Chapter 19
[ 510 words ]
Chapter 19:
Her throat tightened painfully. The defensive wall she had built up over the last hour began to crack. Her eyes grew hot, and she unconsciously relaxed her shoulders, leaning slightly away from the cold locker.
Jarrod was a predator, and he instantly sensed the shift in her posture. He saw her defenses lower.
He stood up straight, rolling his injured shoulder slightly and adjusting the lapel of his suit jacket. He reached into his inner breast pocket and pulled out a sleek, heavy black metal card.
He reached down, picked up the crumpled marriage certificate from the floor, and pressed the black card into her palm, folding her fingers over it.
“This is the secondary card to my private account,” Jarrod said. “The PIN is 8-6-7-5-3-0-9. Memorize it. Don’t write it down.”
W𝗲𝗲kl𝘆 𝗿е𝘭e𝗮s𝖾𝗌 o𝘯 𝗴𝖺𝘭𝗇o𝗏𝘦𝘭ѕ.𝖼𝗈𝗆
Caroline stared at the heavy metal card in her hand like it was radioactive. She tried to shove it back into his chest. “I can’t take this. This is absurd. I have my own money.”
Jarrod caught her wrist, his grip firm but not painful. He pushed her hand back down. “The wife of Jarrod Romero does not need to endure the abuse of an idiot hospital administrator for a few thousand dollars a month.”
He let go of her wrist and stepped back. “Put your things back in the locker. Go home. Rest. Come back to work tomorrow if you want to. No one in this building will ever dare disrespect you again.”
Caroline looked at him, her brain spinning. His logic was a bulldozer, crushing all her arguments under the weight of his absolute authority and wealth. She found herself completely unable to formulate a response.
Jarrod checked the heavy tactical watch on his left wrist. He frowned, a deep crease forming between his brows. The military emergency was clearly pulling him away.
He turned and walked to the locker room door. He pulled the key from his pocket, slid it into the deadbolt, and unlocked it with a loud clack.
He pulled the door open, but before stepping out, he paused and looked back over his shoulder.
The harsh fluorescent light caught his eyes, revealing a fleeting, incredibly hidden softness.
“I will call you tonight,” Jarrod said softly. “Don’t ignore it.”
He didn’t wait for her to agree. He pushed the door wide open and strode out into the dimly lit basement hallway, disappearing into the shadows. Caroline watched him go, a silent, rebellious thought flickering in her mind. He thinks he can order me around. For now, I’ll let him.
The heavy door didn’t close all the way. A sliver of cold, sterile hospital air drifted into the locker room.
Caroline’s knees finally gave out. She slid down the front of her locker until she was sitting on the floor again. She clutched the crumpled marriage certificate and the freezing metal black card to her chest.
Her heart was beating so fast it physically hurt. Every ounce of her logical, tactical training screamed at her to run far away from this dangerous, controlling man. But her emotions were magnetized, pulled inextricably toward the violent safety he offered.
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