MasukHarper’s POV:I slammed my office door shut and my hands were shaking when I pulled out my phone.Jessica wasn't responding through the earpiece and that image I'd seen earlier kept flashing in my head... her red dress, someone else beside her who looked like Jenny."Couldn't have been." I shook my head while dialing her number.I needed to leave... needed to find out what Hardin was talking about, needed to get to my apartment where I could think without feeling like the walls were closing in.The phone rang. And rang.Ten minutes of calling and Jessica was nowhere."Where the hell is she?" I grabbed my blazer off the chair, which I've removed due my ribs almost cracking earlier, and headed for the door.The party was still going when I stepped back into the event space... music pounding, people laughing, fans taking selfies trying to prove they'd seen Harper Lane in person.I couldn't care less about any of it.My eyes scanned the crowd looking for him... looking for any sign of whe
Harper's POV:I was happy.The word kept repeating in my head while I smiled and nodded at people congratulating me... while I shook hands and accepted compliments and pretended my skin wasn't crawling from feeling Hardin's eyes on me.Happy.Proud.This should have been one of the best days of my life.The US Secretary of Commerce was standing in front of me now presenting some award and his mouth was moving but I couldn't hear a single word he was saying because Hardin was somewhere behind me and I could feel his stare like heat on my back."Gosh." I pressed my fingernails into my palm.I wouldn't let him see that he still affected me... wouldn't give him that power.It's in the past and I can get over it... I've been telling myself that for six years and eventually it has to become true."Harper, you have to thank him!" Jessica's voice crackled through the earpiece hidden under my hair.I'd almost forgotten I was wearing it... the tiny device disguised as an ear accessory that let
Hardin’s POV:I couldn't stop staring at her.My eyes were locked on Harper standing up there on that stage... addressing her fans like she'd been doing this her whole life, like public speaking was something that came natural to her."Gosh, she's more beautiful." The thought hit me so hard my chest ached.Six years.Six years since I'd seen her face and somehow she'd gotten even more stunning... her cheekbones sharper, her posture straighter, everything about her screaming confidence I'd never seen before.The Harper I knew used to make herself small... used to hunch her shoulders and look at the ground when people talked to her.This woman was looking straight at the crowd with her chin up and her voice steady."Sometimes I wonder if I'm normal." I mumbled it under my breath. "The way I talk to myself like I've got some inner animal."She was graceful up there... moving her hands when she emphasized points, smiling at the right moments, making eye contact with people in the crowd.I
Harper's POV:"The day is here."The words left my mouth the second my eyes opened and I stared at the ceiling of my bedroom.I hadn't slept.Not really... just laid there all night with my eyes closed while my brain ran through every possible scenario of what could happen today.Should I cancel it? Should I fake an emergency and disappear?But I'd worked too hard to get here... fought too many battles to build Lane Industries from nothing into something people actually cared about."I wouldn't sabotage myself because of..." I couldn't finish the thought.Couldn't let myself think his name.I dragged myself out of bed and my legs felt heavy... like my body knew what was coming and was trying to protect me by refusing to move."Yay!"Jessica burst through my door without knocking and pulled me into a hug so tight I could barely breathe."It's finally here... the day my best friend gets recognized by the entire country is here!""Jess... Jessy..." I tried to push her away but she just s
Harper's POV:Six Years Later:"Harper, wait... you don't have to walk so fast all the time. You should walk like the sophisticated woman you are now."The voice behind me sounded sing-song and breathless... Jessica running to catch up with designer shopping bags swinging from both arms.I didn't slow down."Gosh, you need to stop with this attitude." She was panting when we reached the Rolls Royce I'd parked in front of the boutique at Highland Park Village."What attitude?" I clicked the unlock button and the car beeped. "I don't have an attitude.""You know you do." She threw the bags in the back seat with more force than necessary. "And were you really about to leave me here? When you're the one who said you were bored and needed to kill time by buying things?"Her snap had that edge to it... the one that meant she was joking but also not joking, and part of me wished she wasn't joking at all.Wished she'd just leave me like everyone else had.I slid into the driver's seat without
Harper's POV:“Dad?”My eyes strained staring at the man standing on my porch... his clothes were tattered and hanging off his frame, his jaw was clenched so tight I could see the muscles jumping, and his eyes were bloodshot red with pupils so dilated they looked black.His lips were dark... almost black themselves, and I knew that color from the men who used to sit outside the bar where I'd worked washing dishes.Smokers.Heavy smokers who drank even heavier."No." The word came out as a whisper.He wasn't supposed to be here... he'd left Montana years ago, left me alone in this house with nothing, and I'd thought... I'd hoped he was gone for good.I slammed the door in his face.Or tried to.His hand shot out and caught the edge before it could close... shoved it back so hard the wood cracked against the wall."Fuck you!" His teeth were gritted and spit flew from his mouth. "Who do you think you are to lock me out of my house?""This isn't your house anymore." My voice shook but I k







