Mr. Fantasy: (A standalone romance)

by Cambria Hebert

  “I don’t think that’s what I’ll be doing.”

  “This isn’t just about you and the warped relationship you have going on with Regal! We have an entire company to protect. Our employees depend on us for their livelihoods.”

  “That’s exactly why I’m doing this.” Standing up, I adjusted my jacket and the T-shirt beneath it. “Regal thinks he can threaten me by exposing my past. By making me look like some… killer.” I nearly choked on the word. Memories from years ago assaulted me, bringing back panic and pain. “He seems to be forgetting one thing, though.”

  “What?”

  “I’m innocent.”

  A strangled noise came out of my partner’s throat. “No one cares!” he yelled. “It’s all about public opinion, about the way you look. You know damn well this will hurt Ansoft’s image. There is no parent out there who will let their kid download a game from a company whose CEO is a rumored murderer.”

  It was hard for me to say, but it was ten times harder for me to hear it come out of Bryan’s mouth. It was almost as if he didn’t think I was innocent. Or he didn’t care.

  Regarding him for a long moment, I picked up the phone and called Meghan. The second she picked up, I said, “Get Carl Frost down here. I have some urgent documents that need drawn up.”

  “What the hell are you calling your lawyer for?” Bryan asked when I hung up.

  “I’ll buy you out.”

  “Wh-what?”

  “I’ll buy your portion of the company. I’ll give you double its market worth, and then I’ll give you a cut of Zero’s first two quarterly profits. You’ll never have to work another day in your life.”

  “Are you fucking crazy?”

  “I was just sitting here wondering the same thing about you.”

  His expression transformed into a mask of confusion.

  “It’s obvious you think of me as a murderer, and so I sit here and wonder how you’ve managed to work with me for so long.”

  His expression turned more incredulous by the second, and a lot of the color seeped out of his skin. “Carter, you know me. We’re bros. I don’t think you’re a murderer. I said that’s what other people will think.”

  “And since we’re friends, I’m cutting you a check and sending you on your way so you won’t need to worry about what other people think.”

  “When people called you cool and emotionless, when people whispered you were antisocial and didn’t have a heart, I thought they were being stupid. I thought they just didn’t see what I see.” Bryan sounded shell-shocked.

  “And now?” I inquired.

  “And now I realize it was me who couldn’t see what they did.”

  It felt like the barbed wire I had guarding my heart suddenly betrayed me and attacked. “All the more reason to get paid and get out.” I was good at hiding my emotion, good at keeping my voice casual and strong.

  Forging to his feet like a battle star in one of our action games, he declared, “No. I won’t let you buy me out. I’m not giving up all the hard work we’ve done together.”

  “But just a few moments ago, you wanted me to go.”

  “Temporarily!” he insisted. “Just until things calm down.”

  “I can’t say things will be calm after the press conference, but business won’t suffer.”

  “How can you be so confident?”

  “Because while I’m spilling all the tea, as all of those online bloggers like to say, I’ll also announce Zero and that it will be dropping next week.”

  “Next week?”

  “Of course. If I’m going to whip up this kind of media frenzy, I might as well use it as free publicity for our new launch.” Pursing my lips, I considered. “I think you’d be surprised at how many people will want to download a game that inspired so much corporate scandal.”

  Bryan’s wide-eyed stare followed me as I walked to the door. “Where are you going?”

  “I need to talk to Nora.”

  “She knows about all this?”

  The first inkling of fear introduced itself. It was cold and sharp and made me feel I was doing the wrong thing.

  “Not yet.” I admitted. “I’m telling her now before the press conference. I won’t go on record about any of this until she knows about it first.”

  I left Bryan standing in my office, things between us not really settled but my position made clear. I didn’t have time to hash this out with him right now, not when there was Nora. I’d put this off until I literally couldn’t anymore.

  What if I told her everything and she left me? What if she looked at me the way everyone else did back then?

