Love on the Run by Zuri Day Page A

know what happened and who did this.”
    â€œMy ex-boyfriend,” Shayna whispered, her eyes fluttering shut with the pain of his memory. “I stopped . . . on Sunset and he must . . . he must have been following me. Tried to make me . . . go with him.”
    Michael gritted his teeth as an instant and all-consuming anger arose. There was nothing worse than a man who’d attack a woman, for any reason. “What’s his name?” he asked, trying to sound nonchalant when in fact, his hand was already on his phone to call his brother.
    â€œJarrell,” Shayna said. “Jarrell Powell.”
    â€œExcuse me a second,” Michael said, and left the room. He walked out of earshot of Shayna and punched a number on speed dial. “Troy.”
    â€œWhat up, big bro?”
    Michael ignored the sound of multiple females in the background. “I need you to get the four-one-one on somebody for me.”
    â€œWho and why?”
    â€œA man named Jarrell Powell. He just beat up my newest client.”
    â€œDamn.” A beat and then, “I’m on it, brother.”
    Michael nodded at the indignation he heard in Troy’s voice. “Don’t go after him or anything, yet,” he warned his hotheaded younger brother. “For right now, I just want to know exactly who I’m dealing with.”
    This Jarrell Powell dude was about to find out that when you messed with one of Michael Morgan’s clients, especially one who made his heart beat the way Shayna Washington did, you’d just pissed off a whole posse better known as the Morgan men.

8
    The next day, Shayna and Michael sat talking in the living room. At first she’d been evasive, but after several attempts by Michael to get a bead on Jarrell from Shayna’s point of view, along with his assurance that everything she shared would remain confidential between them, she opened up.
    â€œWe grew up together, for years lived in the same complex. His mother and my mother were friends, and at one point, he spent as much time at my grandmother’s house as I did. When we reached high school, he was the one who really encouraged me to run track. He became my personal trainer. One thing led to another and when I was sixteen . . . we started dating.”
    â€œWhat did your father have to say about that?”
    â€œHe’s dead.”
    â€œI’m sorry.”
    â€œIt’s okay. I never knew him.”
    Interesting. Michael remembered watching a show about the effect on women who didn’t have a father in the home while growing up, how they were much more likely to start dating young, and were more likely to choose the wrong man for the wrong reason. Had that been the case with Shayna? “So Jarrell Powell is your boyfriend.” The background check hadn’t been extensive, but as with all his clients, he’d had Troy run a profile on her. There had been no arrests, no record of drug use, and no mention of this best friend turned boyfriend who’d played a major role in her life. Obviously, a major piece of information had been overlooked.
    â€œAt one time, Jay was my best friend.” Shayna looked at Michael, her eyes filled with confusion. “That’s why his actions are such a shock. We shared everything, dating steadily through high school and my first two years of college. Then we started having problems, him feeling like he was taking a backseat to track, which he was, and starting to go out with other girls. We were on-again off-again for almost four years until I broke up with him for good right before the Olympics. Needless to say, that decision isn’t going over well.”
    â€œYeah, I’m sure he wanted to share your limelight.”
    â€œHe felt that he deserved it, feels that he’s responsible for me being where I am. It’s true that he encouraged me back in the day, but I’m the one who’s been putting in the work on the track day in and day