Chapter 1 - THE BLOODY FOOTPRINT
The bathroom door opened.
Harper Queen froze with her maid’s uniform hanging halfway off one shoulder.
For one terrible second, neither of them moved.
Gabriel Ashford stood in the doorway.
Black suit.
White shirt open at the collar.
Blood on one cuff that clearly wasn’t his.
And eyes so cold they made every warning Harper had ever heard about him feel painfully real.
His gaze moved from her terrified face to the bruises covering her back.
Purple.
Yellow.
Green.
Some fading.
Some fresh.
Then his eyes dropped to the blood running down her calf.
A single red footprint marked his white marble floor between them.
“What happened to you?”
His voice was quiet.
That made it worse.
Harper yanked her uniform up.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Ashford. I know I’m not supposed to be here. I’ll clean this and leave.”
Gabriel didn’t move.
“I didn’t ask why you were in my bathroom.”
Her fingers stopped on the zipper.
He stepped inside.
“I asked what happened to you.”
“I fell.”
His face didn’t change.
“Try again.”
Harper forced herself to breathe.
“I’m clumsy.”
“You have finger-shaped bruises around your neck.”
Her stomach dropped.
He had noticed those too.
She pulled her collar higher.
“They’re old.”
“Not all of them.”
She grabbed the bloody cloth from the floor.
“I’m fine.”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
“No.”
Harper looked up.
“No?”
“No, you’re not.”
Something about the certainty in his voice almost broke her.
Almost.
But Harper had survived Derek by learning one rule.
Never trust a powerful man who said he wanted to help.
She lowered her eyes.
“Please don’t fire me.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“Who said anything about firing you?”
“I broke the rules.”
“So?”
“Mrs. Morrison said—”
“I own the house.”
Harper swallowed.
“Then I’m asking you. Please. I need this job.”
Gabriel looked at the cracked skin on her hands.
Then the old scar above her eye.
Then the way she instinctively protected her left ribs whenever she breathed too deeply.
“Who did it?”
Harper went still.
“No one.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“Your husband?”
“He’s my ex.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Her eyes snapped toward his.
Something dangerous moved across his expression.
Harper immediately regretted answering.
“He doesn’t matter.”
“If he did that to you, he matters.”
“Not to you.”
Gabriel leaned one shoulder against the marble wall.
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“Whether he plans to do it again.”
Harper’s pulse hammered.
She hated that he sounded calm.
Derek sounded calm too right before he hurt people.
“Mr. Ashford, please.”
Gabriel studied her for a long moment.
Then he stepped backward.
“You can finish cleaning.”
Harper blinked.
“That’s it?”
“For tonight.”
She wasn’t sure why those words frightened her more.
Gabriel turned toward the door.
Then stopped.
Without looking back, he said, “The next time somebody puts their hands on you, tell me.”
“There won’t be a next time.”
Gabriel glanced over his shoulder.
“People like him always believe there will be.”
Then he left.
Harper stood alone in the silence.
Her knees nearly gave out.
She finished cleaning quickly, changed, and left through the service entrance shortly before midnight.
Cold Boston air slapped her cheeks.
For the first time all night, she could breathe.
Until she saw the police cruiser parked across the street.
Her blood turned to ice.
The driver’s door opened.
Officer Derek Lawson stepped out.
Her ex-husband smiled.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
Harper stopped breathing.
May you like
Derek rested one hand casually on his service weapon.
“You really thought I wouldn’t find you?”
