Chapter 3 - Taylor

The second I walked into that meeting room and made eye contact with TJ Rubens, my heart sank to the depths of hell. It is just my luck that the guy I'm working for is suing my arch-nemesis.

I have not seen TJ in almost a decade, but here I am, face to face with him, and I can tell he doesn't even recognize me. I have no idea if I am offended by that or not.

He keeps checking me out and making flirtatious remarks. It is rather annoying, but I do take notice of him standing up for me when his coworker insults me and my job. It surprises me, but he's still acting like I'm some hot commodity, which isn't going to get anywhere with me.

TJ looks almost exactly the same, handsome as ever with his dark blonde hair and light blue eyes. When our eyes met earlier, it felt like he recognized me, but then he opened his mouth and I knew he had no idea who I was.

If he did, I doubt he would be flirting with me or playing Mr. Nice Guy.

My face is on fire with a fresh flare of hatred toward him.

The sooner I get out of here and head to my meeting with Dylan, the better.

"Well, lucky for you, I practice law in many states, but it looks like we aren't getting anywhere, so I am going to go. See you all in court."

I can feel the air shift at the word court.

The man in charge, Lex, stands with me. "Let me walk you out."

I start to decline when another man stands. "No, I'll walk her out, boss. You've got better things to do."

I look and see TJ making his way toward me.

What did he mean by ‘better things to do?' Is this a tactic to remind me that I'm not worthy of the CEO's time as a lowly lawyer?

"After you," TJ says with a wicked smile.

There is just something in his eyes that I don't trust. Past experience mixed with the look in his eyes causes caution signs to flash in my mind. This man is not one to be taken lightly.

"I have no idea where I'm going. I'll just follow you."

TJ flashes his white teeth at me, and they remind me of a wolf's. They are big and bright and a tiny bit scary.

"I know our office is huge and gaudy, but once you've been here long enough it is not that hard to navigate," TJ explains like we are old friends and not enemies.

I watch the back of his blonde head as we walk. He is at least six inches taller than I am, and I'm pretty tall for a female, standing at five foot eight.

He turns around and starts walking backward. Our eyes meet and his blue orbs stare into mine. It looks like the ocean is alive within his gaze, but I quickly avert my eyes. Not wanting him to think I am intimidated, I just look through him instead of at him.

"Where are you from?"

I roll my eyes, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"That's usually why someone asks a question. They want an answer."

He is just as much an ass now as he was as a teenager.

"It doesn't matter where I'm from, all that matters is that I do my job and win this case," I say as we reach the elevators.

I know how to get out of here, but TJ stays by my side.

We are silent for the thirty seconds it takes for the elevator to ping and open.

I step into the elevator and TJ hops on as well.

"What are you doing?" I ask, taking a step back and almost tripping, TJ reaches out and catches my hand.

As our hands touch, I am hit with a memory from my childhood.

TJ grabs my hand as I am about to fall down the stairs.

My heart beats double-time at the action.

This is the first time he's touched me since he threw me in the ocean.

His eyes meet mine and my stomach flips.

Is he going to apologize? He looks apologetic.

"You okay?" TJ asks, and I nod.

Besides almost falling down the stairs, my brain is in turmoil over how TJ has treated me. Part of me tells myself that TJ has never been mean about my weight before, so maybe it was just a one-time thing, but the other half is wary that he might just be evil.

"Couldn't have you falling and making a hole in the floor. Mom would kill me," TJ chuckles before shoving me out of the way and running out the front door.

My gaze burns into his back through the open doorway.

He really has turned into a complete jerk this summer.

What did I do to deserve such cruelty?

Looking down at my body, I cover myself with my arms and run into my room.

I stare into the bathroom mirror at my long brown locks. I have been growing my hair out for a few years, and I always thought it shaped my face well, but now all I see is it shielding my chubby cheeks. My mother always said I'd grow into my face, but here I am, staring at my cheeks. They are wet with tears.

My mother always tells me how beautiful I am, and I believed her until this moment. TJ is the only boy that I have ever wanted to see me as beautiful, but he sees me as the opposite.

The tears fall harder.

What if no one ever finds me beautiful?

I am snapped back to reality as TJ brushes his thumb across the back of my hand.

Snatching my hand away, I shoot him a dirty look.

This man made me feel worthless as a young girl. While that has shaped me into the confident woman I am today, it really hurt my self-esteem growing up. It changed me to my core.

I am not going to let him get to me now. I know better than to let some guy's flirting get to me. Especially, when he is only doing so because he finds me attractive.

TJ Rubens is as shallow as they come, and I will not succumb to his wicked words.

"I don't bite."

"Well, I do."

TJ's eyes widen at my comment, and I smirk, finally getting him to shut up.

The elevator pings and we are on the ground level.

I exit the elevator before he can say anything back to me. I walk out of the building without a second glance behind me.

Hopefully this will be the last time I see TJ Rubens until the trial date. And on that day, I am going to crush him like a bug and take him for all that he and his company are worth.

***

"How was the meeting?" Dylan asks me as he sips on a mimosa.

I get that this is the city, but it's only one o'clock. Should he really be drinking this early in the day?

As he technically hired me, I keep my mouth shut. It truly is not any of my business, anyway. As long as I win this case, nothing else matters.

"The meeting was unproductive. I met all of the heads of Druk Technologies, and they are dead set that they have nothing to hide and have done nothing illegal."

Dylan snorts, "So, they denied everything?"

I nod and look around.

We are currently on the top floor restaurant of a forty-five story building. The restaurant is fancy and serves things that I cannot even pronounce, so I just ordered some water.

Dylan is chowing down on some small serving of what appears to be fish of some sort, but I could be wrong.

"Typical. Lex Hutchinson is a character, and I doubt he'll want his perfect image ruined by this lawsuit. I bet by this time next week, they'll have caved and settled."

I watch Dylan eat and am amazed by how meticulous he is. He cuts everything into small pieces and then eats it as if savoring it.

"That would sure make my job easier," I mumble.

Dylan raises an eyebrow at me.

"Maybe easier, but not as fun."

He had a point.

I thrived in the courtroom, and I couldn't wait to tear TJ and his crew apart. Something about watching the bad guys go down fills me with such utter joy.

I open my mouth to say as much but am caught off guard by a shadow overhead. Looking up, it seems as if something flies across the sun before disappearing in a flash.

"Did you see that?"

Dylan looks to where my eyes are peeled.

"See what?"

I stare toward the sun until my eyes burn, hoping to see the shadow again but it doesn't come.

"Never mind, my eyes must be playing tricks on me."

There is no way I saw what I thought I just saw.

***

Somewhere miles away

Staring into the hot flames of the heated cave, the man's chest burns. It feels as if a million razor-sharp searing blades are cutting into his chest. The feeling is not fading, but only grows with every second that passes.

She is his mate, he knows it. That thought is driving him wild.

He roars.

His powers have been growing every day since he lost the last one.

He was called to New York City by his innards, and he just knows that that brunette is the blonde one's mate.

The fire in his chest had grown and grown until he saw her on that rooftop. The man she was with was not her mate, but someone else. Not the blonde man who she was meant to be with, but someone familiar.

It had warmed his soul to know that she was not with the blonde man, but he fears she will soon come to realize that he is her mate.

If they got together, who knew what would happen?

He is determined to succeed in keeping them apart. Even if it means that one of them will not survive.

"We must make sure they do not meet," he says to his ally, Genevive, whom he has recruited to his side.

"What if they already have?"

"Then we must keep an eye on them both. I'll watch the girl, you watch the man."

With the plan in place, the inferno in his chest starts to simmer.

He will not fail.

Not this time.