Page 57 of Written with Love

She took a sip of her coffee. “It’s just eggs, bacon, and toast, nothing fancy.”

“Still better than my usual protein bar.” He shot her a grin before digging in.

They ate in comfortable silence for a while, watching the waves roll in. The town was waking up, boats already heading out to sea, and the occasional distant voice carried up from the beach below.

“I’m gonna grab a quick shower before we start the day,” Max said once he was done eating. He pushed his chair back.

She nodded. “I’ve already set up the cameras but figured that I’d start going through yesterday’s footage while you shower. I want to post the video soon.”

He leaned down and pressed a lingering kiss to her lips before heading inside.

Once she cleared the table and grabbed her laptop, she settled onto the outdoor chair, pulling up the footage from the day before. The videos loaded smoothly, and she started trimming clips, focusing on the shots where the workers hadn’t blocked the view.

Then she scrolled through the footage from the second camera, where the workers’ were working at the base of the stairs, and froze.

Her stomach twisted slightly as she watched Max walk down the hallway towards the kitchen. The camera set up at the far end of the space captured him disappearing into the kitchen. Alone.

She nearly skipped to the next clip when something in the corner of the frame caught her eye.

Frowning, she rewound the footage and hit pause.

A shadowy figure was following him from the living room.

Her breath hitched.

She leaned in closer, eyes locked onto the grainy corner of the shot. A small person, dressed entirely in black, their face obscured by the lighting, moved across the hallway, following behind Max. And in his hand⁠—

A pipe wrench.

Juliette’s heart pounded as she hit play again, watching in horror as the figure followed Max into the kitchen just moments before he had been attacked.

Her stomach dropped.

This wasn’t just some random accident.

Someone had been watching him.

Someone had attacked him on purpose.

And they were still out there.

Juliette paced the deck while she waited for Max to finish getting dressed, her fingers tapping anxiously against the back of her phone.

She’d sent a text to Aiden and he had responded almost immediately, saying he was on his way. She’d watched the footage at least five more times, each viewing making her stomach twist tighter. Someone had followed Max. Someone had been waiting for the right moment.

The thought sent a shiver through her.

When Max finally stepped outside, his damp hair tousled and his brow furrowed from her urgent request to talk, she wasted no time.

“You need to see this,” she said, sitting down on the bed and pulling up the footage on her laptop.

Max sat beside her, leaning in close as she played the clip. She felt him stiffen beside her the moment the shadowy figure appeared in the frame.

“Son of a—” His jaw clenched.

She let the video play through once more, pausing just as the figure stepped into view, the pipe wrench clearly visible in his grip.

“It wasn’t just some random break-in, they weren’t looking for the diamond,” Juliette said quietly. “Whoever this is, they wanted to hurt you.”