  I’d let her in. All the way in.

  I really hoped I wasn’t about to regret it.

  Nora

  “What could you possibly have to say to me about Carter?” I demanded.

  “Obviously, you think I know something, because here I am.” He gestured around the condo. His face turned thoughtful. “I’m impressed. This place is pretty nice. I assume you aren’t the one paying for it.”

  “Say whatever it is, and then get out.” Did he think insulting me was going to buy him any bonus points? The only reason he was standing in my living room was because he claimed this involved Carter.

  It wasn’t as if I would blindly believe anything Alan told me, but I wanted to at least hear what it was. Knowing Alan and his father had some kind of business rivalry going on with Carter was reason enough to get any details I could that might help Ansoft.

  “Have you thought any more about my offer?” Alan asked, placing the file folder of papers he was carrying on the coffee table. The blanket Aaron used last night was still in a heap, and I admit I thought about throwing it over Alan’s stupid head and bolting.

  “I’m not interested.” I kept my reply clipped.

  “I think you should reconsider.”

  God, he was so freaking smug. Arrogance clung to him like the worst kind of aftershave, nearly making me gag.

  Folding my arms over my chest, I sighed. Loud.

  Using one finger, he pushed the documents toward me. “Go on. Have a look.”

  My feet stayed where they were, my stare bouncing between my ex and whatever was in that folder.

  “Carter Anders is not who you think he is.” Alan gestured again toward the file.

  Stomping forward, I snatched up the file, flipping it open. A photograph fell toward me, almost sliding to the floor. The second I lifted it, my stomach lurched. Dropping it onto the stack of papers, I turned my face away. “What is this?”

  “That’s who your boyfriend really is.”

  The photo was of a dead body. No more than a teenager, the boy lay limp and lifeless against a pale tile floor. His skin had a bluish-purple cast, and his lifeless eyes were open, staring at something no one else could see. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and there were red scratch marks all over his chest as if he’d been scratching at himself excessively.

  Though he looked cold, the hair on his forehead was matted with sweat, and all the muscles in his entire body seemed wilted. A single rivulet of deep-red blood dripped from his nose, proof that his body had given up.

  There wasn’t anything especially gory about this photo, but it didn’t matter. I would have nightmares about this image for many nights to come, and the endless thoughts of how, why, and who would plague me maybe forever.

  Glancing up through teary eyes, I pinned Alan with a hard stare. “Why?” I rasped. “Why would you show me something like this? No warning, no consideration.”

  That was Alan, though. He never had considered me at all.

  “Sometimes the best way to get through to someone is with shock.”

  “This isn’t shocking.” I disagreed. “This is cruel.” Punctuating my words, I took the photo and flicked it to the floor, where it fell face down near my feet.

  “That boy right there.” Alan pointed at the photo. “That’s the boy Carter killed.”

  I sucked in a breath. For long moments, the world a
round me tilted. “What did you just say?”

  “It’s all right there, Nor. In black and white. I knew you’d never believe me if I just told you. I had to bring proof. I needed you to see who you’ve allowed into your life.”

  Shocked, I glanced down at all the papers. My vision was blurred and my brain sluggish, so I couldn’t even see what I was looking at.

  An impatient sound ripped out of Alan’s throat as he bolted aggressively toward me. I cringed away, the reaction purely instinctual.

  “You’re scared of me?” He fumed, eyes incredulous. “Me? I just handed you proof that your boyfriend is a murderer, and it’s me you flinch away from!”

  “We both know I have reason to be wary of you.”

  Rage lit his face, the heat in his eyes scaring me. “This!” He slapped his hand on the papers in my hands. “This is what you should be scared of.”

  The second slap flipped the entire folder out of my hands. Papers scattered over the coffee table.

  I took a step away from Alan.

  Closing his eyes, he dragged in a long, ragged breath, blowing it out slowly. Seconds later, when his eyes reopened, they were kinder, but I was still afraid.

