by Natalie Ann
“I can do it. I’ll know what works best for the machine this way. Give me a week or so to put some thought into it and get an idea of what might work and then I’ll look for vendors and we’ll go from there.”
“Sounds great.” He stood there for a minute, almost like he was hesitating and finally said, “So you made it through Cade’s little episode on Saturday night.”
She laughed. “It was far from little. Once on the side of the road, then in his bathroom a few more times that night. Poor guy. I didn’t realize someone could get so sick like that from a car ride.”
“It was nasty when we were kids going places, but he’s been fine for the most part now.”
“He told me about his magic little pill, but since he was drinking he couldn’t take it.”
“Yeah,” Mason said, grinning. “The thing is, we probably should have let him stay the night instead of putting him in that position.”
“No way,” Alex said, laughing. “Jessica had some serious plans for you two on Saturday and I had to help a girl out. Cade was coming home with me regardless.”
Mason actually blushed and it was kind of cute. “Thanks for that. Anyway, Cade’s a good guy. Sometimes he’s probably the best of us, but we don’t say that often.”
She angled her head. “I don’t think he feels any of you think that.”
“Probably not. Comes from years of always busting on each other. But at the root of it, we’ve always got each other’s back.”
“That’s nice,” she said. “He’s a great guy.”
“Yeah,” Mason said, “he is.”
Top of My List
Alex and he were going to spend the day at the mall the following weekend. She said she needed a dress for Aiden and Nic’s wedding, which was a week after Thanksgiving. Just about a month out.
He knew she could shop on her own, but he was dying to really see her dressed up. Not just a skirt and heels, but something more elegant even. It’d give them something to do at the very least. He was always up for a shopping day himself.
He pulled into the parking lot and got out. “Have you started Christmas shopping yet?” she asked.
“Please. There is plenty of time for that. I won’t even think about it until after Aiden’s wedding.”
“I’ll be done by then,” she said, waving him off like a pesky mosquito buzzing around her ear.
“Are you one of those people?” he asked, walking up and putting his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him. It seemed whenever he was around her, he had to be touching her. Possessive, wasn’t that what Brody had said? Marking her as his? Guilty.
“What kind of people are you talking about? Organized people? That would be a yes.”
“I’m plenty organized, but I just wait until I can finally decide and then do it all at once. Ella normally comes up with something bigger for our parents that we all go in for, so that’s one less thing I need to worry about.”
“It’s really just my mother and me, so it’s not like I’ve got that many people to buy for, other than employees, but even then I keep it simple. I guess I’ll be adding you to my list,” she said, winking at him and opening the door.
“You’re at the top of my list this year. Let’s see if you’re going to be naughty or nice before Santa arrives.”
She turned and kissed him quick. “You like me both ways.”
He loved this side of her. The one where she let her guard down and didn’t watch everything she said and did. She just acted. Or reacted to him.
“I do. So I’m guessing you already have something planned for me for Christmas.”
“I didn’t say that,” she said. “I just said I’d have you done long before you even start.”
“Tease,” he said.
“I’ll just make sure I hide it in a good spot so you don’t snoop around trying to find it.”
“I don’t do that anymore,” he said, grinning.
“Ella told me that you were the one that suggested she start snooping when you guys were kids.”
“Don’t believe everything my sister says.”
He wondered what else his siblings might be saying to her lately. Maybe he should have a conversation with them at some point. That was all he’d need right now to make it more difficult, his siblings doing their own version of cockblocking.
They made their way around the mall. Him picking out dresses and having her try them on, but not once had she modeled a dress for him. With her body, he was thinking everything looked fabulous, only she was keeping him guessing.
He actually didn’t mind it in this instance. He’d see her dressed up soon enough.
They were both loaded down with bags and walking back out when someone yelled her name.
She turned and stopped. He did the same. “Yes?”
“Alex Marshall, right?”
“Yes,” she said again. Cade’s arm wrapped around her protectively. The guy standing in front of them had his phone in his hand but nothing else that Cade could see. He was on the small side. Not that that meant much.
“Delvin Smith. I’ve been trying to reach you.”
She turned and started walking, then said over her shoulder, “If I wanted to talk to you, I’d return your call. My answer has been and will continue to be no comment.”
“You dated Keith Stevens for three years, right?” the guy asked, trailing behind them like an annoying bee around their head.
“The lady gave you her answer,” Cade said, putting his “Brody” look in place. Most people stopped when Brody stared them down. Delvin paused, then lifted his phone up and snapped his picture, then Alex’s.
Alex kept walking and Cade was standing in front of her like a bodyguard from the paparazzi when Delvin tried to get in his way. He wished he knew what the hell was going on, and was at least thankful that Ella mentioned the name Keith Stevens to him.
“Is it true that he used to hit you and knock you around?” Delvin asked.
Cade went to take a step forward, but Alex blasted the guy. “Absolutely not. I don’t know where you’re getting your facts, but that is completely false.”
