by Ace Gray
“Kate.” Nick was suddenly sharp. “I have to protect the things that matter to me.”
“And who, or what, is that at this hour?” My fingers clawed into the pillow beside my cheek. There was only silence where he sat behind me. “Some days I don’t think I know you, Nick. Some days I don’t think I ever will.”
His hand came to my shoulder and he pulled. I let him roll me. He bent down, letting his lips graze against mine.
“You do know me. Because I begin and end with you.” The barely there light was enough to illuminate his serious face.
I sighed. He could be so painstakingly sweet, but was sweet enough? No, not even remotely. But, for this moment, it had to be. I grabbed his tie and pulled him the last little bit to my lips. They worked fervently against his and the dregs of the nightmare fell away. I ran my hands over his shoulders and let them fall down his chiseled arms.
“This really is a magnificent suit.” My eyes followed my fingertip as it traced the buttons. “I’d love nothing more than to peel you out of it.”
“Sounds wonderful.” He mimicked my purr as he leaned in to kiss my neck. “Tonight. My place. I’ll stay in it until you can do just that.”
Nick kissed along my jaw then urgently took my lips. He broke away far too quickly, then rose and slipped out of the room. I sighed and let my fingers come to my lips. The slight burn and tingle of his kiss lingered there.
My insides were in disarray. Something was looming. Christopher had come up and Victor was unresolved. And Nick was lying. Or, at the very least, keeping secrets. Then there was Trevor—whose name still made me nauseous—and the guilt of the incident suffocating me.
It may have been four a.m., but I was wide-awake and distraught over the misfortune thickly coating my skin.
“He needs CPR, now!”
Colton’s cry jolted my heart and shot me upright in bed. Crumpled sheets fell from my body as I gasped for breath. The dread that had stopped my heart when those words rang through Central Park was crushing my chest all over again. Nick was gone. He’d been gone for approximately 72 minutes. Somehow I’d managed to fall back asleep and without him, my body reacted to the nightmare all the more violently.
When I finally collected myself, I punched Nick’s number on the speed dial. No answer. Not a sound, shuffle, or whisper echoed in my apartment. An eerie quiet filled every nook and cranny of my life.
I scrambled out of bed without thinking, needing to feel like the walls weren’t closing in on me. I tried not to take the stairs two at a time. When I rounded the corner into the living room, there wasn’t a trace of life.
“Shit,” I swore.
“Kate?” Jaime peered out from the kitchen.
“Where is he?” I tried to breathe but could only gasp.
“Kate…I…”
Hesitation wasn’t what I expected. A ball of unease—no, a boulder of dread—settled in my stomach. It sank further when I caught Jaime’s pitiful frown in the faint light.
“What happened?” I asked, adrenaline kicking up in my veins, my breathing ragged. His brow furrowed. “Jaime, tell me. Where is he?”
Once or twice Jaime went to answer but then thought better of it. My heart constricted, the fear of the unknown playing tricks on me.
“At least tell me if he’s okay.” My voice was strangled.
“He’s fine.” Jaime swiftly moved toward me, noticing my trembling knees. “Are you?”
He pulled me up against his chest, wrapping his strong, sturdy arms around my shoulders. I slumped into him and unexpected tears pooled in the corners of my eyes.
“Kate, I asked if you were okay?”
Jaime’s arms rolled up and down my back. His was a different type of reassurance than Nick’s, but I appreciated it. Jaime was solid and shielding. Mercifully, I found level ground with his support but the uncomfortable knot in my chest stayed firmly put.
“Just a nightmare,” I finally answered.
“Ally?” he asked. I couldn’t help the shiver that rolled down my spine at the mention of her name. Jaime simply held me tighter.
“Trevor,” I managed. He nodded against my shoulder. Of course he understood.
“You should try and sleep.” He rubbed my shoulders warmly.
“Jaime,” I asked, the other weight on my chest needing to be addressed. “Should I be worried?”
