Chapter 2

I spent the next few days walking around in a fog.

Seven years. I refused to believe Cole could just switch it off. He had to be hurting too. He was just too stubborn to say it, so he was fixing my problems behind my back instead.

The more I thought about it, the more sure I got. I took a deep breath, and with shaking hands, I called him.

Before it connected, I ran through every version of the call in my head. He'd play it cool. He'd deny everything. Then, like every fight we'd had in seven years, we'd each give a little, and it would end with me back in his arms.

I'd guessed every line he would say. I'd planned every answer.

The one thing I hadn't planned for was him not picking up.

The call rang out and dropped. I stared at the screen, and my mind went blank.

My first thought was: something happened to him.

There was no other reason Cole wouldn't answer me. Once, he'd been in a car wreck that shattered his right wrist, and he still dug his phone out with his left hand to pick up my call.

Another accident?

I shot up out of my chair and texted one of his friends.

Have you seen Cole? Do you know where he is right now?

Why? What's up?

He's not answering. I'm scared something happened. Can you send me his location? I need to see he's okay with my own eyes.

There was a long pause. Then: ...

Then: You sure about that?

Yes. Send it.

He sent a pin. A tiny chef-run bistro across town.

It wasn't anywhere near lunch or dinner, and the place wasn't even open yet. No customers, no music. Just quiet.

"Cole!" I shoved the door open and ran in, shouting his name.

Then I stopped dead.

The man I'd been terrified was lying in a ditch somewhere was standing in the open kitchen with his sleeves rolled up, rinsing vegetables at the sink beside a girl with a short bob.

His hands were busy under the water, but his eyes kept drifting to her. She was small, with a round, sweet face. From where I stood, I could see the corner of his mouth tick up every time he looked at her.

He was in a great mood. When she talked, he bent down so he could hear her better, waited until she was completely done, and answered in a voice so soft I barely recognized it.

"Okay, got it. Whatever you say, chef."

She wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at him.

Standing there side by side, they looked perfect together.

And there I was in the doorway, out of breath, completely out of place.

"Cole." My nails dug into my palms. I couldn't stop myself. My voice came out rusty.

He went still, then looked up toward the sound. The second he saw me, his brows snapped together. His whole face went dark.

"Oh, is that a friend of yours?" the girl asked, looking me over with open curiosity. Her name was Hazel Monroe, I'd find out later.

"Sort of," Cole said. "Not really."

He looked back at me. He was smiling. His eyes weren't.

He walked toward me, one slow step at a time, and there were so many things I wanted to say.

I wanted to tell him I'd been scared out of my mind. That I'd driven like a maniac and turned a thirty-minute drive into ten. That I hadn't slept a full night since he left, because I missed him so much it hurt.

Then pain shot through my wrist, and I sucked in a sharp breath.

Cole wasn't giving me the chance to say anything.

"Outside. Now."

He clamped his hand around my arm and hauled me out the door. I stumbled, and before I could get my feet under me, he slammed me back against the wall outside. My arm hit the brick, and the pain flared all over again.

"Margot, what the hell are you doing here?"

He stared at me, his eyes flat and cold. "You did this on purpose. You had me followed? You're stalking me now?"

He studied me like I was a problem he needed to get rid of.

"No," I forced out. My throat was dry. "I was just worried—"

"Enough." He cut me off and tightened his grip on my arm. "I don't care why you're here. Get this through your head. We're broken up. Don't pull any more of this crap. Leave, right now, and don't you ever show your face in front of her again. Are we clear?"

"But I didn't—"

I hadn't been stalking him. I hadn't come here to wreck anything.

I'd just missed him.

But before I could get it out, I looked up into his eyes, and my whole body jerked.

I knew that look. In seven years, I'd seen it plenty of times.

Once, a guy insulted me in front of a room full of people. Cole didn't say a word. He just looked at him exactly like this.

Not long after, the guy's company imploded. His funding dried up overnight, and he ended up on the edge of bankruptcy. Then he showed up at my office and begged me on his knees to get Cole to back off.

That was how I found out what Cole had done for me.

And now I was on the other side of that look.

I was the one Cole wanted to destroy.