Page 9 of Shark’s Rise

Now we were getting somewhere—though her revelation wasn’t exactly a stunner for me. Still, I played her game. “Why do you say that?”

“Well, duh.” Terryn could gold medal in eye rolling. “I mean, trucking that many piranhas into your chichi neighborhood? I was horrified and impressed at the same time. Quite the show. I mean, wow.”

I took a step closer to her. With a lot of caution. “So you did see everything that night?”

“Hmmm. Mostly.” Her tiny shrug prompted me to back away once more. “After I got your email to come to your house that night, I saw everything up to the point your girlfriend fainted, but then I got the heck out of there.”

I stopped. Jerked my stare up at her. “Wait. My…email?”

“Why, yes. When you asked me to come over to your place for drinks? So we could make a fresh start after the misunderstanding with my cell phone?”

“Terryn.” Okay, screw the game. I commemorated the conclusion by raking both hands through my hair in frustrated swipes but stopped when I saw how she eyed my motion with open appreciation. “Does that sound like something I would ever do? An offer I would ever make? Words I’d ever say? And we both know the situation with your phone wasn’t a ‘misunderstanding.’”

“Umm, well, no.” She looked down at the carpet, seemingly fascinated with the toe of her scuffed navy-blue pump. “I…I guess it doesn’t sound like you at all. Now that you say it like that, with that look on your face…”

“And how do you expect me to look, Terryn?”

“I…uhhh…I don’t know, but—”

“How did you really think I was going to accept this little ‘gift’?” I was snarling more than speaking now but couldn’t stop the tumble of my anger. “Did you think it would be—what? Funny? To give me a gift that reminds me of a night when a woman was literally eaten alive in my backyard swimming pool?”

She jerked her face up, her eyes bright and hurting. “That part wasn’t my—”

“My niece swims in that water, for Christ’s sake!” I pulled the keychain from my pocket, stared at it, but then jammed it right back in. “You’re crazy, woman. Fucking crazy.”

“No!” she screeched. “I’m not! Stop saying that. Everyone stop saying that!”

I looked around the room with exaggerated head motions—turning left, then swinging my gaze right. As suspected, it was still just me and the psycho bunny in the ill-fitting suit standing here.

“Like I was saying…”

“Let. Me. Finish!”

With ringing ears, I stepped back even farther. And told myself this was one of those “silence is better” situations.

Terryn heaved out a sigh before going on. “I—I wanted the keychain to be a reminder that you’re not alone, Seba— Mr. Shark.”

She closed the gap I’d just made, and this time I held my ground. She moved in close enough that I could see the pulse in her neck. She was damn agitated. And that was damn alarming.

“I know what you’re going through.” She gentled her voice and tilted her head. “You may even be scared right now.” When she reached for my hand, I recoiled from her palm as if it throbbed with ten amps of electricity. “And that’s okay. It would be understandable in this situation.”

Alarming was just the start of where this was going now. The nutjob went on like I hadn’t just recoiled, making me realize she’d probably played this scene out a hundred times in her crazy-ass mind. She was damned and determined it would go down the way she imagined it. To get what I wanted—needed—out of it too, I had to go there with her. Play the game again, at least outwardly.

“Well, Terryn. I appreciate it. And I do appreciate the gift too. It was…thoughtful. But remind me again, because there have just been so many emotions here this afternoon…” I sighed dramatically, and she sent back a dreamy smile. “Who did you say gave you this keychain to give to me? The person’s name, exactly?”

Her brow knitted. “I didn’t get his name. It didn’t seem relevant at the time. He had it dropped off here by a courier. It was all very straightforward, really.” She retracted her head into her shoulders like a timid turtle. “Although I probably shouldn’t tell you all of that, should I?”

“Why?”

“Because it doesn’t seem like I put much effort into your gift now.”

I couldn’t decide if her crestfallen, embarrassed demeanor about having a personal shopper or the fact that the person messing with me was now doing it at my office too, annoyed me more.

Best to just move past it all. Walking toward the heavy door that led back out to the reception area, I said to my assistant by way of dismissal, “Thanks again for the keychain. I’ll be working remotely for a few days. You can reach me on my cell phone or via email. I’ve already handled rearranging my schedule, including the appointment I had with Jacob Cole.” I held up my hand in a stop gesture, knowing she would launch into a litany of questions. But she went on with them anyway as she walked toward the door.

“Uhh…okay. Are you going on a business trip? Can I help arrange a hotel? A flight? That’s what I’m here for, Sebastian. To help you.” Terryn trudged through the door, imploring me to allow her to lend assistance.

“For the last time, it’s Mr. Shark. If you slip up again, you’ll be holding a pink slip by morning. I’m not playing around on this. Now get out of my office so I can finish what I need to and leave for the day.” I slammed the door so hard behind her, the framed honors on the adjacent wall rattled in response.