I consider the fact that perhaps he wasn’t the one who broke into her place. It’s possible. She’s lived in fear of him for a long time and is worried now that her picture has been splashed on the news, but what if someone else is after her instead of Stark?
I don’t have to ask my team to install surveillance cameras around her apartment. They’ve already done so, inside and out. Plus, they hacked into the cameras in the lobby of her building and went through hours of people coming and going. There was no facial recognition that matched Stark, but again, I still doubt he did the heavy work himself.
There were several people who came and left without the camera catching their faces. Any of them could have broken into her place. In an age where everyone is a walking zombie glued to their phones, dozens of people enter and leave every building without looking up. It’s more frustrating and obvious when people like me and my team scour hours of footage. No one pays attention to their surroundings anymore. I don’t know how they keep from walking into walls.
An idea comes to mind, so I shoot off a text to Mace.
Thought: can you go back through and watch for anyone who appears to be focused on their phone but has to look up more frequently than others? Anyone who lives in that building has the spatial awareness to have memorized exactly how far it is to the steps or elevator. Someone unfamiliar with the building would have pretended to be engrossed in their phone but would have needed to look up more often.
Good point. I’ll look again.
I pocket my phone just as June finishes her class. She’s saying goodbye to her students and reminding them about their assignments.
The moment she’s done, she closes the laptop, and her entire body slumps, her face falling from the perma-grin to a looser expression.
I hurry over, scoop her into my arms, and carry her to an armchair. Tucking her head against my shoulder, I rub her back and kiss the side of her head. “You’re exhausted.”
“Yeah. It was hard to focus. My arm was throbbing, and my body ached. Plus, I’m still tired.”
“I’m sorry. On the other hand, can I just say how amazing you are. I’ve decided I want to take one of your classes,” I tease. “I couldn’t bring myself to leave the room. You’re such an amazing teacher. I hope I didn’t distract you.”
“You didn’t. I was so focused I never even paid attention to you.” She tips her head back. “Thank you for the compliment. I love my job.”
“That’s obvious.” I cup her chin and kiss her mouth. I can’t stop myself. I want to kiss her all the time. “Are you hungry? Pizza will be here any minute. I timed it just right.”
“Starving. I bet I can even eat it all by myself without you feeding me.”
“What’s the fun in that?”
She giggles. “You’re spoiling me. If you don’t stop, I’ll get used to being pampered and expect it.”
“That’s my plan. You deserve to be pampered. I want you to expect it.”
“You can’t follow me around forever. You missed an entire day of work today. Totally unexpected. I don’t want you to have to worry about me. I appreciate you letting me stay here, but I’ll manage on my own. I promise. You don’t have to?—”
I cut her off with a finger to her lips. “June, you are not a burden. I’d give up today and all my future workdays for you. Stop worrying. I own the company. I have a lot of employees. They can manage fine while we get through this. Anything I need to take care of can be done from here. I’m one floor above them. My team knows they can pop up here at any time if needed. I didn’t take this entire day off. You just thought I did because you didn’t see what I was doing when you weren’t looking. I was working most of the time while you were on your video call.”
She turns her head a bit to look me in the eyes. “When you say you were working, you mean on my situation, don’t you?”
“Yes, Little one. Mostly.”
“I’m not a paying client, Blade. That doesn’t count as work.” She shakes a finger between us. “And for the record, I will pay you if you let me. I just doubt I can afford what you usually get paid. Maybe you have a sliding scale for poor people.” She cocks her head and grins, thinking she’s making a joke.
“Honey, we most definitely have a sliding scale. We also take pro bono cases when necessary.” I lift a brow.
She lifts both of hers. “Seriously?”
“Of course. I’m not an ogre. It’s not all about money. Yes, we have some powerful clients who can and will pay top dollar, but we also take cases from people who can’t afford our services.”
She smiles and snuggles back into me, her hand flattening on my chest. “I feel like Cinderella.”
I hate that she has to feel that way. The universe has been unkind to her. I hope I can show her another life and slowly erase the bad until she thinks of it less frequently.
My phone buzzes, and I pull it out to find it’s a call from the lobby, letting me know my pizza has arrived. Brinkman is sending a trusted employee up with it instead of a delivery driver. Bless him.
I rise and carefully settle June in the warm seat. “Be right back.” I jog toward the entrance and step into the landing, pulling a few bills out of my pocket to tip the helpful employee from downstairs so they never have to get out of the elevator.
A minute later, I’m back with two pizzas.
