Page 114 of Twisted Temptation

"The only thing she could do. She ran. Came home."

"Is Parker-Downey looking for her?"

"Oh yeah. He’s looking for her. Asshole is a narcissist, and she got away. But she’s smart. She only works off the books at the coffee shop, and barely exists online."

I feel the two halves of me merge. The man and the don. The husband and the monster. What emerges is something dark and vengeful with one thing in its crosshairs.

Jeremy Parker-Downey.

The man who kicked in a door, took what wasn't his, and then did it again because he could.

"Pete. Everything you have on Parker-Downey. Finances, properties, personal security, travel patterns, vices, vulnerabilities. Every skeleton in every closet. I want to know what he eats for breakfast, who he's fucking, and which of his board members secretly hate him. Full workup. Nothing left out."

"Timeline?"

"Yesterday."

"I understand."

"And, Pete."

"Yeah?"

"This stays between us. No one else knows."

"Got it."

I hang up.

Standing in the wreckage of my desk, I vibrate with a simmering rage and think about Sunny. I think about her wondering if she'd ever feel safe again. She will. I'll make sure of it. Because she's mine to protect.

I will burn Jeremy Parker-Downey's world to the ground for what he did to her.

And then I'll make sure he knows why.

I pick up my phone.

I call Sunny.

She picks up on the second ring. "Hey." Her voice is warm, and I feel the comfort wash over me.

"Hey," I say.

“Miss me already.”

"Always."

“I’ve got a remedy for that. You could come home, and I can ease the tension I hear in your voice.”

I close my eyes. “I like the sound of that, but I can’t. It’s why I’m calling. I won’t be home until late tonight.”

There's an ache in my chest I don't know what to do with. I have to force myself to keep my voice normal.

“So no pad thai?”

“No, little rose, not for me tonight.”

"How late are you going to be? I’ll stay up."