  “My father met Carter Anders when he was seventeen years old,” he said, bending to scoop up all the papers. “That game, Primal Fear, the one that used to be really popular?” he asked, glancing up at me.

  I nodded. I knew the game.

  “Regal Tech owns that game.”

  “They do?” I answered, surprised. “I didn’t know your father’s company was in video games.”

  “Regal Tech is involved in everything technology has to offer. Gaming is one of those things. However, it is not our strongest department. We’re working on building it up.”

  “What does this have to do with Carter?” And that body I just saw?

  “Carter is the one who created Primal Fear. He sold it to my father.”

  Carter created a video game when he was seventeen? Not just any video game, but one that was purchased by one of the biggest tech companies in the country.

  “Why would he sell it?” I wondered, not really asking Alan, more like just thinking out loud.

  “Guilty conscience maybe?” Alan quipped.

  Remembering he was there, I looked up. “What?”

  “That dead kid? That was his best friend. The friend who helped him create that game. Just as they were about to sell it to my father for a huge payday, his friend”—Alan pointed to the floor where the photo still lay—“died.”

  The first thing I felt was sympathy. It hit me hard and swift, punching a hole right in my stomach, making it hard to breathe deep.

  “How did he die?” I asked, wrapping an arm over my waist.

  “Overdose. From pills your boyfriend fed him.”

  “No,” I whispered, shaking my head.

  “Yes. Carter Anders didn’t want to share any of the millions my father was paying for that game, so he got his friend and partner drunk and then convinced him to take a handful of pills.”

  “You’re lying!” I yelled, tears streaking down my cheeks.

  “It’s all here!” Alan roared, brandishing the papers like a well-sharpened sword. “Because they were minors at the time, the case was sealed, unavailable to public record.”

  I dashed away the tears on my face, only to have them replaced with more.

  Alan rushed forward, grabbing me by the shoulders and forcing me to look into his face. “When I found out you were involved with him, I did everything in my power, me and my father, to get these records to prove to you that you can’t trust him.”

  I struggled to get away, but he only gripped harder. The papers crinkled and pressed against me beneath his fingers, and I looked at them, horrified, not wanting any of their ink to touch me.

  “Get off of me!” I finally yelled, stomping down on his foot with my heel.

  He wailed in pain and fell back on the couch. I rushed around the coffee table, putting it between us.

  “You bitch!” He snarled. “I do all this for you, and this is the way you repay me?”

  Anger rose to meet the hurt and confusion I felt. “Oh, so you didn’t do this for me, then. You did this so I would owe you a debt. Isn’t that right, Alan? What is it that you want? Huh? Inside information on Zero? Why is that? Because Regal Tech’s gaming division is so bad you have to steal from Carter?”

  Alan rushed me, but I held my ground. I was done cowering to him. I was done being afraid.

  “That game is rightfully Regal’s! Everything Carter has, his entire company, he wouldn’t have any of it if it weren’t for my father.”

  Grabbing his arm, I dragged him forward. “Get out! You disgust me. I can’t believe I ever loved you.”

  An inhuman sound drowned out everything else. One minute, I was pulling him, trying to force him to the door, and the next, it felt I was flying, free-falling backward with no sign of a net.

  Crack!

  The base of my skull hit against the edge of the coffee table, and sharp pain burst through my entire neck and head. My body slumped, and unable to hold myself up, I dropped over onto the floor.

  “You still choose him? Even after hearing he’s a fucking killer, you dare try to kick me out of this place!” Alan roared over me, but I only heard half of what he was saying. Things were fuzzy.

  I tried to look up at him, but my eyes only got as far as the photo lying halfway under the couch.

  A sharp splintering sound cut through the heaviness dropping over me. Then a loud yell and grunts of pain followed.

  Reaching for the table, I tried to pull myself up. My grip wasn’t strong enough. My fingers didn’t seem to want to work. Every time I’d grab the edge, my arm would fall right back to my side.

