This Time He Pursues Me With All Chapter 107

Claire's POV:

I watched the knife flash in the afternoon light.

Maya froze, eyes wide on the blade. I stepped forward.

A hand yanked her back.

She stumbled into someone's chest. The knife sliced empty air.

I looked up.

**Adam.**

His face—God, his face. I'd never seen him look like that.

This was murder in his eyes.

*"No,"* I whispered.

The knife slipped from my fingers. It clattered on the concrete.

**"Adam, it's not—it's not what it looks like."** My voice came out high, desperate. **"She hit me. Look."** I pointed at my swollen cheek. **"She kicked me. I think she broke my ribs. I was just—I was just defending myself. I wasn't going to actually—"**

His foot connected with my stomach.

I flew backward. Hit the ground hard. Couldn't breathe.

*What the fuck just happened?*

I lay there, gasping, staring at the oil-stained concrete. My vision blurred.

He kicked me.

Adam Sterling kicked me.

I heard Maya laugh. Sharp and cold.

Slowly, I lifted my head. Adam stood over me, hands in his pockets, expression glacial.

**"Are your ribs broken now?"** His voice was conversational.

I coughed. Tasted copper.

**"Claire."** He crouched down. **"I let you off easy before. You know why? Because you saved my life in Rochester. I figured I owed you that much."**

**"But then you had to go after Maya."**

He stood.

**"She's my life. You touch her, I'm done being grateful."**

I grabbed his leg. **"Please. Please, Adam, I didn't mean it. I wasn't going to hurt her. I swear—"**

He shook me off like I was a bug.

Pulled out his phone. Dialed.

**"Yes, I'd like to report an assault with a deadly weapon..."**

*No. No no no.*

I scrambled to my feet. Or tried to. Maya's shoe caught me in the side.

I went down again.

Every time I pushed myself up, she kicked me back down. Not hard enough to really injure. Just hard enough to humiliate.

I gave up. Stayed on the ground.

Looked up at Adam through my hair.

**"That kid isn't yours, is it?"** The words came out thick. **"It's hers. From some other guy."**

*I took out a loan for that investigator. Went into debt to get those files. The report said she had a boyfriend in Cleveland five years ago. Said the kid was his.*

*But when I saw the photo of that man... he looked exactly like Adam. The same face. I couldn't believe it.*

I watched his face. Waited for doubt. Anger. Anything.

**"Amy is Maya's and mine,"** he said flatly.

**"No."** I shook my head. **"That's impossible."**

**"Believe what you want."**

But I knew.

I'd given Mrs. Sterling those files. She'd looked at the photos.

And nothing happened.

No scandal. No breakup.

Which meant...

*Oh God.*

The kid really was his.

I'd lost.

Not to some other woman.

To a version of Maya I never saw coming.

A Maya who'd already had his child. Who'd been part of his life longer than I even knew.

I put my forehead on the concrete.

Didn't move when the cops came.

---

Maya's POV:

I sat in the passenger seat of Adam's Aston Martin, staring at my phone.

**One missed call from Julian.**

I called back.

**"Maya, are you okay? What happened?"**

**"I'm fine."** I glanced at Adam. His jaw was tight. **"Claire showed up in the parking garage. She had a knife. Adam called the cops. I just finished giving my statement."**

Silence on the other end.

**"Are you hurt?"**

**"No. I'm heading back to the office now."**

**"Good. We'll talk when you get here."**

I hung up.

The air in the car turned sour.

I turned to Adam. **"Are you... jealous?"**

**"Can you quit the job?"**

**"We've been over this."**

**"Maya."** He pulled up to a red light. Turned to me. **"Every man who looks at you wants you. I'm not blind. And I'm not secure enough to be okay with you spending eight hours a day with one of them."**

I stared at him.

**"If that makes me jealous,"** he continued, **"fine. I'm jealous. But I'd rather be honest about it than pretend I'm cool with sharing your time with Julian fucking Garrison."**

The light turned green.

He accelerated.

**"So,"** he said, voice tight, **"will you quit? Or do I have to keep showing up at your office every day until he gets the message?"**

I looked out the window.

*God, he's insufferable.*

*And I kind of like it.*

**"I'll think about it,"** I said finally.

He smiled. Small, but real. **"That's all I'm asking."**

---

We drove in silence for a few minutes.

Then he said, **"Did you like the house?"**

I bit my lip. **"Yes."**

**"Then why won't you move in?"**

**"Adam..."** I sighed. **"It's too much."**

**"It's a house."**

**"It's a brownstone in Brookline. Do you know what those cost?"**

**"Do you care?"**

I looked at him. **"Of course I care. It's—it's not mine. I didn't earn it."**

**"You didn't earn Amy either,"** he said quietly. **"But you kept her."**

My throat tightened.

**"Maya."** He reached over, took my hand. **"I know you're used to doing everything yourself. But you don't have to anymore. Let me give you this. For Amy. She deserves a yard. A nice room. Space to grow."**

**"I—"**

**"And honestly?"** He squeezed my fingers. **"I can't sleep knowing you and Amy are in that shitty apartment while I'm in a penthouse. It makes me feel like an asshole."**

**"You are an asshole."**

He grinned. **"Then let me be a comfortable asshole. Move into the house."**

I pulled my hand away. **"If I move into Marlborough Street, will you stop showing up at my apartment every night?"**

He didn't answer.

I laughed. **"That's what I thought."**

**"Okay, fine."** He stopped at another light. **"If you don't move, I'm just going to keep sleeping on your couch."**

**"You already do that."**