Chapter 19: Old ghosts

Bronte’s POV

The coffee shop was empty when I arrived.

Jake was already there, sitting in the far corner booth with a folder in front of him.

He looked tired with dark circles under his eyes, jaw tight. When he saw me, something soft and relieved crossed his face before it hardened again.

Like he didn’t believe I could come.

“You came,” he said as I sat down.

“I kind of didn’t want to.”

He nodded like he expected that.

Jake pushed the folder toward me.

“I wasn’t lying,” he said quietly.

“There are things about Rufus that don’t add up.

Shell companies, transfers that look clean on the surface but fall apart when you dig. People who used to work with him and then disappeared from the industry.”

I stared at the papers without opening them. My stomach felt tight.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked. “Really?”

Jake’s eyes locked onto mine. “Because I still care about you, because the way he looks at you isn’t normal. Because I can see you changing, and not in a good way.”

His voice cracked a little on the last words.

“I’m not some innocent girl he’s corrupting, Jake,” I said, softer than I meant to.

“I made choices, I keep making them.”

“Choices under pressure aren’t free,” he replied.

“You were vulnerable. He saw that and took advantage.”

I looked down at my hands. The silver necklace against my skin.

“What do you want me to do with this?” I asked, nodding at the folder.

“Look at it. Think about it, and if even a small part of you is scared let me help you.”

I opened the folder slowly, there were numbers, Company names. Highlighted lines. It all looked official, but I didn’t understand most of it.

Still, the way Jake watched me made the air feel heavy.

After a few minutes, I closed it.

“I need time,” I said.

Jake’s shoulders dropped a little. “That’s all I’m asking.”

We sat there in silence for a while longer. When I finally stood to leave, he reached out and caught my wrist gently, not like Rufus would.

“Bronte,” he said. “Whatever happens don’t let him convince you that this is love. Real love doesn’t need to own you.”

His words stayed with me long after I walked out into the rain.

By the time I got home, my clothes were damp and my mind was louder than ever.

Rufus was in the living room when I walked in. He looked up from his laptop, eyes immediately staring as he took in my wet hair and the expression on my face.

“You met him,” he said. Not a question.

I nodded, suddenly exhausted.

Rufus closed the laptop and stood. He walked over slowly, stopping in front of me. For a second I thought he would get angry.

Instead, he reached out and gently brushed a wet strand of hair from my cheek.

“What did he say?”

“That you’re dangerous. That he’s found things about your company.”

Rufus’s expression didn’t change, but something cold were behind his eyes.

“Of course he did.” He sighed, tired. “Jake is persistent. I’ll give him that.”

He took my hand and led me upstairs without another word. In his room, he undressed me slowly, carefully, like I was something fragile.

When he laid me on the bed and kissed me, there was no rush. No roughness. Just deep, quiet intensity.

Afterward, as I lay against his chest, he spoke into the dark.

“He’s trying to pull you back to a life that no longer fits you,” Rufus murmured.

“Don’t let him, you’re stronger than that now.”

I closed my eyes.

In a long while, I wasn’t sure if strength meant staying or leaving.