Chapter 292: His Proposal

David’s POV

There’s no time to waste. I have to take the biggest step possible. I have to do this regardless of the guilt that’s already crawling up my spine like ice-cold fingers.

Rachel Jameson showing up today flipped everything upside down. One minute I’m in my office tying up the last loose ends of the day’s meeting, the next she’s standing in front of Holly’s desk wearing that smug little smile, like she owns the air I breathe. Jameson’s daughter. Of all the people to walk into my life on a weekend, it had to be her.

I can still hear her voice, low and silky and dangerous.

“You’ll finish the job, David and you’ll marry me afterwards. I don’t chase, darling. I decide what I want, and I take it. I’ve set my eyes on you. I want you. And I will have you.”

She leaned over my desk, red nails tapping the wood like a countdown. Her perfume was expensive and sharp, the same scent that used to linger in the back of Jameson’s cars when he’d send me on errands I never wanted to run.

I don’t need a doctor’s report or birth certificate to prove that she’s related to that old fart. The resemblance is uncanny.

I kept my face stone-cold. “The deal was never about marrying you. This mission is the last one that I owe your family. I pay off the debt, and we’re done. We will never cross paths again.”

She just laughed, soft and knowing. “We’ll see about that, Hunt.”

Like hell we will.

I’ve spent years burying that past so deep to protect my family. The things I did for her father, the blood on my ledger…I’d rather die than let any of it touch the new life I’ve built here. Rachel threatening to blow it wide open isn’t a bluff. She’s Jameson’s daughter through and through…spoiled, ruthless, and used to getting exactly what she wants.

That little stunt in my office…pressing herself against me, whispering filth while Holly watched was just her marking territory. She wanted Holly to see. She wanted Holly to know that she’s ready to play. She wanted Holly to run.

And Holly did run.

I’ve been parked outside her apartment for almost two hours now. After I got rid of Rachel…politely but firmly escorted her out of the building… I found out Holly had left work early. No text, no call, nothing. For some reason that sent real panic shooting through me. Not just because the plan was falling apart, but something else. Something I can’t name and don’t want to look at too closely.

Then the front door of her building opened, and there she was.

Her eyes were swollen, her cheeks blotchy and red from crying. She looked small and wrecked and furious all at once. Something inside my chest cracked wide open.

No. No. Don’t feel anything for her. Holly is a pawn. Nothing more. Don’t.

But my feet were moving before my brain caught up. I was out of the car and crossing the driveway to meet her halfway.

She saw me and froze. I reached for her…stupid instinct…and she flinched hard, stepping back like I might burn her.

“Don’t touch me,” she whispered, voice cracked and raw.

I stopped, hands up. “Baby, hey. It’s not what you think. She’s… she’s old history I never expected to crawl back into my life. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

The words spilled out, and I couldn’t tell anymore if I was acting or if I actually meant them. The line had gone blurry somewhere in the last few hours.

Holly’s chin trembled. Tears kept rolling down her face, but she didn’t wipe them away. She just stared at me like she was trying to see through my skull.

“Look at me,” I said softly. “Please, Holly.”

She didn’t. But she didn’t walk away either. Which means that I could proceed with my plan.

I stepped closer slowly, and this time when I reached for her she didn’t flinch. I wrapped my arms around her and she let me. Her whole body shook with sobs that sounded like they hurt coming out. I held her tighter, murmuring nonsense into her hair…sorry, baby, I’m sorry, I’ve got you.

Without hesitating, without letting myself second-guess, I sank down onto one knee right there in front of her friend’s porch.

Her breath hitched and her eyes widened in shock and surprise.

I pulled the small velvet box from my jacket pocket…the ring I’d bought on pure impulse while I was on my way to see her, a backup plan in case everything went to hell. And here we were, hell in full swing.

I need to have her right where she would never feel like something is missing between us. Where she would trust me completely.

The ring was simple…a single flawless two-carat diamond on a thin platinum band. No flashy side stones, no over-the-top halo. Just clean, classic, and stupidly expensive. The kind of ring that says forever without shouting it.

Holly gasped when she saw it, hands flying to her mouth.

“Holly,” I started, voice rougher than I wanted. “I know that I haven’t been an easy person to deal with. I know we haven’t known each other that long, and I’ve messed up more times than I can count. But if you’ll forgive me just this once…if you’ll have me…I want to give you this. A promise ring. I’m promising you forever. Happiness. Safety. Love. Warmth. Peace. Everything I have, it’s yours. Just… say yes.”

She stared at the ring, then at me, tears streaming faster. Her shoulders shook with harder sobs, like the words had broken something open inside her.

For one long, dizzy second I thought she might actually say yes.

Then headlights blasted us from the side.

A motorcycle roared up the curb with zero regard for traffic laws, a high beam aimed straight at my face. I threw an arm up to shield my eyes, squinting against the glare.

The engine cut off as boots hit the pavement. The rider swung off the bike and yanked off his helmet.

Justin.

Fuck.

My little brother grinned like he’d just won the lottery. He started clapping…slow, loud, sarcastic claps that echoed off the apartment building.

“Big bro pulling the big old proposal thing again!” he called, voice dripping with mockery. “Classic David. Down on one knee in the street, ring and everything. Man, you don’t even change the script.”

Holly went stiff in front of me. “What?” she whispered.

Justin strolled closer, helmet tucked under his arm, still grinning that shit-eating grin. “Come on, Hols. Don’t tell me you’re falling for it. You won’t be the first, second, third, fourth…or even to infinity…girl he’s kept in line with the big dramatic proposal. Let me guess…you caught him with his ‘ex’ today and now he’s on his knee begging forgiveness? Bro, seriously, you can do better than the same tired playbook.”

His tone was pure grating tease, like this was the funniest thing he’d seen all year.

Holly’s head snapped toward me. Her eyes were wide and horrified as she stared at me. The tears stopped like someone flipped a switch.

She gasped…a sharp, wounded sound…and then her hand cracked across my face so hard my ears rang.

“You fucking asshole!” she screamed.