She opened the door to Cade’s car, got in and slammed it, Cade doing the same. He started his engine, then pulled away, leaving Delvin standing there still snapping their picture.
“What the hell was that?” Cade asked.
“Can we just go back to your place? I don’t want to go to mine. I don’t know if he is following me.”
Cade looked in the rearview mirror. He didn’t see anything, but he wasn’t taking any chances. “We’ll go to my office. It’s a public setting and if he took my picture, he’s going to figure out who I am fast enough. Might as well throw it in his face.”
“Yeah,” she said quietly.
***
“I don’t think he’s following us, but I’ll be able to tell if he is. My guess is he’ll pull into the parking lot and I’ll catch him on camera that way.”
“Good idea.”
She was glad he was thinking logically. She couldn’t think at all. She had no clue the lengths someone would go to reach out to her and had no idea what could possibly be going on right now.
They got out of his car, went in the back, climbed the stairs and into Ella’s office. “All the monitors are in here. I want to go back and see if he followed us in.” She sat in a chair, trying to gather her thoughts while Cade looked at the footage. “There he is,” he said. “At least I can get the plates on his car and find out more about him. Hang on while I go downstairs and talk to Brody quick in case the guy comes in.”
She took those few minutes to gather herself. Talk about annoying and frustrating. She’d never been followed before. She’d never had anyone try to get to her this badly before. All for a story? And a stupid one at that.
“Okay. I showed Brody Delvin’s picture from the security footage and told him to chat the guy up if he comes in.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because that is what
Brody does. He’ll play the bro card and keep the guy chatting and see if he can get anything out of him.”
“You don’t think the guy is going to think Brody is you?” Alex asked.
“I doubt it. First off, we’re dressed differently. Second of all Brody is bigger than me. Third, when he just followed us in the parking lot he isn’t going to think that I’d be behind the bar. Not unless he’s an idiot.”
“But he’ll assume you’re related?”
“Let him think it. So tell me who Keith Stevens is and why this guy is asking you about him.”
“He’s my ex. We dated for a few years in college and then I moved with him to Texas when I graduated. Things didn’t work out and I moved home.”
She was trying to keep it simple but should know by now nothing was simple if it involved Cade.
“Did he knock you around like you were asked?”
Cade’s voice had taken on a tone she’d never heard before. Deep and threatening. Yeah, he was a big guy, but he never showed any ounce of being violent, but when Delvin was questioning her, Cade had stood between them like he was part of the Secret Service ready to take a bullet for her.
“I’d never be with someone who treated me that way. You have to know that. If Keith ever laid a hand on me, I’d bloody him even worse. That’s my promise to anyone.”
“I believe it. So tell me more about what is going on then.”
She took a deep breath and tried to relax her shoulders. Cade walked over and sat in the chair opposite of her.
“I don’t really know. Keith approached me in college. He was a nice guy. He comes from money. His parents own some development business or something in Texas. I have no clue what it all entails and never really asked. Keith was a political science major but then stayed for another year to get his MBA. He never said he wanted to go into politics. If he had, I wouldn’t have stayed with him. I don’t like attention on me and there is no way I’d want it nonstop. I assumed he was going to work for his parents. That’s what he started to do after college.”
“Okay. What made you move to Texas with him then?”
“He asked me to go with him and we were dating for over two years. I thought I was in love with him. He was a nice guy. His family was decent. I mean I don’t think they were in love with me, but they treated me well.”
“Why do you say that?”
“For one, they sure the hell never accepted me or treated me like your family does. They were cordial, I guess. That’s probably the best word for it. But there was never any emotional tug with them. Keith was the same way. He wasn’t controlling, at least he wasn’t when I knew him back then.”
“You moved there to be with him, and stayed, what? Another year? Why did you move back?”
“We lived together. I had found a job doing graphic design before we moved. I didn’t want to relocate if I didn’t have a job. I’m not someone to let another person take care of me. Thankfully, I got a job pretty quickly.”
“You worked in an office?” he asked, grinning at her.
“Yep and I hated it. But it wasn’t that big of a deal back then. Keith went to work for his parents. Like I said, he had his MBA. He was out in the community, wheeling and dealing businesses, doing God only knows what. We didn’t talk much about work and he sure the hell had no interest in my career.”
It should have meant something to her back then that she didn’t care what he did for a living, and every time she brought up her job, he changed the subject. Yet, she wanted to know everything she could about what Cade and his family did.
“Move on to when you came back here. What caused the split?”
She sighed, not wanting to remember it, but knew she would. “For a few months, I felt like things were changing with us. Little by little, he was making snide remarks about me working so much or wanting me to go out more. To dress up and attend all these public affairs and events his family were part of. It’s just not me.”
“Why?” he asked. “I know you did pageants. You used to dress up and perform in front of people.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Who told you that? Ella?”
