by Laura Burton
Do something, Julie! Don’t just stand there!
Her brain screamed at her to move. But she couldn’t. Instead, she was forced to watch as the attackers took turns throwing their punches at Harry. Julie’s ears rang so loudly she wondered if a steam train was nearby. Her senses came back to her on a sudden whoosh, and she took in a breath and let out the loudest, unearthly screech she could muster. The attackers stopped and covered their ears in response, giving Julie time to act. She lifted her dress and threw her right foot with as much force as possible to collide with one of the attackers’ thighs, while ramming her elbow into the ribs of another. All of her kickboxing and boxing training came flooding to the surface as she moved. It did not matter that there were three of them. She was full of adrenaline now, and her fear was long gone. These people just attacked the love of her life.
They will pay.
She thrust her fist into whatever body she could reach; one of them fled the scene.
“Come on,” another said in a muffled voice. Julie raised her elbows, preparing to defend herself, but the two remaining attackers limped across the road and disappeared into an alley. Panting and looking brazenly out at the street, primed and ready for another round, Julie waited. A couple of cars passed by. The eerie stillness disappeared and a scatter of people entered the street.
Julie’s arms remained above her head, but she was trembling now. The danger had passed, and now a rush of emotions and adrenaline with nowhere to go came flooding back.
She silently thanked her parents for forcing her to attend self-defense classes the summer before she started university. It just saved her life.
A moan on the floor alerted her out of her thoughts. Julie crouched down to Harry and held his hand gingerly. His face was swelling up and blotches of red covered his hands.
“Are you all right?”
“Hurts to breathe,” Harry whispered back, grimacing. Julie pulled her phone out from her bag and with trembling fingers, fumbled to call emergency services.
“Slow and gentle. Hold on, help is on its way,” she said calmly, repeating the advice she heard on a medical drama she binge-watched over the summer. She remained controlled as she gave instructions for the ambulance and swallowed against the lump in her throat as she ended the call. Harry’s breaths were quick and ragged as he lay on the ground, his head resting on Julie’s legs. Her eyes prickled as tears threatened to fall, but she bit her tongue and blinked up at the sky as they waited for help to arrive. It was in that moment, as she held Harry in her lap and watched his chest rise and fall rapidly, that she knew they would never be safe. Ebony would stop at nothing. If she was willing to stoop this low, there was no telling what would happen next. Harry passed out and his breathing slowed. Julie cradled his head in her hands and looked up to the sky. Finally, she allowed tears to stream down her cheeks as she thought about what she had to do—for Harry’s sake.
Resolved, she repeated the same mantra in her mind as she waited for the sirens to reach them.
Please don’t die. Please don’t die. Please don’t die.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Love and Sacrifices
Harry blinked into a bright light and wondered for a moment if he had died and gone to Heaven. The white light flooded his vision until he slowly recognized the figure of an angel standing beside him. It appeared as if the light came from her.
“Harry, can you hear me? Nurse, I think he’s waking up.”
The sound of her gentle voice was grounding and Harry found himself falling back into a sleepy slumber.
“Harold, darling, can you hear me?”
Harry inhaled deeply, a dull ache spread across his chest and he slowly opened his eyes. A machine beeped next to him and a hand squeezed his.
“Where’s Julie? Is she all right?”
His eyes found the familiar sight of his mother sitting beside him. She pursed her lips and she stroked his face.
“She’s just fine, darling. You were very lucky last night. If Ebony hadn’t found you, I dread to think….”
“Ebony?” Harry burst out of his covers and sat up, then stopped to gasp for air. “She is not to be trusted.” He rubbed his chest, remembering the beating he took. Looking over the line from his arm, he had enough strength to tug on the IV connected to the saline bag hanging beside his bed.
“What are you doing?” his mother asked, watching Harry pull the IV out of his arm and ungracefully swing his legs out of the bed. An alarm beeped and two nurses dashed into the room.
“Are you feeling okay, Mr. Jackson?” one of them asked. She had blonde hair, similar to Julie’s, but her eyes were blue instead of the golden brown he’d come to love.
“I need to see Julie and speak to Benjamin.” Harry pushed himself awkwardly to his feet and staggered to the armchair in the corner of the private room. His stomach throbbed and his chest screamed in pain as he grabbed the pile of neatly folded clothes and started to dress.
“Harold. She’s gone,” his mother said with a note of finality. Harry looked up and stared at her while the two nurses watched, as if considering what they should do. Harry’s mother waved to them with a nod and gestured to the door, prompting them to leave. Harry fastened the buttons on his shirt, then with the grace of a newly born calf, stepped into his pants and stood up. He studied the look of concern on his mother’s face.
“What do you mean, Ebony found me? Where is Julie?” He tried to keep his voice low, but the rising anger inside him was proving difficult to keep under control. His mother perched on the edge of the hospital bed and rested her hands in her lap.
“Ebony found you and Julie. You were unconscious with multiple injuries––though the doctor says they are minor and you were very lucky. Tell me, what were you doing walking the streets of London at night without security?” The sound of reproach in her voice matched the glare in her eyes. Harry ignored her.
