by Brynn Paulin
And the whole floor buzzed with frenetic activity. With it being near the Fourth of July holiday, crime was on the rise. Or maybe, it was the heat and not the holiday. I’d heard that could cause it, too. I didn’t care. I just wanted someone to believe me, and I just wanted out of there. Afterward, I was brought to the tombs—which sounded pretty fucking scary when the person said it. What they meant was a cell, where I’d wait for arraignment. Me. Arraignment. It would be funny if it wasn’t terrifying.
I asked for a lawyer, though I was sure I wouldn’t need one if they’d just listen, if they’d just look at the security tape. But because of the holiday, I had to wait. For a lawyer, for the judge, for any justice. They couldn’t even tell me if I was being charged with a felony or misdemeanor. I’d been so busy with Brix, I hadn’t even realized July fourth was coming up.
Scared and alone, despite a few other women in the holding cell, I huddled in a corner as small as I could and tried not to sob. The place was dirty and smelled and I was afraid to touch anything. I was afraid of the others in here with me. I didn’t know what they’d done or why there were here. I kind of doubted they were innocent like me. I decided that wasn’t fair, until two of them got into a fist fight, and then I was even more scared. I couldn’t fight, and I didn’t want anything to happen to my baby.
By morning, my eyes hurt from all the tears, yet were dry as sandpaper from crying so much. My body ached from the hunched up position I’d been in, my legs mostly asleep from lack of circulation.
I had no hope.
Time moved slowly. I didn’t know how long it had been. Hours. A day. When the guard came and said my name, I was surprised.
I was more surprised when I was taken to discharge and my things were returned, including my ring. I didn’t put it on. I couldn’t. Brix’s silence and absence was all-too-clear. It was over.
“What’s going on? Did someone bail me out?” Since no one had answered my calls, that seemed unlikely.
“The prosecutor’s office reviewed the evidence, and it became clear you weren’t guilty of assaulting Ms. Conway.”
“It took this long?”
“It’s the holiday. Could have taken longer.”
“What about the two who framed me?”
The officer looked at the paperwork. “Ella Conway and Diana Farrow? It appears they worked together to frame you for assault. Do you want to press charges? We don’t take what they did lightly, nor do we ignore the misuse of police resources. You can file a complaint separate from ours.”
I wanted to, but I also wanted out of this place. “Do I have to decide right now?”
“No.” She gave me a paper with who to contact. “I’ll also need you to sign here for your belongings.”
I glanced in my purse and slipped the engagement ring inside it. “My cell phone? It’s not in here.”
“That’s everything we have.”
Great. It hadn’t been in my purse and probably hadn’t been picked up when my bag was retrieved. Well, the phone was broken anyway. One more worry…
“Do you need to call anyone?” the discharge officer asked.
I shook my head. “There’s no one to call.”
Chapter Fourteen
~ Brix ~
“Cricket,” I called as I walked into the penthouse. I slotted the phone on the charger in my office then went looking for her. “Princess, where are you?”
What a fucking awful two days. I’d just gotten to work the other day when the hospital had called about grandfather. Grand had been rushed in after collapsing, but they couldn’t tell me more. I’d run out of the office, telling Diana to get hold of Cricket and let her know what happened and where I was.
I’d thought maybe Cricket would show up. She hadn’t. Worse, I hadn’t had cell reception in the areas near my grandfather. When I was with him, I hadn’t been allowed to have the phone on, either. He’d had a heart attack and needed a bypass. By the time he’d been stabilized, my cell was dead. I’d tried calling from the hospital’s line, but she hadn’t answered, probably because she didn’t recognize the number.
Now, it was more than two days with no contact with Cricket. I tried not to freak out. I just wanted to be with my woman and hold her. I still couldn’t believe she hadn’t come up to check on Grand. With as much as they got on, it just seemed weird. It seemed so unlike her.
“Cricket,” I called again.
Nothing.
I walked upstairs, not seeing her in either of the great rooms or the kitchen. She wasn’t outside swimming or lying in the sun. The master suite was empty, too, but her laptop was on her desk. Nothing seemed unusual or missing—except my fiancée.
It was office hours. Maybe, she’d gone into work?
Returning to my office, I picked up the landline and hit the button to call my assistant’s desk.
“Elijah Brixton’s office,” Diana answered.
I rolled my eyes. Apparently, she wasn’t paying attention. My name displayed across her phone’s screen when I called in. “Ms. Farrow, is Cricket in my office?”
“Oh, hi, Mr. Brixton. No, she’s not. Actually, she hasn’t been in at all while you’ve been away.”
“Not at all?” Worry spiked through me. What the hell? Had something happen to her? I tried not to panic or overreact, but fuck! This wasn’t normal.
“No. Is there something I can help you with? Anything at all?”
“No.” I hung up. It was just about time to call the employment agency to interview for a permanent assistant—who wasn’t Diana. That was the least of my worries right now. Grand was stable, though I needed to head back to the hospital soon, and I had to find Cricket.
