Unbound: The Pentagon Group, Book 2

by Rosemary Rey

  “What? Let me up.” He demanded. I didn’t want him to see me like this, but I had no choice. I buzzed him in and waited with my front door open until he climbed the steps.

  When he approached, I saw his face change from serene to panic, and I felt gutted I hadn’t informed him. Chelsea was right, I was wrong to keep things from family and friends. He rushed up the stairs and stretched his hands to hold my face, inspecting the small cuts and scratches around my left side.

  “What the hell happened?” It was time to be honest with him, revealing every detail. As I told the story, I saw his facial expressions change from sadness to anger, and then I saw guilt.

  “You should’ve gone home with me. This is my fault.” He charged.

  “No. It was random. I was lucky. Just some cuts and bruises. My ribs hurt, but nothing is broken.” I confirmed. He lifted my gown. “Carson!” Ignoring me, he looked at my ribs, which had turned a purple color all along my side. He let the gown fall and cried. I’d not seen him cry in pain ever.

  “You’re coming home with me. I’ll take care of you. Pack some things.”

  “I don’t want the kids to see my like this.” I tried to reject him, but he wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer.

  “We’ll explain it as a car accident, which could’ve been worse, but your commitment to at least showing up will help them know your dedication. Are you up to it?” I nodded. I packed a weekend bag, and tucked my tablet and phone in a large purse. I left my laptop on my little dining table. I changed quickly into loose comfortable clothing. I made a loose braid to my left side, trying to hide the worst cuts and bruises. A little dab of tinted lip gloss and I was ready to go.

  Carson grabbed my bag and we walked down and out to the van. I greeted the students, explaining I had been in a minor car accident and would observe today because nothing would keep me away from our duty to the young students. They clapped for me, which melted my heart, and I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. We made our way to practice in silence, so much needed to be revealed to Carson, but in private. When we greeted the Lawrence students, I informed them I would observe because of my injuries. I don’t know if it was seeing me in that condition and knowing I was sitting there with a concussion, but the students danced with a vigor we’d never seen before. I commented to them about their passion. I asked them to dance like that for us each week and most especially, at our performance in three weeks. They all agreed with a round of applause. We ate our pizza, cheese-less for me, and chatted. Most of the students came up to me and offered me speedy recovery and well wishes.

  I was exhausted by the time we made it back to Carson’s apartment at the Sheldrake. Carson put me to bed because I was extremely fatigued. He brought me water for my pain pill. The last time I slept in his guest bed was the night I confronted the Pentagon group with the sex tape.

  “I have to tell you something.” I said to Carson.

  “Later. You need your rest. I’m going to cook us a nice dinner. When you wake up, we can talk.” He kissed my forehead and left, closing the door behind him. I napped for several hours, awakening when I felt the urge to go to the bathroom.

  When I finished, I walked to the kitchen and found both Carson and Turner. Upon seeing me in my state, Turner gasped audibly. I smiled in reassurance that I was fine.

  “I’m fine. Seriously. I don’t even think about it.” He took me in his arms. I didn’t have to explain. Carson filled him in on the sordid details. He kissed me lightly on the top of my head.

  “You’re going to stay here as long as you need to get better. You shouldn’t have been alone last night.” I nodded.

  “Are you hungry?” Carson asked.

  “Yes. What did you make?” I asked. He informed me he made chicken breasts with roasted carrots and salad. Carson was a great cook, and I was excited to eat a fresh home cooked meal.

  When we were half way through the meal, I summoned the courage to reveal everything to my two saviors. I explained about Brady’s blackmail with the sex tape and how I turned it around to blackmail the men. I apologized for not telling them sooner, but Chelsea had made me see the error of my ways by keeping things secret. I explained I didn’t tell her, and requested it not leave the table.

  “I’m only telling you two because if anything should happen to me, I’m under the belief it has to do with Pentagon.” Carson and Turner each gripped one of my hands.

  “I did this for several reasons. First, I don’t appreciate any man controlling my future. Brady wasn’t going to get away with controlling my life.” I paused to compose my other thoughts.

  “Second, I did this to get back at Pentagon. Liberty was to be my property, and they took it away from me. I couldn’t take another setback. Duration was a dead end job. I didn’t have Liberty anymore. An executive position at Pentagon was my only other option. It would challenge me and offer me an experience which I wouldn’t normally have access to because of my lack of career experience or educational credentials.” The men nodded in agreement.

  “Getting to the bottom of why Brady wants Matt’s shares is another reason. I figure if I can get closer to each of them, I can learn more about their history which caused Brady to threaten their lifelong friendship.” Finally, I revealed, “I also need to know how I play into the whole equation. I feel like I’m at the center of this whole clusterfuck, and I don’t know why. Brady is the key to the information.”

