The shock is evident on his face, his eyebrows shooting up. “That’s preposterous,” he sputters. “Forty percent?”“That’s why you had to make all those cuts earlier this quarter,” Dylan interjects. “Because Lyone has been conning you out of your money.”“You’re my best accountant, Wilson,” Crane says, leaning forward on his desk. “How have you not caught this?”Dylan exhales. “That’s what we wanted to talk to you about.” He looks back at me.
The next fifteen minutes is spent telling Mr. Crane about Lyone, everything Dylan told me the night I followed him to a meeting. I watch carefully as his expressions change from confused to annoyed.
“And how long has this been going on?” He asks.
“Since Lyone accepted you as a client, so...about two years,” Oliver says.
“And you two,” Crane says, pointing to Oliver and Dylan. “Have been part of this the whole time?”“They were at the beginning, but they realize Lyone Enterprises is a corrupt organization and we’ve formed a rebellion,” I say quickly.
“We?” Crane raises an eyebrow. “Where do you come into play here, Miss Harris?”“She’s been put in danger by Lyone,” Dylan speaks for me. “She’s an important asset to us.”“Why am I being informed about this?” Crane asks.
“You’re one of Lyone’s most important clients,” Oliver says. “If you stand up to him, it could bring him down.”“And what would that lead to?”
“If all goes as planned, it could put Alec in jail along with his nephew,” Dylan says.
“You were his accomplices, though,” Crane points out. “Wouldn’t you be in trouble as well?”“With all due respect, Mr. Crane, we didn’t really have a choice,” Dylan says. “If you know Alec, you obviously know he always gets his way.”"We'd tell the authorities the truth, of course," Oliver says. "That we were forced into working for him, under threats."
Mr. Crane takes a deep breath, leaning back in his seat.
“Alright,” he finally says. “I will talk to Alec.”
“Does this mean you’re with us?” Oliver asks.
“Yes,” Crane answers. “Look, you all are some of my best employees, and to know I’m losing money because of Lyone Enterprises is quite unsettling. Therefore, I will side with you.”“Thank you, Mr. Crane,” I say and he nods.
He stands from his seat, the three of us following suit. We all shake his hand, and soon we’re back at work, in our desks.
“That went well,” Oliver says.
“It did,” I agree.
“Good thing,” Dylan says. “We’ve needed him with us.”
After work, Dylan drives me home.
“Well done, today,” he says as he drives along.
“You too,” I say.
“We’re a step closer to sending Alec to the slammer, where he belongs.”“Thank God.”
We walk to our apartments, stopping in the hall.
“Are you doing alright?” Dylan asks me.
“Yeah,” I say. “I’m tired, though.”
“Did you get much sleep? After the dream?”
I shake my head.
“I’m sorry, Katie.”
“It’s fine.” I take a breath, meeting his gaze. “Dylan, if Abigail were to come back to you, would you take her?”He seems caught off guard by my inquiry. “No,” he finally says. “No I wouldn’t.”“If she just walked up, right now, and told you she loved you, you’d reject her?”He nods. “That’s correct.”
“But...I don’t understand.”
“When I thought I was in love with Abigail, I was young and out of place, Katie. I could never look at her the same way again, no matter if she loves me or not.”“Do you think you’ll ever love anyone, Dylan?”
He sighs. “Katie, do we have to talk about this?”
“I just wanted to know.” I fish for my keys in my purse. “Never mind.”“I’m sorry,” he says. “You know my views on—”
“Yes, I do. I know them pretty well by now.” I unlock my door and step inside.
Dylan catches the door when I try to shut it.
“Don’t do this,” he sighs.
“Do what?”
“You know what.”
I’m about to open my mouth to reply when suddenly my phone vibrates, along with Dylan’s.
I stare at the glowing screen of the phone, reading the text that came through. When I look back at Dylan, I know he received the same one.
You have violated your trust with Lyone Enterprises. Now, the games have begun.
Chapter Sixty Three
Fear engulfs me as I read the message five, then ten times over.
“Games? What does he mean?” My voice shakes.
“Come inside,” Dylan says, his voice surprisingly calm as he ushers me into my apartment.
He shuts the door behind him as I go into panic mode.
“How could he have known? Oh my God, he’s going to find us, and he’s going to—”“Katie, calm down so I can think.” Dylan begins to pace.