He held his breath and my whole world hinged on whatever he was preparing to say.
“Try and go back to bed, Kate.” He gently pushed me toward the staircase, which made my stomach churn. I almost vomited when he let slip, “I hope not,” under his breath.
I hope not.
The words rolled around in my head then pooled in my stomach. They paired nicely with the overwhelming feeling of dread dwelling there. I needed to hear Nick’s voice. If nothing else, it would ease my shaking knees. I spun back toward Jaime and snatched his phone, dialing Nick before he could protest.
“What’s wrong?” Nick’s bark made me cower. “Jaime,” he warned.
Voices were in the background. Some hurried, maybe shouting.
I broke. “I just…I just needed to hear your voice.”
“Kate? What’s wrong?” He softened ever so slightly.
“Nightmares. I’m sorry to bother you.”
“Sweets…”
“Where are you? Can I meet you?” I breathed into the phone. The longer he left me to sit in silence the more I picked up in the background. There seemed to be a slow, steady beeping.
“Nick?”
“Kate, leave it. Please.”
He wasn’t irritated. More than anything, it was a plea. A voice spoke near Nick. I could only pick out the words CT scan and surgery.
“Shit,” he swore as the other voice kept murmuring.
“Nick, can I meet you?” At this point, I knew I couldn’t but asked again anyway.
“Hold on.” Terse was an understatement for his response.
The person speaking in the background was rattling off more medical terms. My heart stuttered.
“Kate,” he snapped back to me. “Calm down. Jaime will take care of anything you need.” He hung up before I got a chance to tell him all I needed was him.
My heart physically ached as I chucked Jaime’s phone down the hall. I screeched and pounded my fist into my credenza as tears started down my cheeks. Jaime watched me tentatively, keeping his distance from my heaving shoulders as he picked up his phone. I offered him an apology along with the smallest excuse for a smile. It didn’t last long; I traded the thin lips for grinding on my cheek with my teeth.
What was going on? Jaime wasn’t sure if I needed to worry, although the feeling in the pit of my stomach was pretty sure I did. There were so many whispered conversations swirling around me lately. Were they related?
I wanted to find the strength to be pissed at Nick, but my traitorous body wouldn’t let me. Even now, his arms left trails around me, and the taste of his lips was burnt onto mine. I wanted to be the one pushing him away. I wanted control back. I hated that on top of my berserk emotions, I was losing the fortitude I’d built up over the years. I was losing me.
Laura was right. I was in too deep. How would I survive if this didn’t work? The voice that echoed was a frightening one.
Did I want to survive if it didn’t?
That question nagged at me until the shadows in my room were as long as the ones under my eyes.
I spent extra time on my makeup, hoping to cover the hollowness existing plain on my face. The sun was slowly getting bright enough to light my rough edges. I’m getting better at mornings, I thought, ruefully. It hadn’t been a conscious choice.
When we arrived at Vesper, Jaime stopped in the lobby to aimlessly chat with Gemma. The way he rustled the paper while she giggled at his quips grated on my nerves. I was losing my sense of h
umor with every sleepless night. I walked quickly into my office before I said something I’d regret.
I stopped dead in my tracks when I found hundreds of flowers blanketing my desk and dripping down onto the floor. They were striking, the way they cascaded down the front in a veil of blue violets and crimson red rose buds that rolled like fabric out a few feet or so. Individual petals were scattered out along the floor and swirled around my Manolos.
Bryant.
I smiled, reassured, as I circled to my chair. That suffocating weight returned tenfold to my chest when I saw what the flowers morphed into. The back was the same fabric-like cascade of roses and violets but wilted, decayed, and dyed jet black.
“What the hell?” I mumbled under my breath.
Would Nick really send these? And what the hell did dead flowers mean? Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. I snatched the thick black envelope resting among the flowers, tearing into it and reading.
My jaw fell open.
