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Lucy plunked her purse down on the counter next. "I'm not staying. I have a life, you know. I've been taking acting classes and going on auditions. I even got a callback this week. I just came home for a couple of days."
Mia was furious. "Listen, it's summer. Your classes are over and you need to come home. It's busy, and you need to earn all of the money I've been sending you."
Hannah watched as the two sisters argued.
"Aren't you listening? I'm on the verge of being a big star. I don't have time to play with flowers."
The dinging of the shop door opening was a welcome distraction from the stressful family reunion, until Hannah looked up to see none other than Jake Davenport standing a few feet away from the counter. He hadn't taken his sunglasses off yet, but she still felt his icy blue eyes raking over her. Her heart thumped hard as they stood in a standoff. She wouldn't have dreamed he would seek her out here.
How foolish of her.
Mia spoke first. "I know who you are, and you have exactly one minute to get the hell out of here before I call the police." She rounded the end of the counter to place herself between Jake and Hannah, as if the little wisp of a young Asian-American woman could be a match against the muscular Jake Davenport should he choose to overpower her.
Mia refused to take her eyes off Jake as he let a slow grin light up his face, reaching to slide the sunglasses from his face to expose the humor in his blue eyes. He was enjoying Mia's show of loyalty and that just pissed off Hannah all the more.
"I'm sorry to disturb you ladies, but I've come to talk with Hannah for a few minutes," he said.
"She doesn't have anything to say to you, you sonofabitch. Now get the hell out before I call the police."
Jake wasn't bothered in the least. In fact, he looked like he was having fun. "Such language, Ms. Yoshito. And I'd love to know what it is exactly you think I've done that the police might be interested in."
"Don't act all innocent with me. I saw the bruises you left on Hannah after yourdate."
Jake let his cool gaze move to Hannah, his glare penetrating her. "Hannah, dear. I think you need to set your friend straight. The last time I checked, you were a willing participant in our...date. More importantly, I wasn't aware you had lodged a formal complaint with the police."
He was right, of course. She should have gone to the police to report that he'd drugged her—forced her to have sex, but even as she had thought it, she'd known nothing would have ever come of her complaint. She'd gone out to dinner with the man. She'd gone with him willingly to his house. And with her history, she somehow didn't think the police would be impressed with the news that Jake Davenport had whipped and paddled her to multiple orgasms against her will.
She'd seen the cold look in his eyes as he'd overpowered her. The scariest thing was that she had sensed he'd been holding back. As sure as she stood there, she knew he was capable of atrocious depravities, and she felt lucky enough to have only seen the tip of the iceberg. She wasn't willing to take the chance of being alone with him again for fear he'd unleash his full psychopathic brand of crazy on her.
His smug smile told her he knew where her thoughts had turned. "I didn't think so. Let's go, Hannah. You have work to do."
She found her voice. "I told you. I'm not looking for a new job."
"Don't be silly. You attended college. You got a degree. You signed a contract to do a job using that degree. Now get your purse. I need to get back to the studio to meet my newest director."
The news that the handsome man in the shop might have something to do with show business perked Lucy up. She walked confidently up to Jake, thrusting her hand out as a greeting. "Hello, sir. Did you say you were meeting with a director? I'm Lucy Yoshito, and I'm an actress. You wouldn't have any openings I could audition for, would you?"
Mia moved to push her sister away from Jake, but he reached out to take Lucy's hand instead. His eyes left Hannah's to give the sluttily dressed Lucy a good look over. He obviously liked what he saw. "Nice to meet you, Lucy. As a matter of fact, I'm always in the market for beautiful talent such as yourself. It's hard work, though. Are you sure you're willing to pay your dues as you start out your career?"
Lucy had no clue what Jake was really saying. "Oh, I'm totally willing to pay my dues. I've been auditioning for commercials. I know I need to start out building up a portfolio."
"Well, I just might have some openings you would be a good fit for. I need to meet with Hannah first, but—"
Hannah made it clear she'd be going nowhere with him. "I told you I'm not working for you. I'm not dating you. I’m not doing anything with you."
She saw Jake's jaw pop as he gritted his teeth, unused to being told no. "Well, that is very disappointing indeed, but... " He paused, shooting her a chilling glare before turning his attention back to Lucy. "Looks like I have some time this afternoon after all, Lucy. How would you like to come with me and we could get that audition underway?"
Mia stepped forward to pull Lucy back, but Jake was too fast, pulling the youngest woman against him intimately. The look on Lucy's face was one of sheer victory. "Stop trying to ruin this for me, Mia. You and Hannah want to work in a flower shop the rest of your lives, more power to you, but I'm gonna be famous. It was fate that I came home today."
Jake wrapped his arm around Lucy's thin waist, his eyes boring into Hannah's. His threat was clear to all but Lucy. "What do you say, Hannah? I'm leaving here with one of you today. You coming with me, or are you gonna let me take Lucy to the warehouse instead? And before you answer, don’t think I’m forgetting about that little something you have that belongs to me."
Once again, she berated herself for taking the stupid ledger. Would he just leave her alone if she gave it back? And Hannah had no proof of what happened in Jake's warehouse, but by the way he had talked about it while she worked in his office, she had a pretty good clue of what went on inside. Unfortunately, Lucy was going to fit in perfectly.
The sound of Hannah's cell phone broke the standoff. It was Mama Rosa's ringtone. She'd call her back later.
"I'm not leaving with you, Jake. Just go. Leave Lucy alone. She has no idea what she's getting herself into," Hannah said.
Lucy whined, "You're just jealous. You had your chance."
