Chapter 12

**Jack’s Warning**

Sitting opposite Jack in the backseat of the sleek black automobile, I could feel the tension in the night air. The lights of the city flickered by, luminous striations against the tinted windows, but I could only look at him. His fingers pounded steadily against his knee as his jaw clenched. The actual harm had occurred after the charity function, which had been a complete failure.

"What kept you from telling me?" I hardly raised my voice above a whisper.

Jack avoided eye contact with me. Instead, as though he could ignore me entirely, his eyes were fixed on the metropolis outside the glass. I wasn't going to let him stop me, though.

"Jack, respond to me." I pushed.

He turned, at last, his blue eyes gleaming in the gloom. He stated bluntly, "Because you don't need to know everything." "Because you are safer the less you know."

I shook my head and scoffed. "Safe? Do you believe I'm safe now? I remembered how that man had trapped me, his words slipping like poison into my ears, and my palm shook. Tonight, I was pursued by someone. Someone you know. And you still believe that I shall be protected by concealing secrets?

Jack gave a quick exhale. "You ought not to have been present."

"I was taken there by you!" I fired back. "You left me exposed after strutting me about like a piece of jewelry. You're mistaken if you think I'm going to do nothing except watch this happen again.

He made a small line with his lips. I thought he was going to dispute, but then he leaned in and spoke in a low, harsh voice. You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into, Amelia. These folks in my world don't follow the rules. Fairness is not something they believe in. They also don't overlook errors.

I felt a chill go through me. "Then let me know what I should know."

Jack's normally assured demeanor momentarily wavered as he ran a hand through his hair. "No one in this place is trustworthy. Not me, not my rivals, nor my business associates.

My throat tightened with each breath. "What?"

His inner struggle was subtly displayed by the way his fingers jerked against his knee. With a softer tone, he declared, "I will stop at nothing to keep you safe, Amelia." "However, that doesn't mean I won't ultimately be the one to harm you."

My chest constricted. "So, why did you wed me?"

Something unreadable flickered behind his eyes as his stare deepened. "Because I was at a loss."

Between us, a thick, oppressive silence hung. As we got closer to the estate, the iron gates stood out in the darkness like silent sentinels, and the automobile slowed.

I started to press him harder, but Jack's phone buzzed against his thigh before I could do so. He took it out and read the message, his face tightening.

I whispered, "We haven't finished discussing this yet."

Jack's voice was firm as he answered, "Yes, we are."

I was left in the quiet of my own thoughts as the car came to a stop and Jack got out before I could protest.

A message appeared on my own phone screen as I grabbed for the door handle.

You ought to have paid attention to him. It's too late now.

A shiver ran down my back. With my breath caught in my throat, I looked around the dimly lit streets outside the estate's gates. Under the gloomy streetlights, the shadows appeared darker and stretched strangely. I gripped the phone tighter, my fingers shaking.

"Amelia?" The silence was broken by Jack's voice. His eyes were furrowed as he watched me from just outside the automobile. The strain in his shoulders, the barely hidden annoyance behind the meticulously crafted mask he wore, was immediately visible to me.

After taking a deep breath, I held up my phone for him to view the message before getting out of the car. His face clouded at once. He removed the gadget from my grasp and read the text silently, his jaw tensing with each word.

Jack pivoted and strode in the direction of the estate. I rushed after him, trying to keep up with my heels clicking on the stone sidewalk. As we entered, the huge doors of the grand entrance swung open, looming before us. Jack turned around and gave me a stern look as soon as they closed behind us.

"Where did this originate?" He spoke in a low, menacing voice.

I gave a headshake. "I'm not sure. I just noticed it on my phone.

Jack ran a hand through his hair and muttered a curse before rushing to his study. My pulse was racing as I followed. The fireplace's flame created unsettling shadows on the walls in the dimly lit room. Jack grabbed a large tumbler of whiskey from the decanter on his desk and drank it all at once.

I paused at the entrance. "Talk to me, Jack."

The piercing shatter reverberated in the silence as he slammed the glass down. "That's precisely what I was attempting to avoid." His harsh speech was laced with a rage that wasn't totally focused on me. "Amelia, you're in too deep. When you had the opportunity, you ought to have departed.

My stomach turned over. However, I didn't. The sender of that communication now wants me to know that it's too late.

Jack balled his hand into a fist and whitened his knuckles. "I'm being tested by them."

"Who?" I insisted. "Who is involved in this?"

When we locked eyes, I briefly glimpsed something I had never seen before: dread.

The silence was broken by Jack's phone's abrupt chime. Without hesitation, he replied in a clipped, icy voice. "Talk."

His whole body went rigid at whatever was spoken on the other end.

I moved in closer. "Jack—"

He quickly hung up and turned to face me, his face blank. "Stow your belongings."

I went cold. "What?"

"Now, Amelia." He spoke in a harsh, urgent voice. "We must depart."

The estate's walls, the house that had before felt like a jail, now appeared to be a stronghold on the verge of being breached. In my ears, my pulse thundered.

I begged Jack to tell me what was going on.

His eyes met mine, and I realized then that whatever was pursuing us wasn't merely a danger.

It had already arrived.