Looking over, I saw my cell was charged enough to turn on. A few moments later, a ton of notifications flooded my screen. Fifteen messages from Cricket, and just as many missed calls. She’d left a couple voicemails the morning of her appointment the other day.
“Hey, it’s me,” she said in the last one. “Just wanted to let you know I’m on my way back. I took the subway—don’t freak out. I made it safe and sound to my stop. I should be up to the office in a few minutes. Hopefully, you’ll be free to talk for a few minutes. I have something to tell you. Um…news. I guess I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
My stomach dropped. She’d never made it to my office. Not according to Diana. What the fuck happened in the four blocks between the subway stop and my building? Trying not to freak the fuck out, I pulled up my texts, already on my feet and heading for the door. Where I was headed I didn’t know, but I had to find her.
Had she been hurt? Kidnapped?
My God!
I started at the bottom of the texts and froze dead in my tracks.
Cricket: We R done. I don’t want to be with u anymore. Yes, I’m breaking up with u. Maybe u would have been better off with Ella after all. Relationships aren’t my thing.
I stared at the words, a vise clenching around my heart.
Brix: Where are you? I’m coming to you. We’re figuring this out. You are NOT leaving me.
No fucking way was she leaving me.
A message popped up telling me her number had blocked me.
She blocked me?
What. The. Hell?
What had happened between our perfect lovemaking that morning and this message a few hours later? Was this because she hadn’t been able to reach me? That seemed so…unlike her. In fact, the more I read her words, the more unlike her this all sounded.
I dialed Lance’s number.
“Boss,” he greeted. “You ready to go already?”
“Cricket’s missing.”
“I’ll be right up,” he said, all cheer vacant from his tone now. He didn’t question me or cast doubt on my statement, so I knew he’d take this seriously. I’d hired Lance because he was ex-military and could protect me and provide security when needed. He had hella good evasive driving skills, too, which came in handy when driving in the city. To date, I’d never needed to use his intelligence trai
ning, though I knew he did some freelance on the side. Now, he earned the outrageous paycheck I wrote every week.
“Tell me everything,” he demanded as he strode into the foyer where I paced. “Did you check the tracking on her phone?”
“There’s tracking on her phone?”
“Of course. It’s one of the first things I did when you started dating her.”
I didn’t correct him that we hadn’t been dating. There was no dating. I’d claimed her; she was mine. Yes, hello, caveman. Whatever.
“May I use your computer?” Lance asked.
“Of course. Whatever you need.” I stepped aside and waved him over to the PC.
After a few clicks, he straightened. “Her phone is turned off, or she found and disabled the tracker. I’m guessing the former, not the latter. I have to dig deeper to know for sure…access her carrier.”
“Do whatever you need to. I have to find her.” I felt so torn. On one hand, I had to get back to the hospital. On the other, I’d rip apart this city to find Cricket. Grand would want that, too. Despite the text from her, I couldn’t believe she’d just up and dumped me. And more than ever, I worried about her safety.
“I have other ways to track her, as long as no one took her.”
“Took her?” I exclaimed when he spoke my deepest fear.
“We’ll find her. Hopefully, it’s not that,” he said, his tone ever calm. “Let me call my contacts.” He looked me over. “Go clean up, so you don’t scare her when we track her down.”
I nodded, though I wanted to be ready to go the second we found her. I hated this helpless feeling. I wanted to be out there. I needed to bring Cricket home.
I needed to hold her.
Even if it might be our final goodbye.
No. Fucking no. That wasn’t happening.
“Hey, it’s Lance,” I heard behind me as I headed upstairs. “I need a favor.”
Making my own phone call on my way upstairs, I checked in with the hospital. Grand was doing well and sleeping. That worry off my mind, I started the shower and stepped under the stinging heat from the multiple showerheads. As good as it felt, I didn’t linger, just scrubbing down and getting out. Less than ten minutes after I’d gone in, I was heading back downstairs, cleaned up and in clean clothes.
When I reentered my office, Lance was just turning back and forth in my chair, hands folded behind his head and staring at the ceiling.
“She checked into a hotel yesterday. She’s still there,” he said before I could ask what the hell he was doing.
“How did you…?”
“Sir, tracking credit card activity is the easiest thing I do—easier than driving you through godawful, New York City traffic. Speaking of…” He hopped to his feet. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Fifteen
~Cricket ~
The knock on my door startled me. I’d put out the do not disturb sign and had been living out of the mini-fridge since yesterday. That would end up being expensive, but I just didn’t want to face a soul.
Knowing the person had to be at the wrong room, I just turned over and buried my face in my pillow. I wasn’t dealing well with life, and I’d decided to give myself until tomorrow to wallow. Then there were things I had to do: find a place to live, get a new phone, not transfer from MSU…among other tasks.
I had to get my stuff from Brix’s place and return the ring to him, too, but I couldn’t face him right now. I didn’t have a place to put my things, anyway. After leaving the police station, I’d found a hotel room outside the city, paying for it with savings I’d horded up for college expenses. Yesterday, I decided I needed sleep, then I’d figure out my future. Today, I still wasn’t ready.
