Grounded (Up in the Air #3)(64)

“He saw me in the headlines. He saw that I was dating someone wealthy, and he thought that that would make me more likely to turn him in. The crazy part is, he was right, at least about some of it. I was getting ready to turn him in, though money had nothing to do with it.”

Sven glanced around, looking a little nervous. “I’m surprised that he didn’t make you take security here with you, with the attack and all.”

I sighed. “I actually didn’t tell him I was coming. As far as he knows, I’m still asleep in bed.”

“Do you live together?” he asked.

I nodded.

His eyes widened. “Yeah, I’m going to guess that he had something to do with my boss acting strange, then. Maybe I should walk you home before all hell breaks loose.”

I waved my half-empty cup of coffee. We’d spent a half hour talking before I’d finally grabbed a cup. “Sounds good. Let me just finish my coffee and we’ll go.”

I had nearly completed that goal when Sven’s expression froze. My back was to the entrance of the café, and he was facing it, so I knew right away who had just walked through the door.

“Looks like you weren’t way off about your boyfriend,” he said, his eyes staying glued to the door of the coffee house.

I took deep breaths, getting very nervous suddenly. I knew I should just get up and walk to the door. That would be the best thing I could do, as far as defusing the situation went. I told my body to do just that, but I was frozen in place, my body just waiting to see what James would do.

I didn’t turn to look at him, but I would’ve sworn I felt his presence behind me—his eyes on me. I felt his stillness as he just stood in that doorway, and then I felt him move, walking slowly across the crowded room. I knew it with a certainty when he was standing directly at my back.

Sven seemed just as frozen, staring at the other man with wide eyes. It was a good minute before he tried to speak. “H—“ was all he got out.

“Not now, Sven Karlsson,” James said quietly. His tone was more menacing than I’d ever heard it. “You and I will talk later, but now is not a good time.”

A hand descended to cup the nape of my neck, oh so gently. That hand left me almost instantly, as though James had recoiled. That did nothing good for my peace of mind. My heart felt like it was trying to pound right out of my chest.

“Stand up, Bianca,” Mr. Cavendish said quietly. His voice was no less menacing for me. The Dom was driving him at that moment, no hint of his other side present.

I stood up, my body obeying that dangerous tone without hesitation.

James gripped my arm very lightly, that spot just above my elbow, and led me from the café without another word.

I saw that our security was there in force as we passed them. My usual detail was there, sans Johnny, and Clark was at the car. He nodded politely, his face blank, as he opened the door for us.

James handed me into the car. I scooted across the seat but he didn’t crowd me, staying as far away from me as possible on the long seat.

Clark started driving the second the doors closed, leaving the rest of the bodyguards at the café.

I turned my head to watch them as we drove away. Apparently, they’d be walking back.

I took a deep breath. “James—“

He held up a hand. “Not. Right. Now.”

That shut me up. And if his words hadn’t, the look he shot me before he turned away again would have.

His face was a stoic mask, but his eyes…they were uncivilized.

When we reached the underground garage entrance into the apartment, he handed me out of the car without a word, his touch light and brief.

He only took my arm again once we reached our apartment, pulling me out of the elevator and directly to the stairs.

We hadn’t taken the first step up the stairs when a commotion from the direction of the kitchen caught my attention.

Stephan spilled around the corner, looking frantic. “Bee! Thank God! James had just about sent a search party out!”

He moved towards us and James held up a hand.

“Not now,” James told him, sparing him a single glance.

That look must have held something that alarmed Stephan, because he strode to us, looking resolute.

“I think you need to take a breather, James. You aren’t in any state to—“

“Don’t you dare,” James said in a dangerous voice, moving to meet the other man, dropping my arm in the process.

The two men were nose to nose, the very air in the room turning hostile between one breath and the next.

“You will not come between us. It is not your place to step in here, Stephan. I let that happen once, but I will be damned if it happens again. No one stands between me and Bianca, and that includes you.”

“That’s not up to you. I’ll be here for Bianca whenever she needs me.” Stephan looked at me, having to crane his neck to do so. “You okay, Bee?”

I nodded, hoping that would be enough to defuse the situation. It wasn’t.

“Walk away, Stephan.”

Stephan shook his head. “No. I can’t do that. I don’t feel comfortable with this. You look like you’re ready to kill somebody, James. I’ve never seen you like this, and I’m not leaving my girl alone with you until you’ve calmed down.”

“Your girl?” James growled, gripping the other man’s shirt in his fists.