by Sherri Hayes
The door to my office closed behind us. I strolled over to my desk and took a seat. We both knew he wouldn’t stay long—this was all for show after all.
When Cal began to pace, it drew my attention away from my computer monitor. He was clearly agitated about something. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him what his problem was, when he turned abruptly to face me. “I have something for you.”
When he didn’t elaborate, I said, “Okay. What is it?”
He sighed and reached into his back pocket.
When he handed the item to me, I realized it was an envelope. It was sealed and had no markings on the outside. I raised my eyebrow in question.
“It’s from Anna. She wanted to write you back. I’m not happy about it, but I promised her I’d give it to you.” Before I could reply to his rushed explanation, he turned on his heel and rushed toward the door as if someone were chasing him. “I’ll see you next week.”
As soon as he was out of sight, I stood and made my way over to the door to shut and lock it. I didn’t want anyone to disturb me. Brianna had written me back. I took a deep breath—the first real one since the day she walked out my door—and sat on the couch.
Maybe I should have savored the moment, but I didn’t have it in me. Ripping the envelope open, I then removed the folded paper inside. Seeing Brianna’s handwriting made me smile. She’d always been better at putting her feelings down on paper, and I couldn’t wait another moment to see what she’d written.
Stephan,
When Cal told me he had a letter for me from you, I was excited. Thank you. I know you didn’t have to write me, but I’m glad you did. Cal isn’t happy I’m writing you back. He doesn’t understand why I cried reading your letter, but I think you will.
At least, I hope you do.
I’ve been trying to eat better the last couple of days. You’re right. I need to eat. Cal and Jade seem to be happy about that at least—that I’m eating more. I don’t know what it is, but nothing tastes the same, even the premade stuff. It’s probably just me.
Cal wanted me to talk to someone—that was the deal he told you about. It’s not something I want to do, but maybe he’s right. I used to talk to you, and now I can’t, so maybe this is a good thing. I’ve only had two meetings with Dr. Perkins so far. The first one didn’t go too bad, but I had a panic attack during the second. She gave me a sedative and sent me home with Cal and Jade. I’m supposed to go back Monday. You probably won’t get this until Wednesday when you see Cal, so I will have already seen Dr. Perkins.
Hopefully I don’t panic this time. I want to get better.
Maybe this will help.
Yours,
Brianna
I read over the letter twice more before I let it fall to my lap. She was going to therapy. He was making her talk to someone.
Anger, followed by fear, surged through me. Within moments, I was on my feet marching toward the door. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do exactly, but I needed to do something.
As I reached for the doorknob, the sound of voices outside halted me. What was I doing? I wasn’t supposed to have any contact with Brianna. She’d chosen to leave in an effort to protect me. No matter how much my instinct to protect her was screaming at me to do something, I had to respect her wishes. Didn’t I?
Taking what I hoped would be a deep calming breath, I walked back across the room to retrieve Brianna’s letter from where I’d let it fall to the floor in my haste, before going back to my desk. I refolded the letter and tucked it into the pocket of my jacket.
It took me a while to calm down. No matter how frustrated I was with the whole situation, I couldn’t react without thinking it through first. For the rest of the day, I contemplated my options. There weren’t many. I could do nothing, call Cal and give him a piece of my mind, hoping that he’d let Brianna out of this ridiculous deal she’d made with him, or since Brianna had given me the therapist’s name, I could do some digging on her myself.
The first truly wasn’t an option. There was no way I could sit by and do nothing with the information I’d been given. Calling Cal, while tempting, wasn’t likely to produce positive results. The only real option, then, was to find out all I could about this Dr. Perkins.
Picking up the phone, I dialed Oscar’s number. As much as I would have loved to do the research myself, the last thing I needed was the press or even Agent Marco getting wind of what I was doing and put two and two together. I was sure both of them would find some way to spin the information to their advantage.
“Davis and Associates.”
“This is Stephan Coleman. I need to speak to Oscar, please.”
“One moment, Mr. Coleman.”
She put me on hold for roughly thirty seconds before Oscar picked up the line. “Stephan. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you today.”
I hadn’t been expecting to call. “Could you stop by my condo on your way home tonight? There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”
“Sure. I can do that. Everything all right?”
“That’s what I intend to find out.”
“Sounds ominous. I have some things to finish up here if it’s not urgent.”
“That’s fine.”
“Okay, then. I’ll see you . . . say around six?”
“I’ll see you then.”
After hanging up with Oscar, I glanced down at my desk and realized how little work I’d gotten done since reading Brianna’s letter. The clock on my computer read three fifty. I hadn’t left the office early by choice since Brianna left, but today I felt it necessary. I wasn’t getting any work accomplished, and I’d snapped at Jamie the one time she’d knocked on my door. Since I didn’t want to end up apologizing to everyone on my staff that I came in contact with, I figured going home was the best option.