Bile rose in my throat. Victor had gone directly for the jugular, taunting me with the one thing that really had pull over me. I was so tempted to bite, to find out exactly what Nick was hiding but, even now, when faced with the choice between Bryant’s secrets or Victor Alexander, I knew damn well that Nick was the lesser of two evils.
“Oh, Kate! They’re beautiful!” Gemma clapped her hands together and squealed, “How did Nicholas do this? No one called.” She bent to pick up a crimson rose at her feet.
“Building plans,” I muttered bitterly, recalling the hushed conversation when Victor’s sneaky actions were first laid bare. Gemma stopped short at my words. “They’re not from Bryant,” I added.
The phone rang, cutting sharply through our tense silence, and Gemma automatically reached to answer my handset. Her face faltered when she saw the black, battered flowers dripping down the back of my desk. I handed her the note so she could read for herself while she answered.
Her eyes immediately widened and her throat sounded gritty when she whispered, “It’s him.” She nodded at the card. “Victor Alexander is on the line for you.”
Son of a bitch.
Victor was the last person I wanted to deal with this morning. I reached for the receiver anyway while Gemma scuttled out of the office, shouting for Jaime. I took a deep breath.
“Victor.” My voice was flat and icy.
“Did you get my flowers?” He was all but laughing at me.
“Yes,” I hissed.
“Usually you say, Thank you, Kate.” He was laying it on thick.
“If I were grateful, I would.” Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jaime jogging in with Victor’s note in hand. His scowl was something fearsome, and his shoulders rose and fell overly fast.
“Now, now, now, Kate.” The way Victor emphasized my name made my skin crawl. “I don’t appreciate your tone.”
“I really don’t care, Victor,” I spat out his name the same way he had mine.
“Listen up and listen good, Elliott.” Everything about his tone shifted, becoming both frigid and biting. “You might have Bryant wrapped around your little finger, but I’m not some stupid, classless fool. I won’t fall for your tricks. Nor will I back down without a fight like he did.”
I was chewing on my lip, trying to contain the fiery rage lapping at my chest. “No, you listen, Victor.” Bryant would have been impressed by my nasty snap. “Over my god damned dead body.”
“I wouldn’t say things like that, Kate. We wouldn’t want anyone else losing a life over this nonsense, would we?” Victor’s voice was oily, making his words more sickening. I swallowed hard, seeing Trevor’s blood instead of roses pouring down my desk.
No.
This bastard wouldn’t get the better of me. I bit harder on the inside of my cheek and balled my free fist. Jaime and Gemma watched, both on edge. Jaime took a step toward me when I blanched white, no doubt convinced I was going to lose my resolve. It actually helped me find my backbone.
“Go fuck yourself.” I took a breath to continue but Victor interrupted me.
“No thank you, Kate. You are more than welcome to, though. Matter of fact, we can discuss whether I’ll keep you on as part of the management team if you suck my dick. From what I hear, you’re quite good at it.”
He hung up without letting me reply. When I unfroze, I slammed the receiver down, over and over, sending flowers of different colors flying. Heat coursed through my veins, my ears singed. I was close to breaking a second phone in as many days when I chucked the thing off the desk all together.
Jaime and Gemma both shrunk away from me. When Jaime reached for his cell phone, I waved him off.
Fuck Bryant and his security. Fuck Bryant period. I’m going toe to toe with Victor.
“No need to bother him. I’ll deal with this, Jaime.”
“Kate?”
“It’s my problem in my office, regarding my business. I said I’ll deal with it.”
My gaze narrowed. His hand fell from his pocket as he watched me closely. My eyes became slits as my shoulders quivered with rage.
“Gemma, would you please get someone up here to clean this up.” My voice was every bit as shaky as my shoulders. She turned to leave, letting her hand brush along Jaime’s arm. He shook his head as he followed her.
“Jaime, I’ll deal with Nick. I mean it,” I yelled after him. He nodded with his back to me.
