I’m immediately taken in by her warm affection for her boss, and as I shake her hand, I tell her, “It’s nice to meet you.”

She squeezes my hand and then she lets her gaze slide down my body and back up again, except there’s not a hint of condescension or judgment. She smiles at me brilliantly and says, “Aren’t you just the loveliest of creatures. Beck really lucked out with you.”

My face flames red because I don’t know that I’ve ever been paid a more genuine compliment in my life, and I’m more than a little shamefaced that if she knew my ulterior motive, she’d never think Beck lucked out with me.

I follow Linda back down a hall, we turn down another, and I recognize the area. She leads me to a corner office, and as I peer down the corridor that runs the length of the building, I can see the corner of Karla’s desk from where I stand. JT’s office is right beside that.

Linda opens the door and motions me in. “Beck is actually downstairs meeting with the programmers. He’s running a few minutes late but he’ll be here soon. Just make yourself comfortable.”

“Thank you,” I murmur as I step in, taking in Beck’s office. It’s as pristine, contemporary, and minimalist as his home is. There are no personal photos or knickknacks. The decor is in black, white, and gray with some modern artwork on the walls that look like nothing more than splashes of paint in yellows, oranges, and reds.

I wonder if the impersonal nature of his home and work space have anything to do with what seems to be the sterile familial environment he grew up in. I know my family didn’t have a lot in the way of money, but we certainly had love within our tiny house. While I was closest to my mother, who was very young when she had me, I also have an affectionate bond with my dad, which briefly got stronger right after my mom died three years ago, but then began to cool a little when he started dating again. He’s now been with Maria for a year and I expect they’ll get married soon. I don’t begrudge him that, and Maria’s nice enough, but after Mom died, Dad was all I had left and now I have to share him. That I don’t like very much.

“Well, what do we have here?” I hear from behind me, and my skin immediately turns icy with apprehension and loathing.

I turn around to see Jonathon Townsend standing in the doorway to Beck’s office. His hands are tucked casually into the pockets of very expensive navy tailored slacks and his eyes drop to my breasts, which fill out my vintage Pepsi long-sleeved T-shirt quite well.

He clearly doesn’t even remember me from when I introduced myself to him almost two weeks ago. The way he’s eyeing me creeps me the hell out, and when he takes a step into the office, I have to resist the urge to bolt behind Beck’s desk.

Get it together, Sela. You can’t be afraid of this man. You intend to kill him, after all, so you have to be comfortable in his presence.

“I’m Sela Halstead,” I say, proud to find my voice sounds strong and not shaky like my insides feel. “We met at the mixer weekend before last.”

He carelessly shrugs his shoulders, indicating he doesn’t remember, nor does he care that he doesn’t remember. This fills me with a low, bubbling fury, because this man raped me and yet he stands no more than five feet from me without a hint of recognition. My fingers curl into fists and the urge to attack and claw his eyes out almost causes my legs to give way.

Townsend takes two more steps toward me, almost in a slithering fashion, and raises his eyes from my boobs to my face. He gives me what I know he thinks is a charming grin, and says, “I can’t believe I don’t remember. I’m almost disappointed in myself.”

I hold my eyes straight on him, resisting the urge to roll them, and without a care in the world if this hurts my plans at some point. “Well, luckily I met Beck shortly thereafter, so it all worked out perfectly.”

You scummy, motherfucking, amoral, sick evil bastard.

Having such a huge ego and not realizing that was an insult to him, he reaches a hand out to touch me. Not sure if he’s aiming for my face, my hair, or maybe a breast squeeze, but I take a hasty step back.

“Skittish little thing,” he murmurs, and I can see that turns him on by the sizzle in his eyes.

Bile rises in my throat even as I go into fight mode. I prepare myself to launch a foot to his nuts if he reaches again and I even think, I wonder if there’s a letter opener on Beck’s desk I can use to finish the job, but then Beck’s voice floats over me like a protective blanket. “Sela? Everything okay?”

I tilt my head to the right, look past JT, and see Beck striding in looking none too happy to see his partner standing there. I scurry around Townsend and my relief is evident by the now-clear shaking in my voice, “Hey…ready to go to lunch?”

He narrows his eyes at me as he just clearly heard in my tone everything I was hoping to hide. Fear, anxiety, relief.

His gaze snaps to JT, pinning him with hard eyes. While he’s focused on his partner, his question is to me. “What’s going on here?”

The tension is thick and I have no clue what to say. I certainly don’t want to cause trouble, but JT just suavely chuckles and walks past both of us. “Just introducing myself.”

Beck and I turn our bodies slightly to watch him walk to the door. JT stops just before exiting and turns to me. His gaze is lewd, directed only to me, and in a low voice he says, “It was a pleasure to meet you, Sela. I hope to see more of you.”

My entire body shudders and I can see Beck visibly tighten next to me. Without a lick of respect to Beck’s business partner and with no care in the world if this offends Beck, I tell JT, “I wish I could say the same.”

Beck’s head snaps toward me, but I don’t take my eyes of JT. I can’t afford to ever give him my lowered gaze or my fear, as devious as he’s proven to be, and I want him to know I am not intimidated by him.

JT just laughs and turns to walk out the door, pulling it shut behind him. The minute he’s gone from my sight, I let out a sigh of relief and feel my shoulders relax.

Beck threads his fingers through my hair, curling his hand around the back of my head. With worried eyes, he bends in toward me and asks in a menacing voice, “Did he do something to you?”

I shake my head. “No, it’s just…he was coming on to me and it was pretty creepy.”

“Asshole,” Beck snarls.