I walked into my condo and was greeted with blissful silence. Sarah had been spending more and more hours working with that business owner Daren had set her up with, which meant she was gone most of the day. That was good, because I needed time to think about my upcoming conversation with Oscar. The Dom in me wanted to take action. Of course, that was warring with the logical part that said even though Brianna still wore my collar—at least as far as I knew—she wasn’t my responsibility right now. Circumstances dictated that she couldn’t be. I had to trust her. The problem, however, wasn’t that I didn’t trust Brianna—I did. Who I didn’t trust was this Dr. Perkins. I knew nothing about her, and after what I went through after the death of my parents, I inherently didn’t trust psychiatrists.
While I waited for Oscar, I read over Brianna’s letter again, this time taking note of the small things. She said she thought I would understand why she’d cried over my letter, and reading her words again, I did. Our separation was hurting her. She missed me as much as I missed her. I had to find a way to end this, or at least make it safe for us to see one another. Being apart wasn’t good for either of us.
The monitor coming to life drew me out of my reverie. Seconds later, the door opened, and Sarah came breezing into the condo with a grocery bag on her hip. “Oh. You’re home.”
“I came home early.”
She frowned. “Everything okay? Nothing happened did it?”
I knew what she was asking. Agent Marco had made the rounds with my friends as well. “No.”
Sarah sighed and ambled into the kitchen to put the food she’d bought away. “That’s good. I can honestly say that if I ever have to talk to that Agent Marco again, it will be too soon. He’s a class-A jerk, if you ask me.”
There wasn’t any point in responding since I agreed wholeheartedly. The man was like a dog with a bone that wouldn’t let go. I couldn’t worry about him right now, though. Oscar would be here soon, and I still hadn’t figured out how I was going to get him to do what I wanted. Sure, I could remind him that he worked for me, and if push came to shove, I’d do just that.
“How was work?” Sarah plopped down on the couch across from me with a soda in her
hand.
“You shouldn’t be drinking that, you know.”
She took a drink of the beverage anyway and rolled her eyes. “I only had one cup of coffee today, Doctor Coleman.”
“Fine. Do what you want.” I got up and went to the kitchen for some water. Most of the time I didn’t mind having Sarah here, but right now I didn’t want to deal with her brattiness.
A hand touched my left arm as I reached into the refrigerator. Sarah stood there, worry creasing her brow. “I’m sorry. I know you’re only trying to help.”
I didn’t comment as I removed the pitcher of chilled water and poured myself a glass.
“Hey. Talk to me.”
Taking a sip of my water, I met her concerned gaze before setting my glass back down on the counter. “Oscar will be here in a few minutes. I’m going to go change.”
Not giving her time to respond, I marched across the living area and into my bedroom, firmly closing the door behind me.
True to his word, Oscar showed up a few minutes after six. Sarah let him in and then reluctantly retreated up to her room. I knew she was curious, but after talking it over shortly after her moving in, we’d both agreed it was best if she made herself scarce when my attorney made an appearance. There were some things she was better off not knowing.
We settled ourselves in the living room. I didn’t waste any time with pleasantries. Oscar had known me all my life, and we both preferred the direct approach. “I need you to look into someone for me.”
He cocked his head to the side, and his face became guarded. “Who?”
“All I know is that her name is Dr. Perkins and that she’s a therapist somewhere in town.”
Oscar frowned. “And who is this woman? Why is she important?”
This is where things had the potential to get dicey. Oscar didn’t know about the letter I’d sent Brianna. I decided to keep it simple and hope he didn’t ask questions. “I found out Brianna is seeing her.”
He quirked an eyebrow and hardened his stare. “How did you find out this information?”
I considered lying, but as with my uncle, Oscar could usually see right through me if I wasn’t being completely truthful. “Brianna wrote me a letter. She told me. She and Ross have some sort of deal going on.”
“I see. I’d heard the two of you were acting unusually chummy lately. That explains why.” He adjusted his position on the couch, resting his arm along the back. His posture was casual, but I knew what was coming. “I am curious, however . . . if Brianna left in order to protect you, why is she now writing you letters?”
“One letter.”
The look he shot me said he was not thrilled with my defensiveness.
Sighing, I stood and walked over to the window. Perhaps it was cowardly, but I didn’t want to see his reaction. “She wrote me a letter because I wrote her one first.”
“I see.”
I turned around, leaning against the window ledge. “I was careful. I didn’t say anything I shouldn’t. It’s not a secret we know each other.”
“You’re walking a very fine line, Stephan. If that letter got into the wrong hands . . .”
“I know.”
Neither of us spoke for several minutes. Oscar was not one to be rushed into making decisions, and I was under no misconception that he could turn down my request.
“What do you hope to accomplish by digging up information on this doctor?”
“I only want to make sure Brianna is safe. You know I don’t trust psychiatrists.”
He studied me for a long moment. “All right. I’ll do some research, make sure she has a good reputation—but that’s it. You don’t need the complications this could bring if it gets out.”
“Thank you.”
Oscar snorted as he rose from the couch.
I followed him to the door to let him out.
He paused in the entryway, turning to face me, his hand on the doorknob. “Oh, and Stephan? No more private parties. You want to go out with your friends to a public restaurant, fine, but nothing secretive. Got it?”
