The slam of a car door makes me jump. “Sadie?”
It’s Jon’s voice. I run downstairs and to the door and open it for him. He’s dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, drop dead gorgeous, with plywood under his arm. He comes in and sets the wood down before pulling me close to his body. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Just…shaken.”
He doesn’t kiss me, just hugs me closer for a moment. “Let’s get this cleaned up. I’ll board up the window until you can get it properly repaired.”
“Thanks.”
I grab a broom and start to sweep up the glass. There’s not as much as I first thought, which is nice. I run a rag across the seat, the couch, and the floor after I’m done to catch the splinters, and Jon hammers the boards to the window. The entire surface is covered when he’s finished.
He hasn’t said much, but I can feel the tension rolling off him. It’s never felt like this with him before. When he puts the last nail in, he returns the hammer to the tool box he brought with him.
“I want you to spend the night at my house,” he says. “But before that, we have to talk.”
“I know.”
He sits on the coffee table across from me. “Why did you do it?”
“I looked him up, and you were right, he’s a really bad guy. Exactly the kind of person that needed to be taken down. Permanently. And I wanted to be the one to do it.”
“Sadie, you promised.”
“I didn’t.”
Jon gives me a look that tells me to cut the bullshit. “That’s how you’re going to get around it?”
Sighing, I drop my head into my hands. “I’m sorry. When I saw that you knew him and that he was doing all this shit, I wanted to stop him. And I knew it would help me. And, when I pitched it to my producer he tried to give it to Bill because he said no one wants to see a pretty woman talking about dog fighting. And I couldn’t let that happen again. Not after everything that I put into it. I couldn’t set the precedent that I wouldn’t be tackling tough stories. If I’d given in, my career would have stalled.”
My words hang in the air between us.
“I am sorry for breaking my word. I didn’t think he would do this. All the public pressure…but I don’t regret exposing him. Someone had to do it. I’m sorry that I hurt you.”
I look up at him, and Jon is staring at me like I’ve grown a second head. “You think that I’m upset because this hurts me?” He leans closer, pulling me to the edge of the couch so our faces are close. His hand rests on the back of my neck, mouth so near to mine it’s tempting to just kiss him. “I’m angry because you put yourself in danger and I can’t bear that. I don’t want to imagine that. Jack is dangerous, Sadie.”
“I know,” I say, fighting off tears from exhaustion and fear and adrenaline. Closing my eyes, I steady my breath. “Thank you for coming. You don’t have to stay.”
A humorless laugh. “If you think you’re not coming back to my house with me, you’re mistaken.”
“But—”
“I can be angry with you and still want you safe, Sadie. My house has a state-of-the-art security system. Not to mention a pack of dogs. They wouldn’t hurt a fly, but everyone else doesn’t need to know that. Plus they’re so loud sometimes they’re better than the damn alarm.”
“That does sound nice. I could really use the sleep and I just don’t think I could fall asleep here tonight,” I say.
“Pack what you need. Please.”
I do, taking the opportunity to change into something more comfortable. Yoga pants and a t-shirt. I get my clothes and make up for a couple of days just in case, and within ten minutes I’m ready to go. Jon doesn’t say anything as he takes my bag, just waits for me to lock up and then takes my hand on the way to the truck.
Once we’re inside the truck, he takes my hand again, which I think is a good sign, though there’s still panic in my chest. We’re quiet on the way.
What do I even do about the death threat? Do I call the police, even though that might make the whole situation escalate? Do I pretend like it never happened, even though he knows where I live? Now that things at the house are taken care of, I need to let the studio know.
I tap out a quick email to Alan letting him know what happened, and that I’m staying the night with a friend as a precaution. Then I turn off my phone. I don’t want to talk to anyone else tonight.
Jon’s house is on the outskirts of town, and it’s gorgeous. It’s on a huge parcel of land, and from what I can see, it’s the kind of house that looks small from the front, but there’s actually a hill and it extends all the way down in the back. You can hear a river rushing not too far off, and I’m sure in the morning the view will be gorgeous.