It’s silent for a moment, then Hudson drawls, “Talbot said he stole a bunch of those girl’s panties and has them in a box under his bed.”
“Motherfuck—”
Jenna is reckless and dangerous.
I’m rational.
I pace in my blessedly empty penthouse—what was I even thinking, wishing I had company?
I should take Salinger up on the offer to fire Jenna. She’s bad for me. She’s distracting—her and her dog and the senior citizen fan club and her exes.
She’s probably getting fucked by Time-Share Ratface with his hot-dog-sized dick.
Or…
Or, what if she’s in dangerright this very moment? What if she’s locked in the trunk of his car?
“Then it’s her problem,” I tell the empty penthouse. I’ve offered to help her, gotten my brothers mad at me for helping her. If she wants to ruin her life and get back with her ex, that’s her problem.
But…
But I can’t actually leave her with him. I know he’s dangerous, even if Jenna won’t admit it.
She needs me. She won’t acknowledge it, but she does.
“I don’t need her, and I won’t save her.”
I watch my dinner heat up in the microwave.
All I can think about is the way she looked when I found her limping along the side of the road, how scared she was, the fear in her eyes, then the sob of relief when she realizedit was me. The way she squeezed me tight and how trusting she was when I wrapped her carefully in my jacket.
I slam my fist into the microwave.
“Why is she doing this to me?”
The microwave has a dent in it now, and the door is smashed. It makes upset beeping noises until I rip it out of the wall.
I lean against the counter, the heels of my hands digging into my eye sockets, trying to banish the image of Jenna and her ex sitting close together side by side in that booth, her practically in his lap.
As long as she’s happy.
“As long as she’s happy?”
Fuck that. I don’t want her to be happy with him.
She claimed she was happy with Nathan, and look how that turned out. She needs to be shown that she’s wrong.
I already have a file on her exes started, and I memorize Andreas’s address, mapping out the quickest way to his apartment as I grab my motorcycle gear.
Jenna’s not staying with him; she’s coming back with me. I’m going to lock her up here until I make her see reason.
My bike is gleaming and black in the dark of the parking deck. My footfalls echo in the concrete parking garage as I pass by one of my SUVs, the window Jenna broke freshly repaired.
A light flashes inside the car. There are scuffling noises.
I peer in the tinted window…
23
