Chapter 278: No Room to Negotiate

Jonathan paused, then let out a quiet laugh. “You’ve learned how to play the game, huh?”

He had asked her a direct question about Shane, but she’d changed the subject, bringing up last night instead—using guilt to shift the balance in her favor. It was a clever negotiating move.

Caught red-handed, Sierra looked away a little guiltily, but she still didn’t budge. “Promise me first.”

Jonathan tapped his fingers rhythmically on the steering wheel. Negotiating with her was new, and honestly, kind of funny. He played along. “The second thing? Sure. But the first one? No.”

Sierra opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off. “Not even if I’m dead.”

So that was a hard no. She pressed her lips together. “Then no separate rooms—but you’re not allowed to do what you did last night again. That’s my bottom line. Non-negotiable.”

She threw his own words back at him, which made Jonathan laugh despite himself. He’d been irritated about the whole Shane situation, but that little deflection actually eased the frustration a bit. “Alright, I agree. Now can we talk about Shane?”

She knew there was no dodging it, but at least the fire in his eyes had cooled. She took a breath and told him about Shane’s last visit to the university. She left out the part about the flowers, but Jonathan wasn’t fooled.

“And after that?” he asked. “He didn’t reach out again?”

She had no choice but to tell him the rest. Jonathan just laughed—angrily. “So if I hadn’t asked, you weren’t going to tell me?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. The guy’s insane. He only did it to mess with us.” Sierra clearly didn’t take Shane’s so-called confession seriously. To her, it was just a pathetic joke.

But Jonathan didn’t respond. He just looked at her. Maddox had brought this up before. Inside, if someone had even a hint of attractiveness, they’d be targeted—unless they had someone protecting them. Sierra had been bullied, yes, but she’d never been passed around.

And it wasn’t just recent. Maddox had dug up records showing this kind of thing had been going on for years. Kason was just the boldest and most disgusting of them all. Before him, people still did it, just more discreetly.

Back then, Maddox had hinted that someone powerful had been protecting Sierra all along. It wasn’t the Xander family. They’d never lift a finger for her. The only person who might’ve had the reach—and the twisted enough logic—to do it, was Shane.

Jonathan didn’t tell her any of this. He wasn’t about to defend another man in front of her. He’d been ready to let the whole thing go. But Shane clearly had a death wish. Even now, knowing who Jonathan was and what Sierra meant to him, he still had the audacity to push his luck.

No wonder everyone in Capital City got weird when Shane’s name came up. “I got it,” Jonathan said. “Leave it to me. He won’t bother you again.”

3:01 PM

Chapter 278: No Room to Negotiate

“Is it going to cause trouble?”

“No.”

That was enough for Sierra. She didn’t press. Mostly because she knew how petty he could be. If she kept asking, she’d just be inviting a fresh wave of jealousy.

She thought the whole thing was handled. Neatly. Cleanly. She had clearly overestimated his self-control.

That night, he did keep his word—not a single visible mark. But the invisible places… forget it. Total mess. And since Sierra had said they needed to “limit frequency,” Jonathan took it to heart—just once.

It just so happened that once lasted nearly three hours. He went through every trick he knew. If she hadn’t looked like she was about to pass out, he probably would’ve kept going.

Right before falling asleep, Sierra had only one thought in her mind: Jonathan really isn’t human.

The next morning, she ate breakfast with a grim face, refusing to even look at him. Jonathan rubbed his nose and said, “Hey, good stamina isn’t a crime.”

Classic case of getting away with it and acting like the victim. Sierra took a long breath. “Mr. Yaeger, someone’s going to punch you one of these days.”

He laughed and started massaging her shoulders like a guilty golden retriever. After she left, Jonathan’s smile dropped. He asked Maddox for Jade’s address and went to see him in person.

When Jade heard who wanted to meet, he was stunned at first. Then his face darkened slightly, as if he’d realized something. By the time Jonathan arrived, Jade had already forced a smile into place.

“So… should I call you Mr. Yaeger or Mr. Wynn?”

“Mr. Yaeger works.”