I stared frozen. I didn't blink, I didn't breathe, and I didn't move. I felt like a gazelle being taunted by a lion before it pounces. He opened his mouth to speak again but was silenced my his phone ringing. He groaned and pulled the device of of his suit pocket. "What?!" He growled. I stood still in his arms. The person on the other end spoke and I felt Joseph's arms tense around me. "Ok." He responded and then hung up the phone. "We'll continue this later." He held eye contact for a moment before walking away, leaving me alone on the dance floor.

I blinked and shook my head. It felt cloudy. Moved slowly off the dance floor and avoided the other dancing couples. Finally made it through the crowd of people and back over to the drinks bar where the night had started.

"I see he got tired of you." I looked to my right to see Mandy and a few other girls laughing at me including my dear step sister.

I blushed. "No he got a call and had to go." I mumbled. I wished that I sounded more confident the moment after I said anything.

"I think he faked the call just to get away from you." She said and the others nodded their heads in agreement.

I shrugged and took a sip of my drink. "Maybe, but I think the real question is, why wasn't he dancing with you if you're his date?" I patted her shoulder as I walked away leaving a fuming Mandy and a very stunned group of girls.

I made my way towards the exit keeping my head down so people knew I wasn't in the dancing mood. I felt a hand clamp down on my wrist and I groaned out loud.

"Jessica?" I frowned. "My baby girl." I whipped around and there he was. My father in all his glory. Only problem was Jocelyn was there too.

"Dad!" I flung my arms around him not caring about the people staring. "What are you doing here?" I asked with my arms still around him.

"Honey I'm an executive in one of Joseph's businesses. Second to the VP. You didn't think he wouldn't invite me to his party did you?" He chuckled.

"I didn't know you held such a high position. All I knew was that you worked for Joseph." I shrugged. "But I'm glad because you get to be here."

"Where's Olivia Jessica? I haven't been able to see her yet." Jocelyn asked me.

My first thought was how should I know bitch we aren't friends, but I refrained myself and politely responded I didn't know.

"Hmm, I'm going to go find her dear." She told my father then left without another word.

"Ok honey." He said that then turned back to me. "So show me where you're staying. Where you spend your time." He smiled and I shrugged.

"Alright. I'll show you my room first." We walked out of the huge room and into the dark hall. The same guard was standing there. I winked at him. "Hey this is my dad, Gavin. Dad this is Gavin." I smiled at him. They shook hands and said hello and then we were on our way.

We talked about my stay here so far and I told him all the details except for the ones about Joseph and I's personal encounters and the run in I had with Olivia and her new boyfriend. He listened and I just talked until there was nothing more to tell. "So how's Tiffany?"

"She's doing good I'm taking her to school before I head to work in the morning. It's actually good I've been able to spend time with her. She misses you though. Always wondering when you're coming home." He said softly.

"Yea I wonder that too." I whispered.

We walked in silence the rest of the way to my room. It was awkward to say the least.

"This is it." I said opening the door and flipping the light on.

I gasped when I saw it. The furniture was broken and tipped over and the mattress was ripped and my clothes were everywhere probably mostly ruined. It was a disaster. "Oh my-"

"What the hell?!" My father yelled. "Who did this?!" I looked up at his face. I don't think I'd ever seen him so mad. His face was flushed and his nostrils were flared. "Where is Joseph?" He turned around and headed down the hall.

"Dad wait!" I ran to catch up with him. My long legs helping me again. "Stop, I'll tell him about it. If you go up to him all yelling and whatever he will get angry. He doesn't tolerate disrespect. You'll loose your job." He seemed to have calmed down a bit and nodded.

"Alright, but I'm going with you to tell him, to make sure something is done about this." I nodded, it was a good compromise.

Once we got to Joseph's office I knocked. I figured he would be here since he got called away from the party. There was no response but the light was shining underneath the door telling me that there was someone in there.

"Hi Mr. Copland." I said shyly entering his office. I stopped mid step when I saw someone sitting behind his desk. "Oh." I frowned. I've never heard or seen of anyone being in here without Joseph being in here too, except maybe Matthias. "Who are you?" I asked standing up straight and crossing my hands over my chest.

" Oh I'm Jacob." He said coming around the desk to stand in front of me. " Jo asked me to get something in here." He smiled and stuck his hand out for me to shake.