I close my mouth, my bottom lip trembling slightly. The silver pistol from my dream flashes through my mind.
“He knows we talked to Crane, somehow. And he wants to find us—you, more specifically,” he says, his brow furrowed in thought.
Anxiety rips through my like a knife and my breathing accelerates.
I shake my head. “I can’t stay here,” I say, walking briskly past Dylan and into my bedroom.
“What are you talking about?” Dylan follows me, watching confusedly as I pull my suitcase from under my bed.
“I’m going to fly back to London,” I decide suddenly. Something about the text we received made me finally snap.
“Are you insane?”
“Yes, maybe.” I walk to my closet to pull out clothes. I don’t know why I’ve decided to go home, but I know I’ll be a paranoid wreck if I stay here much longer.
“How long will you stay there?” Dylan asks, observing me as I carelessly throw shirts and jeans into my suitcase.
I sigh, running a hand through my hair. “For good,” I say finally. “Yeah, for good. I should have never moved here, all it’s brought is fear and paranoia.”“Katie, think about what you’re saying.”
“I am, I am thinking about it. Crane has minor offices in London, I could work there and live at home until I find a new place. I’ll sell this one and everything will be okay again.” My heart beats fast as I make spur of the moment decisions.
“What about Lyone? What about the alliance?”
“You guys are obviously better off without me, when I’m not here to fuck things up,” I say, grabbing a pair of jeans from my closet.
“That’s not true.”
“Oh, really? You’ve made it clear before that before I came into your life, everything was fine and normal and routine.” I toss a blouse onto my bed. “If I go, everything will be restored in your life, it’ll be like I was never even here.”“No, it won’t.” Dylan furrows his brow.
“Look, I don’t know why you’re trying to stop me from leaving, it’s not like you give a shit about me.” I throw socks onto the growing pile of clothes on my bed.
Dylan doesn’t respond, and I turn to look at him. He stares at me, his eyes ablaze, his cheeks flushed.
“You know what, Katie? Leave. Go. Leave, and don’t come back,” he spits.
“I won’t,” I say, swallowing. “There’s nothing for me here that I can’t have in London.”“You’re right. I obviously don’t care about you, so just go and forget everything that happened here.” He crosses his arms over his chest.
I shake my head. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it? You don’t want me to go because you know I love you, and you thrive off of it.”He clenches his jaw. “No.”
“Well, you know what, Dylan? I’m not going to be that girl.” I walk out of the bedroom, turning and entering the bathroom.
“That girl?” He asks, following behind me.
“Yeah, that girl. The one that’s hopelessly in love with someone who will never lo
ve her, and just spends her time feeling bad about it,” I snap, opening the cabinet in the bathroom and packing a bag of toiletries. “I know you’ll never love me, Dylan, so what’s the use?”“That doesn’t mean you should just go.”
“Yes, it does. Without me, you guys can all go back and work for Alec, and everything will be back in its perfect little place. I’ll cover up my tracks for you.” I zip my bag of toiletries and stalk back into my bedroom.
“No, you don’t get it,” Dylan says, shaking his head. “We need you.”
“You don’t need me. You’re better off without me.”
“No, I—we’re not.” He fumbles with his words.
I sit down on the bed, putting my head in my hands. “I’m so confused,” I mutter. “I’m confused and scared and I don’t know what to do.” My voice cracks.
I feel Dylan sit beside me. “It’s alright, I’m scared too,” he says softly. “You just...you can’t leave, Katie.”“What do you care if I leave?”
“If you left, then my life would...it would just be boring again. You know, I’d go to work, and hate Alec, and never laugh.” I look up and he leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I’d go back to being just Dylan, and I don’t want that.”“If you were just Dylan then, what are you now?” I ask.
“A better Dylan. One that smiles a lot and goes to the zoo and sits on windows and makes fun of bartenders. And I can’t be that Dylan without you.”I feel my eyes water and I bite my lip. I exhale slowly. “How can you say that now, when weeks ago you laughed in my face when I told you I loved you?”“Fuck,” Dylan curses, standing from the bed and beginning to pace, tugging at his hair.
I shake my head and turn to zip my suitcase, the zipper almost getting stuck on the large pile of unruly clothes inside of it.
I know I just need to get to London for at least a couple days before deciding if I want to move back or not. Everything has just weighed me down at this point, and I can’t go on being scared for my life because of Alec here.
