Chapter 4The Billion-Dollar Bodyguard I Found in the Rain

Evan Carter's expression flickered for just a second before that sickening smile slid back into place.

"Summer, you're still upset with me. What happened that day — it was all a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding?" I raised an eyebrow. "When you had Sophia pinned against that glass wall, were you giving her CPR?"

Sophia's eyes went red instantly.

"Summer, please don't talk about Evan like that. It's my fault — I couldn't control my emotions—"

"Shut up." I cut her off, my voice ice-cold. "Nobody asked you. Put away the whole poor-little-me act. It makes me sick."

She shrank at my words, shoulders pulling in, and slipped behind Evan with a soft whimper, tears starting to fall.

Evan pulled her close immediately, and the look he gave me was pure, undisguised contempt.

"Summer Lynn, you used to be spoiled, sure — but at least you had some decency. When did you turn so cruel?"

I almost laughed.

"You two have a lot of nerve asking me that."

I wasn't going to waste any more breath on them.

"Say what you came to say and get out."

Evan drew a slow breath and pulled a document from his briefcase, slapping it onto my desk.

"The city contract bid next month — it's already been decided. Carter Tech has it locked."

He looked down at me with this smug, almost pitying satisfaction in his eyes.

"I know you took over Polaris Tech to prove something to your father. But that company is a mess from the ground up. You have no shot."

"All you have to do is back down. Apologize to me. Sign over the development rights to the Lynn family property."

"Do that, and I'll consider throwing Polaris a few scraps from the project. Enough to save face with your dad."

I stared at the document on the desk. My fingertips went cold.

He wasn't even trying to hide it.

He didn't just want to ruin me — he wanted to grind my dignity into nothing. Wanted me to crawl and beg.

"Get out."

Two words. That was all.

Evan's face darkened like a storm rolling in.

"Summer Lynn, don't push your luck! You really think you're still the spoiled little princess of the Lynn family? You're nothing. You got thrown out like garbage!"

He lunged forward, hand shooting out to grab my wrist.

But he never made contact.

A hand — knuckles sharp, grip like iron — clamped around his wrist and stopped him cold.

Luca Hale.

I hadn't even heard him move. He was already beside me, his body squarely between me and Evan.

"She told you to get out." Luca's voice was low. Dangerously quiet.

Evan yanked hard against his grip — once, twice — and went nowhere. His face flushed with humiliation and fury. He jabbed a finger at Luca's face. "Who the hell are you? You're a security consultant. You don't get to put your hands on me."

Luca didn't bother to respond. His eyes went flat, and in one sharp motion, he twisted his wrist.

A clean, brutal crack.

Evan screamed and hit the floor on his knees, his wrist wrenched out of the socket.

"Evan!" Sophia shrieked and threw herself toward him, face drained white.

Luca looked down at the two of them with the same expression you'd give a pair of insects on the pavement.

"Stay down. Next time it won't just be the wrist."

Evan was drenched in sweat, trembling, eyes burning with hatred as he glared up at me and Luca. "Summer Lynn — you'll regret this. I will make sure you can't show your face in Bay City again."

He snarled the words through gritted teeth. Then, leaning on Sophia, he stumbled out of the executive office in a mess of pride and pain.

Silence settled back over the room.

I watched Luca. He stood there shaking out his wrist like he'd just tossed out a bag of trash.

"You went too far," I said, pressing my fingers to my temple. "The Carters aren't going to let this go."

Luca turned and looked at me — really looked at me — his eyes sharp and burning with something I couldn't quite name.

"He was going to touch you." Each word deliberate. "You're paying me. I don't let anyone touch you."

My heart skipped — just once, just slightly — and I turned away before he could see it.

"There's a dinner tonight," I said, forcing the subject somewhere else. "You're coming with me."

I had no choice. To get the funding that could save the company, I had to meet Harris — one of the most notoriously difficult investors in the circuit.

Eight o'clock. A private room at the Bay Club. The lights were low, and the air was thick with the smell of alcohol.

Harris was a bald man somewhere in his fifties. From the moment I walked through the door, his eyes had been crawling over me and not stopping.

I kept my expression neutral and my glass in hand, playing the game through gritted teeth.

"Miss Lynn," he said, drawing it out, "I know Polaris Tech's situation. The risk is just too high." As he spoke, his hand drifted to my knee. "But then again... if you were to ask me yourself, personally, maybe we could work something out..."

He leaned in closer. His breath hit my face, stale and suffocating.

My stomach turned.

I was just about to grab the wine bottle off the table and smash it over his head when the door to the private room was kicked wide open.

The bang made everyone jump.

Luca Hale stood in the doorway. The light from the room caught him—tight muscles, eyes cold as ice.

He crossed the room in long strides, grabbed Harris by the hair, and dragged him straight off the couch.

"What are you doing! Security! Security!" Harris shrieked at the top of his lungs.

Luca didn't bother responding. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey off the table and smashed it over Harris's head.

Glass shards, alcohol, and blood ran down Harris's face. The entire room went dead silent.

Luca tossed aside the broken glass and slowly, methodically wiped his hands with a napkin. Then he turned and looked at me. One word: "Let's go."

His tone left no room for argument.