  “Ma’am!” a familiar voice called out.

  I felt myself smile. “Knox… I was hoping you’d come.”

  My bodyguard’s worried face came into view.

  “There’s two of you,” I murmured. “Two is better than one.”

  “Hang on, ma’am. I’ve got help coming.”

  “Alan,” I said, trying to lift my hand. Knox grabbed it and held it in his. “He was here.”

  “I got him.” He assured me. The tone of his voice changing dramatically.

  “I want Carter,” I whispered, suddenly feeling the weight of unconsciousness pulling me under.

  “Stay with me!” he yelled, lifting me against his body. “Stay with me, Nora!”

  “Carter…” I gasped, a thought suddenly coming to me. “The file,” I told Knox. “You have to get the file. Don’t let anyone else see.” I struggled to get up, to get out of his hold so I could find those papers.

  “Sit still,” he insisted, but I struggled still.

  “You have to hide those papers!”

  “Okay, okay.” Knox eased me back, a string of curses cutting through the room.

  “You have a foul mouth,” I mumbled.

  Through blurry, darkened vision, I watched him strip off the black jacket he always wore so well. He leaned down, pressing it at the back of my head, making me whimper in pain.

  “We gotta stop the bleeding,” he said.

  “The papers…”

  “I got them.” He assured me.

  “You did?”

  “Yes.” Then to someone I couldn’t see, he yelled, “I don’t care. Get him on the goddamn phone! Now!”

  Somewhere else in the room, a phone went off, the ringing extremely loud. I moaned.

  “Ma’am.” Knox worried, applying more pressure to the back of my head.

  “That hurts!” I complained.

  Abruptly, the ringing was cut off by Alan’s voice. “Yeah?”

  “I thought I fucking knocked you out.” Knox jolted forward, but I cried out, making him come right back. “What is it?”

  “Stay with me,” I pleaded.

  “Okay, shh.” He agreed. “Where the fuck are the paramedics?”

  “It didn’t work,” Alan s
aid, his voice sounding thick with pain. “Go to plan B.”

  “Plan B?” I echoed. “What’s plan B?”

  “Fuck this,” Knox announced, and suddenly, I was no longer on the floor but in his arms as he ran way too fast.

  “I think I’m going to be sick.” I gagged.

  “It’s okay. Go ahead.” If anything, his steps increased.

  My body tensed, and vomit burned the back of my throat. My stomach heaved, making the pain in my head so severe I was finally granted with unconsciousness.

  Carter

  I left my phone on my desk.

  I realized when I stepped into the elevator, but going back to get it involved seeing Bryan again, and I was done with him today.

  He was a traitor. I knew it with every fiber of my being.

  I started suspecting back when he tried to convince me to take the twenty-five million, but I’d given him the benefit of the doubt, realizing that kind of money was enough to make anyone go a little crazy.

  But just now? Offering to take over my company “temporarily” for the good of everyone?

  Bullshit.

  I didn’t know just how deeply he’d deceived me yet, but I would find out. Oddly, the betrayal didn’t hurt as much as I expected. Maybe because I’d already suspected, or maybe because I had never let Bryan all the way in.

  Still, I’d trusted him. Something I did with very few people. I thought this kind of betrayal from him would be enough to send me scurrying back to my island to protect myself.

  But I wasn’t thinking of me right now. I was thinking of Nora. Of finally opening up and giving her what she’d been asking for all along: reality.

  I would be okay. I’d be okay if she could understand, if she didn’t look at me the way everyone else had back then. Everything would be fine when she knew I was doing exactly what I said I would: outing myself.

  With Regal involved, being outed was inevitable. If I was going to be thrust into the spotlight this way, I would do it on my own terms.

  I wasn’t a scared seventeen-year-old anymore. I was beyond manipulation, and even if all this blew up in my face, I would be okay.

  I would.

  As long as Nora understands.