“Where is Julie?” he repeated through gritted teeth. His mother shifted and glanced out of the window.
“On a plane, most likely,” she said simply. Harry pushed his feet into his shoes, thankful they were slide-ons.
Of course, she’s run away. I did nothing to protect her.
His heart raced and humiliation rose like heat to the surface of his cheeks as he clamped his teeth together and ground them with frustration. It happened too fast. One minute they were enjoying their romantic escape, looking up at the moon, and the next, he was pounded into the ground by a bunch of thugs. He couldn’t even feel the punches that followed the initial one. Shocked and unable to process what was happening, Harry just took the abuse, but he remembered Julie. She’d turned into a real-life action figure and showed those attackers not to mess with them. If he wasn’t so mortified at his inadequacy, he would have been prouder of her.
Now, she’s gone. And she’ll be too afraid to see me again.
Then again, Harry thought, maybe she wasn’t afraid, maybe she decided that being with Harry meant dealing with too much drama. After all, with all the press and scandals that came with it—not to mention a psychopath ex—who would want to love Billionaire Harry Jackson?
He slammed a fist on his thigh and glanced out the window. The sun was shining like a summer’s day, and the hustle and bustle outside reminded Harry that despite everything, the world was still moving on.
“Harold….” His mother walked up to him and placed a hand on his back. “I hate to see you like this. Why don’t you get back into bed and we’ll sort this all out?”
Harry hesitated. He didn’t know what to do. Should he get on a plane and follow Julie back to New York, profess his love, and insist they should be together?
But what if Ebony engineered more attacks? Even if he went everywhere with security, they would be forever looking over their shoulders.
Harry lowered himself back onto the bed and sighed. He needed to let Julie go.
“You know Ebony did this,” he said dully to his mother. “Why are you talking to her again, anyway
? After what she did to me?”
Harry’s mother sat next to him on the bed and patted his knee.
“She loves you Harold. She made a mistake and wants you back. Can’t you see that? You both have so much history—and she comes from a good family. Let’s be sensible here. You two are good together, despite your youthful pasts.”
“And you think we should pick things up where we left off? Pretend she didn’t run off with Phillipe and then put a bounty on my head?”
“Don’t be silly, Harold. No one’s trying to kill you. I don’t believe for one moment Ebony had anything to do with this. She is the one who found you.”
Harry sighed. His mother would need hard evidence. Even then, she had a habit of putting her head in the sand and avoiding the truth when it hurt or it wasn’t something she wanted to hear. Of course, she would be defensive of Ebony running off with Phillipe. Had she not done the same thing to Harry’s father?
“You should never have brought Julie, you know. All of this would have been so different if you just walked away when you got that first––”
“Note? Is that what you were going to say? How do you know about the note?” Harry shook his head, shocked at this new revelation. “You had something to do with this?”
Harry’s mother straightened her back and picked a loose thread from his collar. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. That is not what I was going to say.” She refused to make eye contact.
“Benjamin said he thought a private detective was following us on our first date.” He stood up and walked back to the window. “What I can’t work out is, was he hired by Ebony… or by you?” He turned to face his mother, who looked back at him affronted.
“Harold Anthony Jackson, I did no such thing.”
“Why are you so set on Ebony and I getting back together?” Harry asked, exasperated. Jonas had often accused their mother of being vindictive but pairing him with a woman who organized an attack on her son was surely a step too far. Even for her.
“Harold darling, I wish I could shake you by the shoulders and knock some sense into you. Ebony misses you. I miss you. We both want you to come home.”
“So pick up the phone and tell me. Childish notes and messages written in fake blood are not the way to go about this.”
Harry’s mother looked at the floor and bit her lip for a moment. Harry wondered if this was a sign of regret or buying time to spin a story. She looked up at him and sighed heavily.
“I didn’t know things between you and Julie were serious. Last week you didn’t even know who she was.”
“How did you know––” Harry stopped and scratched the back of his neck, struck by a thought. “You hired someone to follow me?”
“I worry about you. It’s for your own safety. We both know you’re a lot like your father––”
Harry balled his hands into fists and swallowed hard—as if being like his kind-hearted father was a bad thing.
“Ebony is strong, she has money, and she can keep you safe.”
“That’s ironic, because she’s the one who just got me beaten up, and are you forgetting I don’t need her money?”
Harry’s mother sucked in air through her teeth in a hiss. “No one meant for you to be attacked. Why do you find it so hard to believe?”
“Well, someone did. And you’ve just confessed that the you two have been conspiring against me.”
“Conspiring,” Harry’s mother repeated with a laugh. “It was childish. I will give you that. I only thought that if you sensed there would be confrontations and drama with Julie, that you would let her go and come home to––”
“You and Ebony are living in a fantasy world,” Harry said frankly. “Single or not. There is no way I would ever get back together with her. Look what she’s done. Just how far is she willing to go to stop me from being happy?”
Harry’s mother rose to her feet and rested her plump hands on her hips, the way she did when he was a child and got into a fight with his brother.