“It—”
Oscar held up his hand, cutting me off. “I don’t want details. Just don’t let it happen again.”
Chapter 12
Brianna
It was Thursday, and I hadn’t heard anything back from Emma yet. I was getting nervous. Why hadn’t she called?
The last few days had been tense. Jade wanted to tell Cal what was going on, but I begged her not to. I knew what he’d say. He’d made it clear that he didn’t want me testifying under any circumstances. If he knew what was going on, he’d be furious.
Cal strolled into the house around three thirty as he usually did. He’d met with Stephan yesterday, but he hadn’t said much about the meeting except that he’d given Stephan my letter. One other good thing had come from his meeting with Stephan—Cal had started talking to me again.
“Anna!” He’s eyes went wide when he saw me.
I stepped farther into the kitchen. He very slowly started digging into the refrigerator to find a snack, never taking his eyes off me for long. “Hey.”
Little by little, he put food onto the counter. Once he seemed to have everything he wanted, he paused. “Are you hungry?”
I started to say no, but then I remembered Stephan’s words that I needed to eat. Breakfast had been more than five hours ago, and I hadn’t had anything since. “Okay.”
Cal froze. He looked at me, shocked. “You want a sandwich?”
Swallowing, I nodded.
To my surprise, he responded with a huge grin. “Okay then. One sandwich coming up.”
We ate together at the kitchen table. I didn’t finish mine, but I thought I did pretty well.
He did, too, apparently, because he was all smiles as he cleaned everything up. “Did you want to watch some TV? Jade won’t be home for another hour or two.”
I glanced toward my bedroom and pressed my lips together.
“I promise I’ll sit on the couch, and you can have the chair. How about that?”
Not waiting for me to respond, Cal ambled across the room and took a seat on the couch just as he’d said he would. I stayed where I was for several minutes and debated whether or not to join him in the living room or retreat into my bedroom. The pull toward my room was great, but there was a little voice inside reminding me that I wanted to get better. If I was going to stand up to Ian—and help Stephan—I needed to get better. Cal wasn’t going to hurt me. I could do something normal like watch television with him, right?
Forcing my legs to move, I walked timidly over to the chair and sat down. To his credit, Cal’s only reaction to my decision was a small smile that tugged at one side of his mouth. Other than that, he remained motionless.
We stayed like that until Jade arrived around five thirty. She took one look at the scene in the living room and stopped in her tracks. “Hi.”
Cal looked over his shoulder at her. “How was class?”
Jade laid her backpack on the table and headed toward us. “Good.” She nodded in the direction of the television. “What ya watching?”
He shrugged. “Anna and I were catching up on some talk shows.”
“I see. Anything good?”
“Not really.” Cal stood and wrapped his arm around Jade’s waist, pulling her closer to him. He placed a chaste kiss on her lips, but it lingered just a little too long.
It dawned on me at that moment that they’d been holding themselves—their relationship—back because of me. Scurrying out of the chair, I mumbled an excuse and ducked into my bedroom.
I should have known my rapid escape wouldn’t have gone unnoticed. Less than five minutes had passed before Jade was knocking on my bedroom door and letting herself in.
“Everything all right?”
Nodding, I went back to plucking at the fabric of my jeans.
She sat down on the edge of the mattress, facing me. “I’m sorry if seeing Cal and I kiss bothered you, Anna. We’ll try to be more careful next
time.”
“No!”
My exclamation made her jump.
I took a deep breath and tried again. “No. I don’t want you . . . I don’t want you to not do things because of me.”
She reached out and touched the back of my hand lightly with her fingertips. “What don’t you think we do?”
Closing my eyes, I tried to find the right words to explain. “Cal wanted to kiss you more, but he didn’t—because of me.”
She chuckled, and I opened my eyes to find her with an amused expression on her face. “Trust me, Cal can survive not getting every little thing he wants all the time. Besides, it’s not like he never gets to kiss me the way he wants.”
“But he would have kissed you more if I weren’t there.”
“Probably.”
“So my being here changes your relationship. I don’t want that.”
Jade sighed and squeezed my hand. “Cal and I can survive showing a bit of restraint. It won’t hurt us. And we didn’t know if you’d be okay seeing us be affectionate.”
“But you shouldn’t have to.”
She sat up and slapped her palms against her thighs. “Tell you what. We promise not to hold back any more than we would if we were in front of our other friends, but only if you’ll let us know if it’s making you uncomfortable.”
That I could live with. I didn’t want to be any more of a burden than I already was to them. “I promise.”
Later that night, I joined them at the kitchen table for dinner. No one said much beyond the normal pleasantries, but I did notice that Jade was attempting to keep her word. Every now and then, one of them would glance at the other with a sly smile—as if they shared a secret no one was in on but them. It made me miss Stephan even more, but that was okay. They were happy. That was what mattered.
Just after noon on Friday, Emma finally called. “Hi, Anna. I was wondering if I could stop by today. I finished putting the paperwork together, and I want to go over it with you before I present it to the federal prosecutor.”
