Chapter 88 Claimed in Public
“Who is this?” I typed back.
This time, they replied, and the response came almost immediately.
“You are asking the wrong question.”
My jaw tightened.
I looked around instinctively, as if I expected to find someone watching me from across the street.
But there was nothing.
My attention returned to the screen, and I typed again.
“Then what should I be asking?”
This time, the response took a few seconds longer.
Three dots appeared, then disappeared.
Then it appeared again.
My grip tightened around the phone as I waited for their reply.
Finally, the message came in.
“Just be vigilant.”
A chill ran through my spine.
“Vigilant? Of what? Of who?” I thought to myself.
I typed again.
“Stop playing games. If you know something, say it.”
I waited, but I didn’t get any reply.
There was no explanation, no name, and no clue.
My gaze stayed on the screen, and my jaw clenched.
After a while, I locked the phone and dropped it on the passenger seat.
Then I placed my head on the steering wheel.
And in my mind, it felt as if everything had been spiraling out of control ever since Joan left my life.
Meanwhile…
JOAN COLE’S POV
A notification popped up on my phone while I was still in bed.
I picked up my phone and I saw that I was tagged in Dave’s new post.
I opened the notification and gasped.
It was a simple photo of both of us at the club with the caption;
“Grateful❤️… I found someone who makes the music sound better.”
My heart skipped a beat.
I stared at the post for a long while, my thumb hovering over the heart button before I finally tapped it. The comments started flooding in from colleagues, and strangers. Some were sweet, some were curious, while some continued with the negativity from the blog post.
I didn’t know how to feel about it.
I quickly took a screenshot of the post and sent it to Lena.
“He just soft-launched us.”
Her reply came immediately.
“Girl… I just saw it. You are trending. I was literally screaming at work.”
“How do you feel?”
I typed back truthfully.
“I won’t lie… I’m scared and happy at the same time.”
Her reply didn’t come anymore, and I assumed something had kept her busy.
Seconds later, Dave’s message popped up on my screen.
“I hope that was okay. I just wanted the world to know how lucky I am.”
I smiled at the screen like an idiot.
“It’s okay,” I replied, still smiling as I typed.
“Get dressed. I’m picking you up in an hour.”
I quickly sprang out of bed and dashed to my closet. I was already bored at home and that sounded like a getaway for me.
Theo had gone back to school and Lena was away for a model shoot.
As promised, he appeared exactly an hour later.
And that afternoon, we went public in real life.
He took me to a popular rooftop café in the center of the city where people actually saw us. We sat at a table near the railing, our fingers intertwined while we shared one dessert like some weird couple.
People looked at us. Some took discreet pictures.
Though I felt exposed, I still felt seen, wanted, and claimed in the best way ever.
Dave leaned across the table and kissed me softly, right there in front of everyone.
“I want everyone to know you are mine,” he said quietly.
“I want that too,” I whispered, butterflies dancing in my belly.
We spent the rest of the day walking around the city like tourists, holding hands, taking silly selfies, and stopping for ice cream.
Later that evening, he drove me back to my place.
He opened the door to the passenger seat, placed a kiss on my forehead, and said goodbye.
But I didn’t want him to leave yet.
“Do you want to come in? Lena isn’t home yet,” I muttered, my voice low as I tucked my hair behind my ear slowly.
“Sure,” he smiled.
Once inside, we didn’t even make it to the bedroom.
The moment the door closed, Dave backed me against it and started kissing me like his whole life depended on my lips.
His hands slid under my dress, gripping my thighs as he lifted me. I wrapped my legs around him, moaning into his mouth as he carried me to the couch.
We didn’t undress slowly this time, we yanked them off.
My dress lay on the floor while his shirt landed and hung on the console near the television.
He dropped to his knees in front of the couch, spread my legs, and sucked me with his mouth until I started crying out his name and my legs started shaking.
When he finally stood up and thrust into me, it was deep and very fast with both of us chasing release as if we needed it to breathe.
After a few minutes, I came hard, my back arching and my nails digging into his shoulders while I moaned out loudly.
“Damn!” he groaned, following right after me.
Afterward, we lay on the couch beside each other, sweaty and breathless.
“I love you,” he whispered and kissed my forehead.
I looked into his eyes for a while, then I whispered back.
“I love you too.”
As I lay my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat, a small voice whispered in the back of my mind:
“Does it feel alive like it did with Alex?”
I didn’t want to dwell on it so I pushed the ugly thought away immediately.
ALEX HART’S POV
The anonymous text still sat in my phone and lingered in my mind.
I didn’t delete it, nor did I show it to anybody.
I just kept rereading it, thinking about what or who the sender was talking about.
I tried to convince myself it was another empty threat, or some random troll who had gotten my number somehow, but my mind kept replaying the image of Marcus talking to the manager of Horizon Developments.
Though I was trying to tell myself the person I saw wasn’t him, it comes back clearer every time I try to push the thoughts away.
I had told myself Marcus wouldn’t betray me, maybe they met by coincidence, and he was talking to him about our company.
But the phrase “closer than you think” wouldn’t leave me alone.
The next morning, I woke up too early and stared at the ceiling for almost an hour before dragging myself out of bed.
When I did, I took my bath and dressed up in silence.
I put on a black shirt and blue trousers. I didn’t even remember to use a tie.
Then I slipped into my car and drove off to the office.
When I got there, I dropped my suitcase in my office and headed straight to Marcus’s office.
On getting to the door, I paused and took a deep breath.
My hand hovered over the handle, one question burning in my mind.
And I wasn’t sure I was ready for the answer.