Chapter 4

“Where is she?” Jason demanded, his voice low, the edge razor-sharp. 

 

“She texted when she left the office,” Mark replied, shifting the sedan into park along the curb. “She should have been home twenty minutes ago, sir.” 

 

“Then call her apartment. For God’s sake, Mark, call now!” 

 

Mark pulled his phone from his coat and dialed the landline. It rang five times before the receiver clicked open. 

 

“Hello?” a woman answered, her tone breathless and irritated. 

 

“Yes, hello. Is Miss Woods home? I need to speak with her on an urgent matter.” 

 

“Yeah, me too, dude. Who the hell are you, and why are you calling this number?” 

 

“Excuse me, is this Miss Tina...” 

 

“Listen to me, you creep,” Tina snapped, her voice turning venomous. “If you don’t give me an answer in three seconds, I will track you down and end you.

You’re that stalker bastard, aren’t you? I will stomp your face into the asphalt until your brains are splattered across the pavement, scrape the residue off my boot, and sleep like a baby. Try me.” 

 

Mark pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at the screen in disbelief and quiet alarm. 

 

“What happened?” Jason asked, his jaw clenching as his gaze narrowed. “Is she okay?” 

 

“Er... it’s not Miss Woods, sir. It’s her roommate.” Mark hesitated, then pressed the phone back to his ear. “Wait...did you say stalker?” 

 

Before Mark could finish, Jason snatched the device from his hand. 

 

“This is Jason Williams,” he said, authority cutting through the panic rising in his chest. “I employ Miss Woods. Is she there?” 

 

A dry scoff crackled through the receiver. “Oh, sure, and I’m Michelle Obama, you dickhead. Get the fuck off this line before I trace this call and come for your throat.” 

 

The line went dead with a sharp click. 

 

Jason lowered the phone, his pulse hammering against his ribs. “Drive,” he ordered grimly. “We’re going to her house.” 

 

 

-----

 

Inside the apartment, Tina tossed the cordless phone onto the counter, fuming. “Jason Williams my ass. Who does he think he’s fooling?” 

 

She glanced at the wall clock, and her irritation dissolved into a cold knot of dread. It was nearly an hour past Selina’s usual commute time. 

 

“Where the hell are you, Sel?” 

 

Tina grabbed her mobile and dialed Selina’s cell again. Straight to voicemail. She redialed once, twice, three times, nothing. 

 

Panic was clawing at her throat when the doorbell buzzed sharply. 

 

Tina crossed the living room in three strides and yanked the door open. “You better start explaining...” 

 

The words died on her tongue. 

 

Standing in the hallway was Jason Williams in an impeccably tailored three-piece suit, flanked by his imposing driver, Mark. Jason looked tall and formidable, but behind his hardened expression, his dark eyes held a frantic edge. 

 

“Forgive the intrusion,” Jason said, his voice tight with forced composure. He looked past her shoulder, scanning the empty living room. “You mentioned a stalker. Where is Selina?” 

 

Tina stepped back, her mouth slightly agape. “Oh, God... It really is you.” She gestured them inside. “She isn’t home. Her phone won’t connect, and she’s never this late. I’ve been calling non-stop, but nothing’s going through.” 

 

Jason stepped into the entryway, every muscle in his frame coiled tight. “Tell me about this stalker. What happened?” 

 

“It started about a year ago,” Tina said, crossing her arms against a sudden chill. “Some guy started following her. Taking photos. He claimed she looked identical to someone he used to know, but... it wasn't just street photos. He had pictures of her inside our apartment. In her pajamas. Coming out of the bathroom in a towel. In...” 

 

“His name,” Jason cut in, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “What is his name? I assume you filed a report. Was he arrested, Miss Henderson?”

Tina shrank back slightly under the sheer intensity radiating from him. “We never got his name, but the police caught him outside our building and locked him up.” 

 

“That will be enough to go on. Thank you, Miss Henderson,” Mark said smoothly, stepping in to diffuse the pressure. “We will locate Miss Woods immediately. Try not to worry, she may have simply been caught in evening traffic.” 

 

Mark stepped aside, lifting his phone to request an immediate trace on Selina’s mobile signal. 