“I’ve had quite enough of this. You need to rest. Ebony is coming to see you this evening. I expect you to be on your best behavior, and I will tolerate no more of this nonsense.”
Harry couldn’t decide if his mother’s posh English accent was fake, or the result of living in England for years. Either way, it irritated him. And in that moment, he wanted to pick up a chair and throw it at the window. His own mother had been conspiring with his cheating ex-fiancé against him.
And Julie was gone.
It was fortunate that Harry’s mother left without another word. His anger boiled so violently, he was worried what he might do if provoked even further.
Harry collapsed back onto the bed and pulled his phone out from his pocket. Nine messages, none of them from Julie.
He glanced up at the clock and sighed. His personal assistant would be going crazy wondering where he was. He was supposed to be doing interviews at the Ritz in less than an hour. He made a call and told them he would be unable to do any interviews; some took the news harder than others.
“What do you mean you can’t come?” Martin, his director, barked down the phone. “You expect me to give this interview alone?”
“Matt and Sabrina will be attending as well. I have my PA team on hand to make all the arrangements and ensure everything goes to plan.”
Martin grumbled something inaudible.
“Fine. But you’re doing Tokyo next week,” he snapped.
Harry took a breath. “No, I’m going to be busy for the rest of the month. Martin, I need you to take over this tour.”
There was a silence. Then a deep sigh.
“I don’t know what’s going on with you but sounds serious if you’re prepared to let the team down.”
Ordinarily this would have made Harry change his mind; the thought of letting anyone down filled him with anguish. He would move mountains to make other people happy. But there someone more important he needed to please.
As if the universe was finally on his side, the door swung open and in strolled a man with the biggest arms Harry had ever seen. His face broke into a casual smirk, and he pulled his long hair into a man bun.
“Hey there, baby bro,” his low voice boomed. “I heard you got yourself into a street fight.”
Harry found himself grinning back.
“Jonas, I’m glad you’re here,” he said as they hugged. “I’ve got a huge favor to ask.”
Jonas scratched his stubbly beard and cocked a brow at Harry with intrigue.
“I’m listening,” he said, leaning against the wall. Harry stuffed his phone in his pocket and rested his hand on Jonas’ shoulder. The hard muscle underneath flexed.
“I need you to teach me to be the alpha male.”
Jonas clapped his hands and laughed.
“Oh, boy. This is going to be fun.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Needles and Backbone
“Let me get this straight,” Emily said, pacing Julie’s living room. “You got attacked. Harry’s in the hospital, and you’ve left him to be with the woman who engineered said attack who just happens to be his ex-fiancé?”
Julie’s stomach tightened. When Emily put it that way, it sounded a lot less like an honorable sacrifice and a lot more like she left Harry to the wolves. Poor, sweet, kind Harry. The best man she’d ever met, and she left him to that… woman.
“We don’t know the attack had anything to do with Ebony,” she reasoned, trying to assuage her guilt. Her suspicions were confirmed when minutes before the ambulance arrived, Ebony came running across the street. If she hadn’t been involved, how did she know where they were?
“Oh, please,” Emily said with an eye roll. “You don’t think it’s weird they jumped on Harry and left you alone?”
Julie crossed her legs and Tabby jumped into her lap.
“I defended myself.”
“You defended Harry,” Emily corrected. “You said they were only going for him.”
Julie scratch
ed Tabby’s ears and listened to his deep purr. It was true, technically no one tried to throw any punches at Julie. Even when she fought them, they ran off rather than hit back. As ego-boosting as it was to believe she had scared off three men with her kickboxing skills, it was too easy. Had Ebony told them to beat Harry up only?
“But if it was Ebony, why didn’t she target me? It’s me she wants out of the picture.”
“Exactly,” Emily said coming to a stop in the middle of the room and looking triumphant. As if she had just solved all of life’s mysteries. “If she targeted you, it would only make Harry more determined to protect you. If it was the other way around, she knew you’d decide he was better off without you. Ebony knew you would break up with Harry.”
Julie’s head was spinning. Had she played perfectly into Ebony’s hands?
“What else was I supposed to do?” She rubbed Tabby’s belly making his paws twitch and eyes roll to the back of his head.
Emily sat on the couch beside Julie and tickled Tabby under his chin. The cat purred constantly, reveling in all of the attention.
“I’m just surprised you left so abruptly. Have you called Harry to see how he is?”
Julie looked away, unable to look at Emily’s wide-eyed stare. They had an ability to see right through anyone, and she couldn’t bring herself to tell her the truth. How could she contact him?
“Julie, you have to call him,” Emily said firmly, reading her thoughts. “It’s not fair on either of you to just break it off like this. You told me you were going to marry the man!”
Julie snapped her head back to Emily so fast her neck cracked.
“And say what? ‘Hi Harry, how are you doing? So, I thought you and Ebony needed to figure some things out, so I’m giving you some space. If things are resolved and you’re still interested in dating me, give me a call.’ Yeah that would go down well.”
“That’s not bad actually,” Emily said, looking thoughtful.