CHAPTER 74

MELANIE.

I COULDN'T REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I'D RUN SO FAST.

I could see the snatcher a few meters ahead of me due to the fact that he was pushing people out of the way, involuntarily clearing a path for me. I thanked the celestial beings that I could run in heels, and thanked them again for making me choose the sturdy ones with the two-inch heels.

There was no way I was letting him get away with my bag, I could do this all day if I needed to. I could tell the guy was panicking; he had probably seen me as an easy mark and wasn't prepared to be chased by a lady in a pantsuit and heels.

By now I was aware that I was venturing into parts of the city that I didn't know, but I wasn't too worried about that. I'd left Jordan way behind, but I figured he would come after me. I hoped he would. My face was set in determination as we weaved through people and vehicular traffic, leaped over obstructions and even did a limbo under a barricaded area.

I was gaining on him little by little. As I was about to get close enough to consider a tackle, some guy on the other side of the road noticed what was happening and crossed quickly, body-slamming the thief hard.

I reached them before the thief's body had fully hit the ground and paused for a minute to catch my breath. I narrowed my eyes at the thief groaning on the floor.

“You asshole”, I seethed. “Thank your stars I wasn't the one who slammed you.”

He flipped me the middle finger and I stomped on his midsection with my heel, gaining satisfaction when he groaned louder.

“Um.. Miss? I believe this belongs to you”, I heard the good Samaritan say.

I glanced up with a polite smile to thank him but as soon as our eyes met the smile froze on my face.

The man's blue-gray eyes registered shock as they roved over my face, probably mirroring what was in mine. We were so busy staring at each other to notice the thief had stood up and was beginning to slink away as quietly as he had first come.

“Are you.. I'm sorry.. Is your... um.. Melanie?” the man stuttered and my eyes widened. He knew my name. Somehow, the stranger knew my name. When I said nothing he stepped forward and his next words were coated in urgency.

“Are you Melanie?” he asked.

I barely managed a nod and he let out a disbelieving laugh, swinging around and running his hand through his brown hair.

“Oh my God. Oh my God, this is insane”. He laughed, then seized me by the shoulders and shook me slightly.

“I have been looking all over for you”, he exclaimed.

My confusion only increased and he must have seen it on my face because he suddenly took his hands off and gestured with them as he spoke.

“Christ, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I forgot you don't know. Um.. Wow”, he trailed off and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Okay, there's no easy way to say this, but my name is…I'm Bennett. Bennett Hayes.”

After that, I could see his mouth moving but I couldn't hear a word of what he was saying over the sound of my blood rushing to my head. The name resonated in my head but I couldn't make sense of it, so I did the only logical thing.

I laughed and took a step back clutching my bag for dear life.

“Look, I don't know what weird shit is going on here, and I do not care. Thanks for helping me get my bag back. I'll be on my way now if you don't mind. I have places to be”, I turned to leave and stopped when he came to stand in front of me again.

“She said you wouldn't believe me. I hate when she's right”, he said and continued speaking before I could ask who “she” was.

“Listen. I know you're confused, I know you have a lot of questions. I'll explain everything if you just let me. Tell you what, when you're done with whatever it is you want to do, come back to this cafe here”, he pointed out the one he'd been standing in front of before coming to help.

“I’ll be there waiting for you. I'll understand if you don't show up, but I really want you to come”, he then took my hands and looked at me with a soft smile.

“I’m so happy I met you”, he whispered then let go of me. Within a minute he was back across the road and entering into the cafe, but not before giving me a little wave.

An instant later, the Audi pulled up beside me and Jordan lowered the window.

“You got the guy”, he said it as more of a fact than a question. I nodded and walked over to the other side of the car to get in.

“I had a little help.” I murmured, my thoughts pretty far away.

“Take off your shoes”, Jordan ordered. I just glanced in his direction without really seeing him.

“Huh?” I asked dumbly.

“Your shoes, take them off.”

This time I obliged and took my heels off, revealing red lines where the straps had dug into my feet during my impromptu race.

“Are you okay? You can return to the hotel if you aren't”, Jordan said. I didn't know how to tell him that I'd just met someone who claims to be a relative of mine. I didn't want to look stupid when it turned out to be nothing, so I refrained from saying anything about it.

Instead, I plastered a smirk onto my face. “Careful, Jordie bear. Any more statements like that and I’d start to think you actually care”, I teased.

His back immediately went up. “Don’t delude yourself. I only need my employees to be at full capacity because you're of no use to me if you aren't”, he shot back in clipped tones.

I made a sound and then we just lapsed into silence in which I opened my bag to make sure everything was still intact. Jordan broke the silence, “It feels like you're hiding something, so let me just tell you now that it is inadvisable to try to hide anything from me because I will definitely find out. Like your car thing.”

I froze in the process of checking for my key card and slowly turned towards him. “What? You thought you could hide something right under my nose? You must think I'm stupid”, he scoffed.

“If you knew already, then why didn't you say anything about it?” I asked, remembering every single moment of unrest I'd suffered.

Jordan lifted his shoulders a fraction of an inch. “It was fun to watch you squirm every time I spoke to you”, he replied unapologetically.

I just stared at him. “You realize that you are not a good person, right?”, I frowned.

“Even if I didn't, I have you to remind me all the time”, was his response.

I put on a bright, clearly fake smile. “You’re welcome”, I said before the silence took over again.

The conversation with Jordan had just been a temporary distraction from my thoughts. At some point, my subconscious had decided for me. I was going to go back.