 

Jason, however, had stopped listening. 

 

A suffocating weight crashed over his chest. His hands began to tremble; the air in the room grew thin and caustic. In his mind, the present blurred into a nightmare from ten years ago, the deafening roar of an inferno, the crack of automatic gunfire, the acrid stench of smoke, and the dark pool of blood mixing with ash across polished stone. 

 

He braced a hand against the wall to steady himself, his breath catching in ragged, shallow gasps. 

 

Mark noticed at once. Moving swiftly between Jason and Tina, Mark gave the roommate a quiet, firm signal to stay back. “Sir?” 

 

Jason loosened his silk tie with shaking fingers, bowing his head as he fought to drag air into his lungs. 

 

“I’m fine...” Jason rasped, forcing himself upright. “Her location. What do we have?” 

 

“Her last ping was outside the restaurant where you had lunch,” Mark answered quietly. “No new leads since.” 

 

“Then find one!” Jason shouted, his composure shattering. 

 

Before Mark could reply, the front door swung open. 

 

“Tina, you will not believe the day I’ve had,” Selina said, stepping inside with a takeout bag in one hand and her keys in the other. She kicked the door shut and hung her coat on the peg. “I brought Chinese to make up for...” 

 

She froze. 

 

Jason Williams stood in the center of her living room, pale, disheveled, and breathing heavily, with Mark hovering closely at his side. 

 

“Did... did something happen?” Selina asked, looking between them with wide, startled eyes. “Why are you here? Did I make a mistake on the Peterson file?” 

 

Before Mark could answer, Jason crossed the floor in two strides. His hands gripped her upper arms, not painfully, but with an urgency so raw it stole the breath from her lungs. 

 

“Are you hurt?” His dark eyes searched every inch of her face, his gaze frantic as he turned her slightly, checking for injuries. “Selina, look at me. Are you alright?” 

 

The heat of his hands burned straight through her blouse. Selina looked up into his pale face, seeing the stark vulnerability behind his usual cold facade. Her heart gave a sudden, heavy thud. 

 

“I’m fine, sir. Truly,” she said softly, fighting the strange urge to reach out and steady him. “You don't look well at all. Please, have a seat. What's going on?” She glanced over at Mark. “Am I in some kind of trouble?” 

 

“Not at all, Miss Woods,” Mark replied with an apologetic smile. “I called to verify the Peterson delivery, but Miss Henderson answered and threatened to cave my skull in, assuming we were your stalker. Mr. Williams was concerned, so we came directly to ensure your safety.” 

 

Tina offered a sheepish grin from the kitchen archway. “Yeah... look, I’m sorry about the death threats. In my defense, I didn’t think you were actually *the* Jason Williams.” 

 

“You were protecting her,” Jason said quietly, releasing his hold on Selina with visible reluctance. He gave Tina a curt nod. “I would have done far worse in your position. You’re a good friend.” 

 

Selina blinked, trying to piece everything together. “Wait, why didn’t you just call my cell?” 

 

“We did,” Tina said. “Repeatedly.” 

 

Selina winced, reaching into her purse and pulling out her phone. The screen remained stubbornly black. “It died. I could have sworn I plugged it in before leaving the office.”

“You scared the life out of us,” Tina said, stepping forward to pull Selina into a brief, fierce hug. “Don’t do that again.” 

 

“I won’t. I’m sorry.” 

 

Jason adjusted his cuffs, pulling his composed exterior back around himself like armor, though his skin remained pale. “That is our cue to leave. I will see you at the office tomorrow, Miss Woods.” 

 

He turned toward the door. 

 

Selina instinctively stepped after him. “Sir, wait...let me walk you down. You really don’t look well.” 

 

“Stay inside,” Jason said softly, halting at the threshold. 

 

He turned back to face her. 

 

The space between them closed again. Jason took a deliberate step closer, towering over her. Selina didn’t retreat. Her breath hitched as an electric awareness surged between them, prickling across her skin. 

 

“Selina,” he murmured, his voice intimate and low. “If anything happens...anything at all...you call me directly. Do you understand me?” 

 

“I understand,” she whispered. 