“Are you really leaving?” Dylan asks me from the door of my bedroom.
“I think I’ve made that pretty clear,” I say, gathering other items from around my room.
“For good?”
I turn back to him. “That’s...that’s what I was planning.”
“What about...what about me?”
I swallow at the saddened look in his eyes. “I hope you can find someone to love you as much as I do,” I say, brushing a few tears from my eyes as I push past him, walking into the kitchen to take a few other things.
“Why do you love me?” He asks, his voice raising in volume. “What could you possibly love?”“I don’t know,” I say, pulling different things out of drawers and tossing them onto the counter. “You’re annoying, and rude, and sarcastic. You put me down a lot of the time, and there’s times when you make me feel like nothing.”I pause, fishing my passport from the bottom of my junk drawer, slapping it onto the counter.
“But you’re also funny, and I can tell you care for me, even when you say you don’t. You remember stupid, little things about me that don’t even matter, but they matter when you talk about them, for some reason. You keep me safe, and I know you always will, no matter where we are. And...and we always find ways back to each other, and I’ve tried to tell myself that means something, but I can see now that it really doesn’t.”I wipe the tears that have fallen down my cheeks, taking a deep breath. “I’m really sorry I caused you so much trouble,” I say softly, grabbing my purse and putting loose items into it.
When I look up, Dylan’s back is to me, his fingers running through his hair again and again. His breathing is heavy, and I can tell he’s waging in some kind of internal battle.
“If you leave...will I ever see you again?” He asks slowly.
“Most likely not.” I watch him carefully. “And maybe that’s better for us both.”Just when I expect him to spitefully agree with me, he shakes his head, turning around to face me.
“No, it’s not.”
I stare at him.
“It’s not better when you’re the one person that actually listens to me and cares about the stupid shit I say, Katie. You listen to me, you laugh at my sarcastic humor that really is just me being a total douche about things, and you make me laugh more than I ever have in my life, ever. You came into my life practically against both our wills, and...and you just... you turned it around and made me fall in love with you.”My jaw drops. “What?”
He shuts his eyes briefly, as if he doesn’t believe what he said, either. “Look, I know I’m an idiot. I know I don’t believe in love, I still don’t. It’s stupid, and a fucking burden and it brings nothing but trouble. I let one girl ruin it for me when I was young, and that was stupid of me. I’m not romantic at all, hell, I got you a fucking box of pens for your birthday. You make me insane ninety percent of the time, and the other ten percent of the time you’re annoying the hell out of me. But...even though love is a fucking bullshit myth, I still manage to feel it for you.”I almost feel like passing out at his words. My cheeks are wet with tears and I chew on my lip, unable to believe what he said.
He walks toward me, reaching out and wiping the tears off my cheeks. “So please, please don’t go,” he whispers.
“I won’t,” I say. “I won’t go.” My voice cracks.
He pulls me into an embrace, my head resting against his chest as his strong arms wrap around me. I inhale his scent and shut my eyes, still terrified of what Alec said but I feel safe with him right now, and I always will.
And in that moment, I see that he truly has loved me. From the time he first drove me home when James forgot me, to when he took me to play poker. When he shared a smoke with me and kissed me. When he threw crumpled up pieces of paper at me at work, just to annoy me. When he told me about Lyone Enterprises, and when I stayed with him because I was afraid. When he cleaned my apartment for me after it had been ransacked. When he took me to the roof, and to see the stars, and to the zoo. He’s loved me, and I saw right through him.
We pull away, my cheeks still slightly damp.
“Well, now I have to go unpack everything,” I say, and Dylan laughs, his dimples showing for the first time today.
“Hurry up, the Office is starting soon.”
“I’ll just do it later,” I sigh.
“Don’t procrastinate too long, now.”
I smirk, and he smirks right back.
And then I step forward and kiss him.
Hard.
He responds immediately, arms circling my waist as I stand on my tiptoes to reach his lips. He lifts me, breaking the kiss. I watch his eyes as he carries me into my room, setting me gently on the bed.
I laugh as he carefully moves my clothes and suitcase off the bed and climbs up next to me.
His lips find mine again and I find myself completely and utterly intoxicated by him and everything about him.
I giggle when he moves his lips to my neck, kissing gently.
He Looked Back Page 37
