Chapter 6
657 Words
Arielle
The note felt like it burned through my pocket all morning.
I couldn't think straight. Couldn't breathe without feeling like someone was behind me. Watching. Judging. Hunting.
Was it Jace?
God, if it was, he'd crossed a terrifying new line.
But some part of me—no matter how scared—knew it wasn't him.
Because Jace's obsession didn't come in shadows.
It came in heat. In fire. In presence.
Whoever left this note wanted to scare me.
And it worked.
⸻
I found him outside by the pool later that day. Shirtless. Drenched in sun and danger, tossing a football between his hands like he didn't have the power to ruin me.
"Did you leave a note on my car?" I asked.
He looked up, startled. "What note?"
My heart thudded. Either he was the best liar I'd ever met, or... he wasn't the only threat.
I pulled it from my pocket and tossed it at him.
He's not who you think he is. And he's not the only one watching you.
Jace read it.
Then looked up.
Dead serious.
His whole body stiffened.
"Where did you find this?"
"Windshield. This morning."
"You think this was me?"
I crossed my arms. "I don't know what to think anymore."
"I would never do this," he said, voice tight. "If I have something to say to you, Arielle—I say it to your face."
The air between us shifted.
My chest tightened.
"Then who?" I whispered.
Jace ran a hand through his hair. "There are people... I've done things. Things you don't know about. And maybe one of them's trying to get to me through you."
"You mean, like enemies?"
He didn't answer.
His silence said everything.
"Jesus, Jace..." I turned away, panic rising. "What are you even involved in?"
His hand caught mine before I could walk off.
"Stop."
"No."
"You're scared of me now?"
I turned to him slowly. "I'm scared of what this is becoming. I'm scared of how you look at me like I'm the only thing keeping you alive. I'm scared of what I'll do next if you keep pulling me in."
Jace stepped closer.
His eyes burned with a storm of something dark, desperate, hungry.
"You should be scared," he whispered.
His mouth crushed mine before I could stop him.
And this time—I didn't fight it.
The note haunted me.
I left it on the counter and stared at it like it might morph into a name. An answer.
But all it did was remind me—I was in over my head.
Jace wasn't just danger.
He was a magnet for it.
And now, whoever had a problem with him, had one with me too.
Was it Dylan? Someone jealous? Someone from Jace's past?
Hell, maybe it was Ava's way of protecting me from her son.
Either way, it made me feel exposed.
And I didn't like that feeling.
⸻
"Who else have you pissed off, Jace?" I asked, cornering him in the hallway later that day.
He blinked. "What?"
His voice dropped.
"You need to be careful, Arielle."
"That's not an answer."
"I don't know who it is. But I'll find out. And when I do..." His jaw ticked. "They'll wish they hadn't touched you."
"Touch me?" I asked. "No one touched me."
He stepped in.
His voice dropped even lower.
"They don't have to. I can feel it. Someone's watching you. Wanting what's mine."
I stared at him, stunned.
He didn't blink.
He meant it.
"You can't keep saying that."
"You let me kiss you. You didn't stop it. Don't act like you're innocent in this."
"I never said I was."
His eyes dragged over me. Slowly. Possessively.
His fingers brushed a strand of hair from my cheek.
And then?
He pressed his mouth to my ear.
"If they think they can take you from me... they're going to learn what real obsession looks like."
- Writer