 

Her gaze drifted from the dark intensity of his eyes down to the sharp curve of his jaw, his lips, and the neat shadow of his mustache. A bizarre, intoxicating wave of familiarity washed over her...a sensation so deep and ancient it made her chest tighten. 

 

Jason’s gaze dropped to her mouth. He noticed the soft flush creeping up her throat, the parted breath escaping her lips. His jaw clenched with fierce restraint. 

 

“Good,” he said quietly. 

 

Without another word, he turned, stepped into the hallway, and let the door latch shut behind him. 

 

 

--- 

 

 

For five full seconds, complete silence hung over the apartment. 

Then Tina let out a low, theatrical whistle. “Okay... what kind of rated-R drama did I just walk into?” 

 

Selina snapped out of her daze, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. “What are you talking about?” 

 

“What am I talking about?” Tina threw her hands in the air. “Selina, I felt like an intruder in my own living room! Are you sleeping with your billionaire boss?” 

 

“Are you insane?” Selina moved briskly toward the kitchen island, unpacking the takeout containers with trembling fingers. “It’s my second day on the job! Have you lost your mind?” 

 

“Bullshit. That wasn’t just tension, that was pure, uncut sexual magnetism. You two were undressing each other with your eyes. I’m surprised the wallpaper didn’t catch fire.” 

 

“He was worried because you told him I had a stalker!” Selina retorted, though her voice lacked conviction. The ghost of his touch still burned against her skin. “He was just being protective.” 

 

“Protective men don’t look at their assistants like they want to devour them whole,” Tina said, marching over to the counter. “When did this start?” 

 

“You’re completely delusional,” Selina muttered, pushing a carton of noodles across the counter. “Eat your food before I finish it myself.” 

 

“Wicked woman,” Tina sighed happily, grabbing a fork. “Where’s the wine?” 

 

“In the bag.” 

 

 

--- 

 

 

Down in the black sedan, the atmosphere was suffocatingly tense. 

“Sir, are you certain you don’t want me to take you to the hospital?” Mark asked, meeting Jason’s eyes in the rearview mirror. 

 

“Drive home, Mark,” Jason commanded, his voice cold and hard as flint. “And first thing tomorrow, contact the police commissioner. I want the full file on the man arrested outside Miss Woods’s apartment. Every detail, every alias, every phone record. I want to know who hired him.” 

 

“Understood, young master.” 

 

A soft chime broke the silence. Jason’s phone vibrated against the leather seat. 

 

He unlocked the screen. An unknown number had sent a single message: 

 

'It’s lovely to see Her Highness alive and well.' 

 

Jason’s blood ran ice cold. 

His thumb hit the call button instantly. The phone rang once before a woman’s melodic, mocking laugh filled the speaker.

“Who is this?” Jason snarled. 

 

“Oh, come now, darling,” the voice purred. “Not even a ‘How have you been’?” 

 

Jason’s grip nearly cracked the glass screen. “Celeste.” 

 

“I missed you too, sweetheart.” A beat of cruel silence hung in the air. “Tell me... how did it feel? Standing that close to her, smelling her scent, and knowing you can’t touch her? Knowing you can’t tell her who she really is, or how much you miss her?” 

 

Jason’s knuckles turned white. “What do you want, Celeste? Leave Selina out of this. You deal with me.” 

 

“Leave her out of it?” Celeste laughed, the sound sharp and serrated. “After everything it took to track her down? You think this is over because you hid her in plain sight?” 

 

“You took everything you wanted ten years ago,” Jason said, his voice shaking with restrained fury. “Let her live in peace.” 

 

“Peace? I’m not even close to finished,” Celeste whispered, venom dripping from every syllable. “Don’t worry, Jason. You can look forward to my next little encounter with Her Highness.” 

 

Jason’s heart stopped. “You’ve already been near her?” 

 

“Imagine my delight when I confirmed the last royal bloodline survived... and it was our sweet Selina,” Celeste taunted softly. “She’s going to wish she had burned in that house with the rest of them. And as for you?” 

 

She paused, savoring the kill. 

 

“When I’m done with her, I will lay your body right beside hers.” 

 

“Celeste! Don’t you dare...” 

 

The line went dead.