Hell, I deserved time to sulk. I’d been screwed over, impregnated and dumped. My life was pretty much shit.
But then again…
I rolled into my back and spread my hand over my still flat stomach. I wasn’t unhappy about the life that had taken hold inside me. Of all of this, the baby was a gift, and he or she would be the most spoiled munchkin on the planet, even if I had to change up my goals to make it happen.
The knock came again, this time more of the pounding variety than the knocking variety. Begrudging having to move, I dragged myself off the bed and trudged over to the door, limping on the ankle I’d twisted yesterday. That injury was one more casualty to this shitty week.
My heart about beat out of my chest at the sight of Brix on the other side of the peephole. He looked exhausted, and his hair stood on end like he’d run his fingers through it a million times. As I stared, his hand raked through it again, his head dropping forward in overwhelming frustration. He looked…desolate. With the limited sightline, I could see him leaning on an outstretched arm.
“Cricket, please…” he said quietly, but I was close enough to hear. Without hesitation, I flipped the eyebolt and unlocked the door.
“Elijah.”
His brown eyes were so sad and exhausted as he stared at me. He held up his phone. “What the hell is this?”
The words were angry, but his tone was flat and defeated.
“Your…phone?”
“Now is not the time to be a smartass, Princess. The text. What is this text? Do you think I’ll let you go that easily? You’re not breaking up with me. Whatever’s going on, we’ll figure it out.”
I stared at him, confused why he was so angry after he’d dumped me. “What are you talking about? You fired me and broke up with me.”
“The hell I did!” he exploded, stepping into the room and crowding me backward so the door could close.
“But Diana said…”
“I didn’t. I would never break it off with you. So what’s this text, then? Retaliation?”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t message you. I’d show you, but I don’t even have my phone. I haven’t had it since the morning of my doctor’s appointment. Look, I’ve had a shit couple days. You broke up with me, I was arrested, then I had no place to go—”
“Arrested? What the fuck?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Princess,” he said and swept me up into his arms. And it was heaven. Whatever had happened, being here felt like exactly where I was supposed to be. And it was where he wanted me. My eyes burned with unshed tears as I pressed my face into his chest, breathing in the scent of his warm skin and bodywash.
Returning to the bed I’d just vacated, he sat down, his back against the headboard and me cradled against his chest. He let me cuddle in for a moment, his arms tight around me, before he spoke. “You’d better start explaining, because I’m freaking the fuck out. You were in jail?”
When I looked up, his face was tortured, and I knew the idea devastated him—me being there and that he hadn’t been there for me. That he hadn’t saved me, even though he didn’t know the circumstances.
“I couldn’t reach you all morning,” I explained. “I figured you were busy, so I just headed to the office. I took the subway because I couldn’t get hold of Lance, either.”
“Fucking getting you your own driver,” he muttered.
“No, you’re not.”
“We’ll see.”
I shook my head, knowing there would be no arguing with him right now.
“On my way to the train, I called Diana since I couldn’t reach you. I didn’t want you to find out I took the subway and flip a gasket.” I covered his mouth with my fingers when he went to protest, and he grabbed one tip with his teeth, growling as he nipped me. My insides tangled, and I shivered in arousal. That little action drove things home. My breathed shattered as I realized things would be okay between us. He was here, and we were going to be together because he had no intention of letting me go. I certainly didn’t want to leave.
“Go on,” he grated. “I have a feeling I’m about to be really pissed off.”
“You aren’t already?”
“I’m calmer with you right here—calmer than I have been in a little while.”
�
�When Diana answered, she wouldn’t let me talk to you. She said you were in your office with my replacement and not to bother coming back in. That you’d told her to clear out my stuff. That you’d talked to Ella, who’d convinced you how awful I am, and that you didn’t want anything to do with me anymore.” I shook my head when he opened his mouth to interrupt again and quickly added, “I didn’t believe her. I was coming into the office, anyway. I kept trying to reach you, and my phone got knocked out of my hand as I was leaving the subway station. Trashed the screen.”
“Holy shit,” he muttered. “Why would she do that? She had to know I’d find out and fire her ass.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I always wondered why she worked for you, anyway. She doesn’t need to work. Her family owns, like, a bazillion hotels.”
“Yeah, I was doing her father a favor by giving her the job until I hired Charlotte’s replacement. We’re going to have a discussion about this—and a few other things that have happened. I don’t think she’s ever wanted to work for me, but she did a reasonable job of it until now.”
“Diana and Ella are tight; she’s never really liked me.” That was an understatement, but I wasn’t going there.
His eyes narrowed. “Was she the reason you were crying the other day?”
I looked away.
“Cricket?”
I sighed. “Yeah. She said some stuff I don’t want to repeat.”
“About you?” he ground out.
“Yeah. It’s crap she, Ella and their friends have spouted for years, but it just hurt more that day.” Probably because of pregnancy hormones, but I hadn’t known that then.
“You should have told me.”
“I didn’t want to run to you like I was in second grade and be all like: Diana’s being mean to me. I dealt with it.”
