Chapter 156: Kiss

Stella threw her phone onto the desk, her chest still heaving from the conversation she'd just had.

She took several deep breaths before she could barely push down the nausea rising in her stomach.

Miles was like a dead rat rotting in a gutter — good for nothing but stinking up the place.

She glanced at the time-almost the end of the workday.

She grabbed her bag, pushed open the office door, and walked out.

She'd barely made it through the revolving glass doors of the building when a gust of wind hit her — cheap cigarettes and something sour.

A dark figure burst out from the bushes along the walkway and blocked her path.

Miles.

His suit was wrinkled beyond recognition, his hair plastered to his scalp with grease, and his eyes were shot through with red.

He had a death grip on that old phone of his, the screen still lit up.

"You think hanging up on me fixes anything?" Miles said through clenched teeth, his voice raw and scratchy, like sandpaper dragged across wood.

He hit play.

Volume all the way up. The recording he'd made through the hotel wall blasted out into the open air in front of the building.

A woman's breathless sounds, mixed with her quietly calling Dennis's name — every bit of it coming through loud and clear.

A few employees heading home stopped in their tracks and stared.

Stella's heart clenched. Her fingers tightened around the strap of her bag.

A wave of rage and humiliation surged through her.

But she didn't step back. She didn't cover her face and panic the way Miles was hoping she would.

She looked at this man who had once thought so highly of himself, and all she felt was pity mixed with a grim kind of amusement.

"Turn it off." Stella stared at him, her voice steady, not a single tremor in it.

"What's wrong? Scared now?"

Miles broke into a grin — twisted and unhinged.

"Didn't you say I disgusted you? Didn't you say you weren't afraid of me sending it out? Fine. Let your employees hear what their boss sounds like in another man's bed."

Stella ground her back teeth together. She stepped forward and swung her hand.

Crack.

A sharp slap landed hard across Miles's face.

His head snapped to the side. The phone flew out of his hand and hit the ground, the screen shattering into a spider web of cracks — but the recording kept playing.

Stella raised her heel and brought it down on the screen.

A crunch. The phone went black. The sound cut off.

"Miles, you are a complete and total waste." Stella looked at him with cold eyes. "You think this kind of pathetic move gives you power over me? All you can do is creep around listening through walls like some kind of freak. You have nothing left. You don't even have the right to stand here and threaten me."

Miles pressed a hand to his cheek, the red in his eyes looking like it was about to burst.

He lunged at her like a cornered animal, hands reaching for her throat.

Just before his fingers could reach her, a strong hand shot out from the side and locked around his wrist.

A sharp crack. Miles let out a scream of pain as a massive force sent him flying, and he slammed down hard onto the steps.

Dennis walked over in a black jacket, long strides, unhurried.

He pulled Stella behind him in one smooth motion, his broad frame completely shielding her.

He looked down at Miles crumpled on the ground, the corner of his mouth curling into a cold, contemptuous smile.

"That into listening to other people, Miles?" Dennis's voice was quiet, but it carried real weight.

He stepped down and planted his foot on the shattered phone, grinding it under his heel.

"Want to see it live?"

He held Miles's gaze, his tone dripping with undisguised scorn. "Want to come home with us? I'll give you a front-row seat. You can watch all you want."

The words hit like a sledgehammer, crushing whatever was left of Miles's dignity.

Miles lay on the ground, his whole body shaking.

He looked at Dennis's face — calm, in control, completely owning the moment — then looked at Stella standing behind him.

Jealousy and despair nearly drove him over the edge right then and there.

But he had nothing. He was no match for Dennis.

The crowd around them kept growing. Someone had already pulled out a phone to record.

Miles forced himself up off the ground, jaw tight.

He shot one last glare at Dennis and Stella, snatched up the broken pieces of his phone, and took off into the alley like a dog that had lost everything — furious and humiliated.

Stella watched until he disappeared. Only then did the tension slowly drain from her shoulders.

Dennis turned around. His rough hands cupped her face, his thumb gently brushing the corner of her eye. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." Stella shook her head and took a slow breath. "I just feel sorry for him."

"Don't waste your energy on garbage like that." Dennis took her hand, fingers locking with hers. "Let's go home."

A black SUV was parked along the curb.

The door suddenly swung open from the inside.

Jared came tumbling out, a little cartoon backpack bouncing on his back, his short legs moving as fast as they could carry him.

"Mommy!" He threw himself at Stella and wrapped his arms around her legs.

The coldness on Stella's face vanished instantly, replaced by a soft smile.

She crouched down and pulled him into a hug, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Was Jared good at school today?"

"Yes!" He nodded hard, then immediately dug into his backpack and pulled out a little mechanical car built from gears and batteries.

He held it up in front of Stella, eyes bright and sparkling. "Mommy, look! I invented this car myself! My teacher said I put it together the fastest, and it turns by itself when it hits a wall!"

Jared set the car down and flipped the switch.

It whirred to life, scooted across the pavement, bumped into Dennis's shoe, and turned itself around to keep going.

"Jared, that's amazing. You're so smart." Stella ruffled his hair, and the last bit of darkness she'd been carrying melted away.

Dennis bent down, picked up the little car, and handed it back to Jared. Then he scooped the boy up with one arm and settled him on his hip.

"Come on, we'll play more at home." Dennis pinched Jared's cheek with a grin, took Stella's hand with his other, and headed for the SUV.

Once they were in, Dennis buckled Jared into his car seat in the back.

Jared put on his little kids' noise-canceling headphones and bent over his mechanical car, completely absorbed in his own little world.

Stella had barely settled into the leather seat beside him when Dennis slid in after her.

The door shut. The space inside the car suddenly felt very private.

Without looking at the driver up front, Dennis reached over and pressed a button on the side panel.

A black soundproof partition rose slowly, sealing off the back seat from the front.

The car pulled smoothly into traffic.

Before Stella could even register what was happening, Dennis had already undone the buttons on his jacket. He leaned in, wrapped an arm around her waist, pulled her into him, and kissed her.