He Was Too Soft to Hurt Anyone Until They Took Me Away Chapter 07

He Was Too Soft to Hurt Anyone Until They Took Me Away Chapter 07

Victor didn’t explain. He pasted on a smile and walked in.

I trailed behind him, still stuck on that last part. His dead wife. Me.

The second I stepped inside, a gaze brushed over me. Barely there.

By the time I looked up, it was gone.

All I caught was Julian’s profile, half–lost in the dim light.

Seven years had changed him.

The softness I used to know, that quiet warmth in his face, was gone.

In its place was something darker. Colder. And underneath that, an exhaustion he probably didn’t

even notice anymore.

He didn’t glance my way again. His attention was fixed on the man across from him, and there was

nothing warm in it.

Victor was obviously the one asking for a favor. Julian didn’t say a word the entire time.

Liam Foster, the man at Julian’s side, did all the talking.

By the end, the deal was dead.

Victor shot me a look. The meaning was obvious.

Get closer. Make something happen. Now.

Problem was, I had no game. The only reason I’d gotten Julian into bed the first time was by spiking

his drink.

Victor didn’t care about my skill set. He just kept pushing.

I thought about the mission, gritted my teeth, and shoved my way toward Julian.

Liam spotted me immediately.

He didn’t bother stopping me. He just glanced at Victor with open contempt.

“Save yourselves the trouble. Mr. Ashford doesn’t let anyone with an agenda within ten feet of…”

He didn’t finish.

A splash cut him off.

I was already stumbling forward, empty glass in hand, wine all over Julian’s shirt.

“Oh no, Mr. Ashford, I’m so sorry. I am so clumsy.”

Liam froze. “What the-”

“How dare you…” he snarled.

Victor jumped on it before anyone could throw me out.

“Mr. Ashford, I apologize. Please, let her make it up to you. She can come to your place, and clean this up for you personally.”

Nobody in the room missed what he was really offering.

Julian hadn’t said a word through any of this. But when I’d stumbled, his hand had caught my waist

by instinct. He pulled it back just as fast.

I stayed close, dabbing at the wine stain on his shirt.

The man who’d been cold and untouchable a moment ago went rigid under my hands. He let me keep dabbing at it.

He looked down at me. Something unreadable flickered behind his eyes.

Then, without raising his voice: “Security.”

Two men appeared in the doorway. They had Victor’s arms wrenched behind his back before he

could stand.

Something in his shoulder popped. Loud.

Victor’s bravado collapsed. He started screaming.

\ “Mr. Ashford, please… I made a mistake. It won’t happen again, please……”

I stood there, frozen.

This was the Julian everyone had warned me about. The one people were afraid of.

He wasn’t the doormat anymore.

My pulse jumped. Those bodyguards were two steps away from me.

But Julian just turned to me, something almost like amusement in his expression.

“So. What should I do with your boss?”

I blinked at him.

Julian tilted his head, waiting.

“He tried to serve you up to me. Tried to use you as a bargaining chip for his deal. So maybe I should let him find out what that feels like. Fair?”

The words hit me hard. I’d said almost the exact same thing to him once.

Back then, I’d told him: someone hurts you, you hurt them back.

The system jumped in.

[Now’s your chance, Host! Talk him down! Give him the whole kindness and mercy speech!]

I put on my most sincere face.

“Mr. Ashford, he made a bad call, but it’s not worth ruining him over. Just let him go.

The shift was instant.

Whatever curiosity had been in Julian’s eyes died.

He stepped back from me, completely shut down, and turned to Victor.

“Three days. I want his company gone.”

Liam nodded without hesitation.

He motioned for the bodyguards to throw me out too.

Julian had never been cold to me before. Not once in five years. I bit my lower lip before it could

tremble.

I was almost at the door when his voice stopped me.

“Wait.”

He was studying me again, harder this time. Like I was a problem he couldn’t solve.

But the system had given me a new face, a new voice, a completely different identity.

No matter how sharp he was, there was nothing for him to find.

He looked at me for a long moment. When he finally spoke, I couldn’t read what was behind it.

“Your boss got one thing right. You did ruin my shirt. So you’re coming home with me.‘