Her ex brought his beautiful new lover to humiliate her in her own bakery, but the dangerous stranger who kissed her had been waiting for this moment far longer than she knew
“I know.”
“You just kissed me.”
“Yes.”
“In my bakery.”
“Yes.”
“In front of my ex.”
“That part was intentional.”
Someone near the window choked on a laugh.
Claire should have slapped him.
Instead, she stood there completely stunned while Gabriel turned toward Ethan.
“The woman you came here to embarrass,” he said calmly, “is the only person in this room you should be ashamed to have lost.”
Ethan’s face twisted.
“You don’t even know her.”
Gabriel went still.
Claire felt it immediately.
Something had changed.
Vanessa noticed too.
Gabriel’s answer came quietly.
“I know her better than you think.”
Claire turned toward him.
“What does that mean?”
For the first time since she had known him, Gabriel Mercer seemed to regret saying something.
Ethan laughed nervously.
“This is insane.”
He grabbed Vanessa’s hand.
“Come on.”
But Vanessa wasn’t moving.
She was staring at Gabriel.
Not admiring him.
Fearing him.
“Why are you here?” she whispered.
Gabriel looked at her.
“I like the cinnamon rolls.”
“That isn’t what I mean.”
Claire’s skin prickled.
Vanessa’s face had gone pale.
Ethan tugged her arm again.
“Vanessa.”
She shook him off.
“You said he wouldn’t be involved.”
The room became so silent Claire could hear the refrigerator motor behind the counter.
Ethan stared at her.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Vanessa realized too late what she had said.
Gabriel’s entire expression hardened.
Claire looked from Vanessa to Ethan, then to Gabriel.
“Would someone please tell me what is going on?”
Vanessa backed toward the door.
Gabriel stepped forward.
“Who told you I wouldn’t be involved?”
“No one.”
“You just said someone did.”
“I misspoke.”
“Vanessa.”
His voice was still quiet.
Somehow that made it worse.
Ethan grabbed her shoulder.
“What did you do?”
She jerked away from him.
“Nothing!”
Her purse slipped from her arm.
It hit the floor.
Lipstick rolled beneath a table.
Keys scattered across the tile.
And then something else slid from the open bag.
A white envelope.
Claire recognized the handwriting before she even bent down.
Her handwriting.
Her stomach dropped.
She picked it up.
Across the front were four words she had written nearly six months ago.
PRIVATE BUSINESS LOAN DOCUMENTS.
Claire slowly looked at Vanessa.
These papers had disappeared from her locked office three weeks before Ethan ended their engagement.
She had searched everywhere.
Ethan had sworn he knew nothing about them.
Her fingers trembled as she opened the envelope.
Inside was not the original loan agreement.
It was a photocopy.
Covered in handwritten notes.
Property value.
Outstanding debt.
Insurance amount.
And beneath them, circled twice in red ink, was Claire’s bakery address.
At the bottom of the page was another sentence.
One that Claire had never seen before.
WAIT UNTIL SHE DEFAULTS. THEN BUY THROUGH MERCER.
Her blood turned cold.
Slowly, Claire raised her eyes to Gabriel.
Nobody in the room was smiling anymore.
“You told me your name was Gabriel,” she whispered.
“It is.”
“Who is Mercer?”
His jaw tightened.
“Me.”
Claire stared at the note again.
Then at the man who had spent months quietly sitting near her window.
The stranger who knew her favorite table.
The stranger who had just kissed her.
The stranger whose name was written across a plan to take everything she owned.
Gabriel took one step toward her.
“Claire, that paper is not what you think.”
She stepped back.
“Then tell me what it is.”
He looked toward the windows.
And for the first time, Claire noticed two black SUVs had stopped across the street.
Three men in dark suits were already getting out.
Gabriel’s expression changed completely.
Not embarrassment.
Not anger.
Recognition.
Urgency.
He reached inside his jacket.
“Lock the door.”
Claire’s heart stopped.
“What?”
“Now.”
One of the men outside pointed directly at the bakery.
Gabriel moved in front of Claire.
And Ethan, pale and shaking, whispered the sentence that made everything suddenly worse.
“Oh God.”
Claire looked at him.
Ethan wasn’t staring at the men outside.
He was staring at Gabriel.
“You weren’t supposed to find her this soon.”