I looked at his hand and then back to his face with a pointed gaze. No one called him Joseph Jo. It was too disrespectful, it was either Mr. Copland, Boss, or on rare occasions, Joseph. But never Jo. The only person I had ever heard call him Jo was Cameron. I shook my head. "No you're not one of his men." I said matter of factly. The charming smile dropped off his face and was replaced with a glower.

"What a smart girl." He said pulling out a gun, and then pointing it at me. "Pretty too. Such a rare combination. I'd love to stay and just look at you but I'm afraid I've got to go." He slowly stepped around my dad and I and then quickly disappeared. I was stunned that he didn't shoot us.

"C'mon dad we have to tell Joseph now!" I said and walked as fast as I could back to the party. I rushed inside and my eyes scanned the crowd looking for his tall frame above everybody else. My dad spotted him first him being taller than me. "There he is." Dad pointed to the left and I hurried in that direction my dad close behind.

"Joseph." I said breathlessly and panicky. He looked away from the people he was talking to and glanced at me, taking in my panicked expression.

"Excuse me gentlemen." He then steered me away from the crowd and into a more private corner. "What? What is it little one." He asked brushing away the hair from my face. I would've been embarrassed because my dad was standing right there, but I still had too much adrenaline pumping through me to care.

"I went to find you because someone trashed my room and I-"

"Someone trashed your room? Who?" He said mad. Again I thought in my head why they thought I would know.

"This is important don't interrupt." I said boldly. He raised an eyebrow and smirked. "I thought that you would be in your office because you got a phone call and then left earlier, so I went there and I could see that the light was on under the door." He frowned and the smirk dropped off his face. "So I went in and some guy in a suit was sitting at your desk, so I asked him what he was doing. He said that he was one of your men, but he called you Jo and no one here ever calls you Jo. So I called him out about lying, and then he pulled a gun on us. But he didn't do anything. He just left." Joseph looked furious by now.

"He called me Jo." He growled.

"Yea." I nodded breathlessly.

"You know the only person that has ever called me Jo. Cameron." He said and then stormed off pulling my arm along with him.

My dad started to follow "Dad stay here. It's safer around all these people."

"What no! I'm not leaving you." He protested.

"Richard. I need you stay here look after your wife and Olivia. Make sure they're safe, and I can promise you that Jessica is safer with me than anywhere else." He said and then left pulling me with him.

"What did he look like Jessica." He asked once we were in the hall.

"Um he was tall, like you. He had a beard but it was small. Just stubble really and, he had really dark hair and he was tan. I don't remember anything else." I said biting my lip trying to remember anything else about the man.

"No that's good. I can get a picture off that." We entered a room with more screens than I've ever seen in one place before. "This is where we monitor the cameras. We should be able to pick him up here." He said and closed the door behind us.

He stood behind a guy that had a headset on and said something to him. He then said into his headset, "everyone be on alert we have an intruder. He was in Bosses office so this is a priority one everybody. Find Him!"

"Jessica, come here." I walked to where he was standing and looked up at all the screens in front of me. "I want you to watch and I want you to find him." He said sternly grasping my shoulders.

"Alright I'll try."

He shook his head. "No don't try. Do it. This is very important."

I nodded my head in confirmation. "Ok. I'll find him." I said confidently.

"Good." He said. Then he smiled and quickly left the room, I assumed to search the premises with the others.

I huffed and sat down nest to the big black man monitoring the computers.

"What does he look like?" He asked me not looking away from the screens before him.

I repeated what I had told Joseph and he repeated everything I said into the microphone on his headset. I sat there for a few minutes, my eyes straining.

"There!"I yelled. "That's him." I pointed to a screen to our left.

"Are you positive? " He asked.

I nodded my head "yes. That's him."

"Alright. Alright everybody we got him. He's in the west wing heading for the pool." He disappeared from one monitor and then reappeared on another one.

I watched as Joseph's men headed in that direction. They surrounded the area and then closed in taking him down. They didn't use any hand cuffs or zip ties like I thought they would, they just knocked him out with a hard hit to the back or the head.

"Nice work Jessica, was it." He asked me.

"Yea. That's my name." I said.

"Well Jessica you just stopped a potentially very dangerous threat. Well done." He patted me on the back.

"Thanks." I mumbled.