I made a move to get out of the car but was surprised when Hayes's cane sprang up between me and the door. I could have easily grabbed it and yanked it from the old man's grasp, but I chose to look at him instead. Like with Archer, his eyes were unexpectedly filled with emotion. The validation that he definitely had some kind of emotional connection to Jude left me with a strange sinking feeling, but I pushed it aside. It was absolutely none of my business.
"Can you protect him?"
There was just the slightest tremor in Hayes's voice as he asked the question.
"Not if you interfere," I said.
The man's jaw tightened again, but he nodded. I took that as agreement that he wouldn't. "I will speak to Jude tomorrow," he finally said.
I shook my head. "No, you won't." My audacity was clearly pissing Clifton Hayes off, but he didn't fight me on it. "I'll also need more specifics on what kinds of threats you or he have received. I don't care how small or insignificant you think it is, I want to see it."
It seemed to take forever for Hayes to nod his head. I didn't even know how to process it when he did. He lowered the cane back to the floor, which I took as a dismissal. "I'll be in touch," I said as I stepped out of the car. I paused and added, "Thanks for dropping the charges, by the way." I leaned in so Hayes could see I was being serious because, despite everything, he’d done me a solid when it came to that.
"I didn't," the man said gruffly. He tapped his cane on the roof and right before the driver shut the door, I heard Hayes add, "Jude did."
Chapter 4
Jude
From the moment I stepped through the building’s doors, I felt them.
The looks of pity.
And the voices. The whispered ones as people began retelling the events of the night before to those who were just hearing about it for the first time.
Fucking Nikolai Falkov.
The mere thought of the man who'd made a fool out of me simply to make a point had everything inside of me tightening up. It was the last thing I needed because as hard as I tried, I was still wound up from what had happened. After telling Simon to notify security, the man had done something to his gun, presumably to remove the bullets, before placing it on a side table. Everything after that had happened in slow motion and I'd been completely helpless to do anything but stand there and watch it go down.
Alarms had blared as security had burst through the door to my office suite, but I hadn't found out until later that it had taken a good two minutes for them to get there. By then, Falkov had dropped to his knees and put his hands behind his head. There should have been some satisfaction in watching him be handcuffed and dragged off by the cops who’d shown up a few minutes after the security guards, but the ringing in my ears had been too loud. I thought it had been from the security alarms going off, but it hadn't stopped, not even once I’d gotten home. It wasn't until I'd climbed shakily into the shower and given in to the adrenaline crash that had taken place shortly thereafter that I'd realized the ringing hadn't been real.
None of it had been real, I reminded myself as I ignored the people around me and made my way to the elevator that would lead to the executive floors. I stopped in surprise when I saw a couple of beefy-looking security guards standing on each side of the check-in desk. There were more guards along with what I could only assume were metal detectors between the lobby and the bank of elevators.
What the hell?
Despite it being a Saturday, the lobby was still somewhat busy. That was because work at TDS never stopped. There were always deals to be made and money to add to the coffers. But for the first time, I regretted that Mondays and Saturdays almost looked the same. I would've given anything to not have to deal with any people today.
I felt like I was in a fog as I worked my way through the new process of having my ID actually checked and then needing to walk through the metal detector.
So much for thinking that all of this would pass.
A part of me couldn't help but be a little thankful for the beefed-up security but knowing that I was the cause of it made me sick to my stomach. There would be no living down this moment… this moment when Nikolai Falkov had made a fool of me in front of the very people I'd been working to prove myself to.