As soon as they shut the door, I sagged into my office chair. That feeling of unease rolled violently in my stomach. I tried to work but had trouble focusing. I swatted flower after flower until someone came to scoop them into a trash bag.
I found a way to get back to work after my desk was cleared despite my racing thoughts and churning stomach. It was a Herculean effort that I abandoned after a few hours. Leaning back in my chair, my head rolled back and I moved to prop my feet on my desk. I started rubbing my temples when Gemma buzzed over the intercom.
Jaime strode in but I didn’t pull my hands from my forehead. I heard the thud when something hit my desk.
“Thank you, Jaime,” I mumbled.
“The box is not from a pre-approved sender.”
Pre-approved sender? Since when do I…?
God damnit, Bryant!
Jaime took a deep breath before continuing, knowing damn well I was seething.
“It was inspected briefly downstairs, but if it’s all the same to you I’d like to be present when you open it.” I dramatically dropped my hand and sat up, rolling my eyes at Jaime as I stood.
The top of the box popped off easily revealing unfamiliar documents. As I shuffled them around, I noticed a small black card lying on top of a second hidden lid.
This note was unsigned but the thick black stock and silver scrolling ink was exactly the same as Victor’s previous note. My stomach dropped. The only offer he’d made was sexual in nature. I didn’t want to open the false bottom but curiosity got the better of me.
As soon as I pulled back the false lid something rattled the box, accompanied by an all too familiar mechanical buzz. I slammed the box shut, scattering the papers but barely dampening the noise. Jaime’s eyes bugged when the whole package shook in my hands. The clatter resonated all the way up to my teeth.
Fuckingshitpiss.
I tried to take a deep breath but the vibration overwhelmed my motor skills. With a snarl, I yanked off the lid only to reveal a glittery, pink monstrosity of a vibrator jiggling against the cardboard box walls.
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” I couldn’t help but grumble.
Now I was grossed out and pissed off, but the sarcastic side of me still snarked.
A tacky toy like that would never go anywhere near…
I rolled my eyes as I reached in and flipped the off switch on the toy.
“Kate?” Jaime leaned toward me.
“This is from Victor.” I s
hoved the papers back in the top then thrust the box into his hands.
“How did he get it past Colton?”
“There’s a false bottom. I’m sure it looked legitimate.” I waved Jaime off.
“We should implement a full search on all incoming mail.” Jaime kept stone in his voice despite embarrassment turning his cheeks a healthy shade of red.
“No. A pre-approved list of senders should be sufficient.” I tried to keep the irritation out of my voice.
“Kate.” He sighed. “I haven’t heard from Bryant so I’m assuming you haven’t spoken to him about the flowers. May I phone him about both issues?”
I was still too angry or hurt or whatever at Bryant that I didn’t want anything to do with him.
“He made it quite clear that you and I can take care of my problems this morning. Unless you’d like to explain why I should feel otherwise, we’ll do exactly that.”
Jaime swallowed hard on my words. His eyes fell to the carpet as the cogs turned in his head.
“Jaime?” My voice softened as I questioned him, suddenly hoping—no, praying—someone would clue me in. Jaime couldn’t drag his eyes up to meet mine when he spoke.
“Kate, I need you to swear you’ll call. If he hears about this from anyone else, or doesn’t hear about it at all, it will most likely be my job.”
My heart dropped.
“I swear this won’t come back on you,” I promised vehemently.
Defeat hung heavy on his shoulders. It fell similarly on me but I didn’t want to admit it. Instead, I slumped back into my chair with a huff and tried to go back to answering emails.
Interruptions started pouring in after that, culminating in Gemma bringing in a late lunch from the regular deli down the street. It was heavier than normal. I shrugged it off, sure that it was just the day that was wrong, not the bag, then pulled out three brown folded boxes.
Odd, normally there are only two.
One with my sandwich and one with potato salad and a giant dill pickle. I opened them one at a time. When the first two containers were the traditional fair, my hands hesitated before opening the third.