“No. I found it myself.”
“You looked into me?” she asked, trying to be outraged, but wondering why she was. It’s not like it was a secret.
“Come on, Alex. Haven’t you ever dated anyone and wanted to know a bit more about them and done an internet search?”
She had but didn’t want to admit that. She didn’t date as much as him. “Why did you do it with me? Our parents know each other.”
“They do. But like I told you, my parents are very strict with appearances and the reputation of Fierce. The five of us try very hard to carry on the same standards as my parents did. We’d never do anything to put a mark on the business’s name.”
“Is it because you’d been set up before?” He was going to bring up her past, so she was damn well going to throw his in his face.
“What do you mean?” he asked slowly.
“Back at Duke. I’d heard all about the rumors. I’d heard variations of things for years. You had quite the reputation there.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And that is what is preventing you from moving forward with me?”
“No. Where did that come from?” How did they get off topic so easily?
“You were quick to bring it up. I’m never going to be out from under all of that, but I’ve tried my damnedest to move on from it. I’m not that kid anymore. I’m not that person anymore. And I told you not to believe everything you hear.”
“Exactly,” she said. “I never said I believed any of it. I said I heard all about it.”
“Then I’ll tell you straight up just in case your hearing is influencing any of your decision-making processes currently. I got around. It wasn’t a secret and I don’t try to make it one. My senior year three girls decided they wanted to set me up and make an example of me. There is no need to go into details. If Ella hadn’t found out and shown up when she did and managed to turn it all around on them, I have no idea what would have happened. To this day I suspect she ruined all three of those girls’ reputations at Duke too. I don’t know how Ella did it, or if she did, but the three of them were like the plague on campus after that incident.”
“I hadn’t heard about that.”
“I doubt you would. But that isn’t the point. I never found out all the details and I never asked her. If she did it, I’m thankful, but I know deep down it had to do with the business and the reputation. It’s what the five of us planned for what seemed like our whole lives. Nothing was going to stand in our way. Mess with one, mess with us all, had always been our motto.”
“We’re getting off track here.”
“I don’t think so, but maybe it’s a conversation for another day. Let’s continue with your issue. So why would this guy seek you out if what you had seemed like a normal relationship with Keith?”
“It was normal to a point. Like I said, I noticed a change in him. He finally confessed that he planned on running for office. Some office. He hadn’t even set his sights on anything specific. I told him I wanted no part of that. I didn’t want to be in the public eye.”
“How did he take that?”
Her pride wouldn’t let her get emotional retelling this. “Not good. He told me that we had nothing further to discuss and he’d give me a month to move out. He’d go stay with his parents until then. I was packed up and out in a week. End of story.”
“But it’s not the end of the story because that is what is causing you to not commit to someone else because you feel they aren’t being upfront with you.”
Damn him for figuring that out.
Had No Choice
Two days later, Alex was in her office researching stones for Mason’s coasters when her cell phone rang. She was going to ignore it because she had too much going on. Hardly anyone ever called her and if they did it was probably some stupid phonebot.
She should have gone with her gut
when she saw the caller was Keith. The urge to ignore it was more massive than if the Devil came knocking at her front door. But since she’d been stopped by that reporter, she figured the least she could do was find out what Keith wanted this time.
“Hello,” she said after the fourth ring.
“I told you not to talk to anyone. You never listen,” he all but shouted into the phone.
“Excuse me,” she said, getting ready to hang up on him. She didn’t need this headache.
“I told you to reply with no comment. How hard was it to do that? I didn’t think you were that stupid.”
Her finger was itching to end the call, but she didn’t want him to have the final word.
“I did. I did several times, but he was following me in the parking lot. That’s harassment. Then he asked if you’d ever hit me or pushed me around. Sorry if I wanted to make it clear that that wasn’t the type of relationship we had. I thought you’d appreciate a denial for something like that.”
“What I would have appreciated was a no comment statement like I told you. By denying it, you confirmed we did indeed have a relationship,” he said, his voice strained.
She wouldn’t let his insulting tone hurt her. He’d never shown it early on in their relationship. When things didn’t go the way he’d planned, she saw more and more of this side of him. But he’d never been violent with her.
“We were together for three years, Keith. It’s hard to hide that. Especially when you dragged me out in public as much as you had when I moved there.”
“Dragged is the right word,” he snapped.
“What’s this all about? So this reporter knows we dated. He knows you didn’t abuse me. Why is that a bad thing? And why is he even asking that?”
“Because he’s a reporter being paid by my opponents and they’re out to find dirt on me any way they can.”
“They aren’t going to get any from me. Now if that’s all you’ve got to say, we’re done.”
“No. It’s not all I’ve got to say. I’m sending you a link so you can see the results of your stubborn impulsiveness. If you don’t do what I tell you next time, I’m going to see that the family business that means so much to you is nothing but ash in the wind.”
