Dirty Damage: Chapter 30

I’m more than happy to ignore the five-foot-nothing blonde stalking me from behind the elliptical. The reason I come to the Pavlov Industries gym at the same time every day is because no one else is ever here.

Working out with the boss isn’t relaxing for them, I guess, so I get the place to myself and don’t have to talk to anyone, which is relaxing for me.

It’s better than going back to the penthouse and enduring the silence there.

I saved Sutton.

I beat the shit out of Drew.

I took care of the problem and everything should be better now… but something is wrong with Sutton.

If she was anyone else, I’d be grateful for the break from her constant humming and chatter. Or I’d torture answers out of her.

But she isn’t anyone else.

I have to be patient and let her come to me.

Unfortunately, the only woman coming to me is a petite blonde.

She shifts closer, knocking into the dumbbell rack to her right. A twenty-pound weight plummets to the padded floor, but in the cavernous space, it sounds like a gunshot.

“If you’re going to skulk,” I say without turning around, “you should be quieter.”

She emerges from her hiding spot, cheeks flushed pink. I recognize her immediately as one of the daycare workers. She’s a friend of my… fiancée. The word still feels strange, even in my head.

She straightens her spine. “Sorry about that, but I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time… sir.”

I towel off the sweat on my face and hang it around my neck. “You’re Sutton’s friend.”

“I’m Mara Bettis. And… I was. Until she went and got engaged to you without saying a word to me.” Her face darkens like a thundercloud. “Now, I’m questioning everything.”

“Sounds like something you can take up with Sutton.”

Her scowl deepens. “But I want to talk to you. In private.”

I gesture to the empty gym around us. “I couldn’t find a place more private than this.”

She swallows hard. “It smells like sweat in here. I’d rather go outside.”

Translation: she doesn’t want to be alone with me. Smart girl.

My scars tend to have that effect on people, especially in close quarters. That, combined with what I’m sure she’s heard about my temperament, would make anyone think twice about a private conversation.

“Very well,” I say, grabbing my water bottle. “Let’s go.”

She follows me through the back entrance of the gym and across the street. But the second we’re off Pavlov Industries property, Mara takes the lead, steering us toward a bench between a water fountain and a patch of grass dotted with lounging readers.

It’s public, visible, full of witnesses.

Whatever Mara wants to talk about, she’s either very cautious or very scared.

I drop myself as far from her as possible on the bench. “You have my attention, Ms. Bettis. What can I do for you?”

“I’m worried about Sutton,” she says bluntly.

“What exactly are you worried about?”

She throws me a sideways glance. “Well, for one, she went into a supposed ‘business meeting’ with you and came out engaged instead.”

I shrug, letting a hint of danger creep into my smile. “I’d call that a successful business meeting.”

“But for whom?” She shakes her head, eyes cast off to the middle distance. “Sutton isn’t impulsive. Not anymore. She’s leery of powerful men like you.”

“You flatter me.”

She wrings her hands together, but her voice stays steady. “You wouldn’t feel that way if you knew her history the way I do. She’d all but sworn off men before you came along.”

“Guess she was just waiting for Mr. Right.”

“Are you blackmailing her or something?” She turns to face me, eyes narrowed on my face, searching.

“You know I’m your boss, don’t you?”

She crosses her arms, chin lifting. “I’m scarily aware of that, yes. But I care too much about my friend to stay quiet. Even if you can fire me and kick my ass to the curb.”

I level her with a glare, expecting her to flinch back like so many others before her. Instead, she meets me head on, refusing to blink.

“I like you, Mara,” I say finally. “You’re a good friend.”

There’s a beat of hesitation before: “Does that mean I get to keep my job?”

“Yes.”

“Nothing I say can change your mind?”

I wave her on with a sigh. “Say what you came to say.”

“Are you blackmailing my friend?” she asks again.

“No, I’m not blackmailing Sutton. Nor am I threatening her.”

Confusion etches lines around Mara’s mouth. “But she agreed to marry a complete stranger. Why would she do that?”

“If she’s such a close friend, you can ask her.”

“I have,” she bites out like I’m an idiot. “She just tells me it’s complicated and she needed to do this. A bunch of vague shit like that.”

“And you want me to clear things up for you?”

She sighs, and for the first time, I see real fear crack through her brave facade. “I came to you because I think she’s scared.”

“I didn’t fucking threaten her,” I growl.

But Mara is already shaking her head. “Not of you—something else. Someone else.”

The possessive beast that lives in my chest stirs awake. “You know who it is. Tell me.”

“Drew Anton.” That fucking name again. Always that fucking name. “Her ex-boyfriend.”

“He isn’t a problem,” I say carefully, watching her reaction. “Sutton hasn’t had any contact with him in a long time.”

Mara’s frown deepens into trenches. “So, she hasn’t told you?”

My beast bares its teeth. “Told me what?”

“That he’s basically been stalking her the past several months? He’s obsessed with her. Every time she blocks him, he calls from another number. Every time she gets a new number, he manages to find it. The guy just won’t give up.”

I don’t even pretend to be unaffected now. My voice comes out in a lethal rumble. “Do you have any reason to think he’s still following her?”

Mara glances toward the water fountain, picking at her cuticles like she’s trying to dig out courage. “Sutton drives a shitty little Ford.”

“Drove a shitty little Ford.”

She waves me off. “Right, yeah, well before she moved in with you, she gave me the keys and told me I could use it whenever. But the woman hadn’t put oil in the damn thing in a decade, so I took it in, and… the mechanic found something.”

She pulls something out of her jacket pocket and unfurls her fist so I’m staring down at the shattered remains of a microchip.

“That’s a tracker.”

Mara nods. “The mechanic told me it has been there for a while. He said there was rust around the seal. I think Drew planted it.”

I take the destroyed chip from her palm, the weight of it nothing compared to the rage building in my chest.

“Why didn’t you tell Sutton yourself? Why come to me?”

“Because she has a lot on her plate right now.” She shoots me an accusatory glare and then drags a hand through her short hair with a sigh. “Life hasn’t been easy for her, and I don’t want to give her one more thing to worry about.”

I pocket the tracker and shove to my feet. “Thanks for this.”

“What are you going to do?” Mara asks.

Make Drew Anton regret ever hearing Sutton’s name.

“You’re a good friend,” I say instead. “Reach out. Sutton would be happy to hear from you.”

“That’s allowed?” There’s venom in her voice again. She’s really pushing the limit on my promise to not fire her.

“I won’t stop you.”

She rises, five feet of righteous fury. Her glare could melt steel. “Sutton’s been put in a cage before, Oleg. She didn’t care for it. Even if she accepts certain things now, she won’t always.”

“Are you trying to tell me something, Mara?”

She sniffs. “You might be able to offer her a bigger, brighter, shinier cage—but at the end of the day, it’s still a cage.”

“You’ve clearly made up your mind about me.”

Her jaw clenches. “Prove me wrong then.”

If only I could…

She throws me a backward glance as she crosses the road and flags down a cab. I wait until she’s safely inside before pulling out my phone.

Artem picks up on the first ring. “What’s up?”

“Find me an expert technician who specializes in bug sweeping. ASAP.”

He whistles. “By the tone of your voice, someone is dead.”

I stare at the pocket where the tracker sits, imagining all the ways Drew Anton has been watching, following, hunting.

The beast in my chest wants blood.

“Someone’s been keeping tabs on Sutton. I want to know why.”