Chapter 92 No one else but mine
Cassie
The morning felt different after Jake's threatening message. Even with Grey's arms wrapped around me, even with the safety of daylight streaming through my bedroom windows, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was shifting, that the fragile peace we'd built was about to be tested.
Grey had offered to drive me to work, and for once, I didn't argue about being independent or capable of handling things myself. The truth was, I wanted him there. I wanted the comfort of his presence, the reassurance that I wasn't facing this alone.
The ride to my office building was quiet, both of us lost in our own thoughts. I could feel the tension radiating from Grey—not the old controlling anxiety, but something more focused. More protective in a way that felt supportive rather than suffocating.
"Security looks decent," he observed as we pulled up to the drop-off area. "That's something, at least."
I nodded, scanning the faces of the people walking past, looking for Jake even though I knew he worked inside the building. The paranoia was exhausting, this constant state of alertness that Jake had forced on me.
"If you see him, don't engage," Grey said, catching my hand as I reached for the door handle. "Promise me. Any sign of him, you call security first and me second."
"I promise." I leaned over to kiss him, drawing strength from the solid warmth of his presence. "Try not to worry too much today. I'll text you every few hours to let you know I'm okay."
"I love you," he said, and there was something different in his voice—not the desperate edge from our marriage, but something steadier. More certain.
"I love you too."
I walked into the building with my shoulders back and my head high, refusing to let Jake's threats make me cower. The security guard greeted me by name, and for a moment everything felt normal.
I texted Grey as soon as I reached my floor: Made it up to my office safely. Security guard said Jake called in sick today. That's something, at least. I didn't tell him about the loss.
The relief was immediate. If Jake wasn't at work, at least I wouldn't have to worry about running into him. I threw myself into work, trying to lose myself in the familiar rhythm of emails and client reports.
At nine AM, I headed downstairs for a strategy meeting with the senior marketing team. It was scheduled to run until eleven, which meant two hours where I'd be surrounded by colleagues on the third floor. Safe.
It was just after eleven when I returned to my floor, still buzzing with ideas, when I reached my office.
The door was standing open.
I always locked my office when I left. Always. I stepped through the doorway and felt the world tilt sideways.
Everything was destroyed.
My desk drawers had been pulled out, papers scattered everywhere. My computer monitor lay cracked on the floor. The personal photos I kept on my desk—pictures of me and Grey—had been ripped to pieces, the fragments scattered among the wreckage.
It was the message scrawled across my whiteboard that made my knees buckle.
YOU DON'T GET TO BE HAPPY. NOT WITH HIM. NOT WITH ANYONE.
Jake's handwriting. Jake's rage, made manifest.
I fumbled for my phone with shaking hands. "Oh my god, Cassie!" I turned to see Mel from accounting standing in my doorway. "What happened? Should I call security?"
"Yes," I managed, my voice barely a whisper. "Call security. And... and the police."
Detective Morrison, a specialist in stalking cases, arrived around noon. She took one look and her expression grew grim.
"This is escalation," she said without flinching. "Turner has moved from passive surveillance to active destruction of property. The next step in this pattern is often direct confrontation."
The words made my stomach clench with fresh fear. I was trying to call Grey for the fourth time when the building shuddered.
It was subtle at first. Then it came again, stronger, accompanied by a low rumble. The lights flickered and went out.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is building security," a voice crackled through the intercom system. "We've experienced a gas explosion in the ground floor cafeteria. As a precautionary measure, we're evacuating the entire building."
Gas explosion. Jake had escalated from vandalism to... what? Attempted mass murder?
"We need to get you out of here," Detective Morrison said, her professional calm cracking slightly. "Now."
By the time we reached the ground floor, the lobby was full of smoke. I stumbled out into the afternoon sunlight feeling disoriented and terrified. My office was destroyed. The building had exploded.
I tried Grey's phone again, and this time it rang.
"Cassie," he answered, his voice tight with panic. "I heard about the explosion on the news. Where are you? Are you hurt?"
"I'm outside," I said, my voice breaking with relief. "I'm okay. Grey, my office... Jake destroyed everything. And now this explosion... I think he might have a plan to destroy me."
"I'm coming," he said, cutting me off. "I'm already in the car. Stay with the police, stay where there are people around. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
"Grey," I said, tears starting to fall. "I'm scared."
"I know, Cas. You're safe now. You're out of the building, you're with people who will protect you. And I'm coming to get you."
As I hung up, Detective Morrison appeared at my side. "Ms. Hunter? I have news about Turner."
"We found him about two blocks from here. He was watching the evacuation from a coffee shop across the street. We have him in custody."
The relief was so intense I felt dizzy with it. "He's arrested?"
"He's arrested and based on what we found in his apartment... blueprints of this building, a detailed plan of how to cause maximum disruption—he's going to be charged with attempted murder, arson, stalking, and about a dozen other felonies."
I sank down onto the bumper of a nearby ambulance, overwhelmed. Jake had been willing to risk killing dozens of people just to punish me for rejecting him.
I let them hook me up to oxygen. I couldn't shake the feeling that this was just the beginning. That Jake's arrest was only the first act of a much longer, more complicated story.
I had no idea how right I was.