I hoped he rottedin there.

I watched Mandy from the doorway. I was not about to overstep whatever boundaries she'd built up against me, but watching as the tears fall silently from the corners of her eyes as she stared blankly at her monitor was almost torture. I wanted to hold her. I wanted to make things better. I just didn't know how.

Her mouth moved, silent words falling from her lips.

"What was that?" I asked, leaning forward.

"I didn't want him to kiss me, I didn't want him to touch me," she said quietly, only a fraction louder. I caught it, though.

"I know. I know you didn't."

"Why did he…?" Her voice caught around a sob, her shoulders hunching forward, hands twitching.

"I don't know, princess." It took every ounce of strength to not cross the room, to not hold her. I couldn't make this harder. I wouldn't.

"I just feel like—" Mandy cut herself off as she took in a trembling breath. "I feel like everything between him and me has been a lie. I turned him down yearsago, Jack. Before we started our business. How much of this was planned?"

"I don't know, Princess," I repeated. My chest ached for her, ached for myself. I'd done the same thing as Harry. Worse, even. On a much larger scale. I'd brought myself to her uninvited, invaded her life. Was I no better than him in her eyes?

"He knew I didn't want it."

"I know."

She bit her quivering lower lip. Swollen, red eyes met mine from behind her desk, her hands grasping at the lapels of my jacket around her. "I know what you're thinking," she said. "What you did isn't comparable to him. Not at all."

I steeled my jaw. Am I that much of an open book? She was wrong. "You can't say that."

"So you moved to Boulder." She shrugged, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands, streaking mascara. "And you hired me. It's not like you were trying to control the outcome of that."

"But you're wrong," I bit out. I curled my fingers into fists, needing the sting of the pain of my nails sinking into my palm. "I'm no better, Mandy. Everything, all of this," I motioned with my hands, encompassing the entirety of the situation, "was because I planned it. Do you genuinely believe I moved my business to Boulder because of the booming tech industry? If that was all I wanted, I could've gone to Silicon Valley. I could've positioned myself among the top tech companies out there, next to Apple and Microsoft and Google. But I chose Boulder. I chose Boulder because of you."

From the corner of my eye I could see her eyes blinking. "What are you saying?"

"You know what I'm saying."

She dropped her gaze to her keyboard. I could almost hear the gears turning in her head, working it out, putting me in a cage just like Harry would be in.

"I'll make you a coffee. Let you… think," I sighed, turning my sights on the break room.

————

When I came back with two mugs full of fresh coffee, Mandy had moved to the waiting area of the office. Her knee bounced incessantly, rattling the little table in front of her. The closer I got, she shifted farther over on the sofa.

"Are you asking me to sit with you? Or are you backing away from me?" I asked, the words strained as I set down our cups on the small wooden coasters.

"You can sit with me," she mumbled. Her eyes were set on the coffee in front of her, too dazed to even look in my direction.

I sucked in a breath as I sat down beside her . The shaking in her body had calmed significantly, but I could tell just by the way she looked and moved that she felt like her skin was crawling. I just wanted to hug her, comfort her, but I couldn't fucking dothat after he'd forced himself on her.

I placed the coffee cup in her hands instead.

"You're not like him," she whispered. She stared straight down into the rising steam. "You're not, even if you moved here for me."

"I moved everything here for you," I clarified. "Spent millions moving my campus, seeking out your business, hiring you, and ensuring you took the job."

"You didn't send threats against my life just to get me to stop seeing someone," she said. Her thumb rubbed against the rim of the mug. "You didn't kiss me when I clearly didn't want it. I didn't have to take your contract, either. I had other options."

"But I made it so easy for you to fall into my lap." The words hurt to say. I knew it was true, but admitting it, saying the quiet part out loud — I wasn't a good person. I wasn't as bad as Harry, but I wasn't much better. "I reeled you in and left you hanging. I beat up your friend."

"He deserved it. And that was because of him."

"My actions are mine alone. I didn't have to go about it the way I did."

She turned to me, shifting on the couch. "Your actions should be taken in context," she sighed, leaning farther over and resting her forehead against my shoulder. Electricity shot through me, the need for touch just a little more filled. "I'm not upset about what you did, Jack. Any of it."

I sucked in a deep breath as I leaned back, taking her with me with a hand on the side of her head. "You should be."

"Just because I should be doesn't mean I am." She leaned further in, snuggling down, and this was all I'd been wanting for weeks. Why did it have to come at her expense? "At least not right now. And right now, I need to calm down. Not be angry."

I nodded.

We sat in silence for a few moments, her head migrating to my chest, my hand stroking her hair. I could stay like this forever, easily. The smell of her hair, the warmth of her body… I could almost pretend this was our normal. I wanted that more than anything.

"Did you really move here just because of me?" She asked, breaking the silence with a voice so small I could barely hear it.

"I did."

"Why?"

I chuckled, squeezing her shoulders. "Because I tried to get you out of my head for ten years with no avail. I tried to move on," I said. I hooked a finger under her chin, lifting her face so I could see her. Wide gray eyes met mine. "You have been, and will always be, the only one for me, Mandy. I wanted to prove myself to you. Still do."