  “I need your help Turner. I have documents I want to leave with you for my protection. I have the documents Eric Pierce gave me about Pentagon. It’s communication between everyone at Pentagon about Parisi and Liberty, and conversations between Brady and Aida which could be used to implicate him . . . maybe to her untimely death.”

  “I hope you don’t judge me too harshly for how I’ve handled this. I have a hard time letting people in because I’ve always felt like I can take care of everything on my own. I had to take care of my mother. Even when we had help for her, I took over as much as I could because she was my responsibility. I was so alone for so long I couldn’t change my behavior even when I met people willing to share the burden.” My voice quivered and tears streamed down my face.

  “I will document everything, Perla. Tomorrow, I will send a letter to Kevin Zipperer about what happened and I am ready to expose Pentagon for their criminal . . .”

  “No. I didn’t reveal this to you for a confrontation with them. Please just protect the information in case something happens.”

  “We don’t want anything to happen, which is why we need to tell them what we’ll do.” Turner responded.

  “Let me handle this, please, Turner. I don’t want you involved until absolutely necessary, okay?” Carson touched Turner’s hand, looking at him with concern. Turner nodded.

  “I don’t know for sure if it was them who did this. My priority is to get to the bottom of this . . . I need another favor.”

  “Anything.” Carson declared. My heart swelled with his attentiveness.

  “I can’t stay in my place. I’m afraid my captor is out on the loose. He knows my address. With my advance, I have enough money to find a place in Boston. My idea of searching for an apartment is an online classified advertisement. I don’t know where to start searching for a place.” Carson’s eyes lit up.

  “We have just the person. Jude Halperin is a young, hot real estate agent. She helped us get this apartment.”

  “I’m not interested in going crazy with rent. I have to save some money, but I want to get a safe place with security.” Carson jumped out of his seat and left the dining room, leaving me and Turner.

  “I owe you a big apology.”

  “For what?” He asked surprised.

  “For not telling you what I was going through. For embarrassing you and putting your professional integrity on the line. I should’ve told you the night before when I spent the night, or in the morning. I blindsided you, as well as him.” He squeezed my hand.

  “I’m sorry you felt alone, taking on th
ose men who hold a lot of power. You’re one ballsy chick, Perla.” I smiled.

  “Well, I held five sets of balls in my hands that night. The testosterone was like a shot of adrenalin. I just felt so powerful. I didn’t think three steps ahead.” I huffed.

  “I’m sure you surprised them. Heck, I thought your body was invaded by an alien. You weren’t like that during your negotiations with Ben. I was proud of you for keeping the shares. My concern stemmed from whether you chose correctly. I can see how much you two love each other. The shares could never replace that kind of passion.” I nodded. Carson walked back in.

  “Jude is coming over tonight with a list of places. She’s going to schedule some showings for tomorrow and Tuesday. There are four great apartments she wants to show you and they’re close to Pentagon’s corporate headquarters. You could walk to work, which for you is a far departure from your current place.” When I asked Carson to help with a real estate search, I didn’t mean at that exact second, but there was no time to waste. The advanced pay would allow me to pay off the remaining three months of my rent, move into an apartment in the heart of Boston, and purchase all new furniture. I was ready to move on to something bigger. My tiny studio, away from the city, made me feel isolated from my friends.

  “Once we find the right apartment, we’ll call Magnus to decorate. He’s a genius at design.”

  “I’m not rich, Carse. From what you’ve described, he caters to Boston’s rich executives and socialites.”

  “You’re now an executive, and you need a cool place to live. He can work on a budget too.” Carson offered.

  We moved onto the living room and sat on the big comfy sofa, watching television. I reclined, putting my feet up on the large tufted ottoman. Carson covered my legs with a soft lap blanket. Turner joined us for a little while, but then retired to his office to tend to some issues he wanted to catch up on. I felt guilty about my case taking him away from his other responsibilities. Carson assured me it was normal for Turner to work around the clock. Turner didn’t have the patience to sit and watch television. He’d rather read in a corner of his home office, which Carson allowed him to do without interference.

  At eight o’clock, Carson answered the landline, alerting him of Jude’s arrival. Carson gave permission for her to be let upstairs to his apartment. Anxiety coursed through me as I realized the moves I was making was a bold first step in being an independent woman. The buzzer rang and Carson opened the door for the striking redhead. She had flaming red curls, much like mine, but sleeker. Jude wore a pretty green summer dress which looked light and airy on her petite frame. Jude’s skin seemed flawless, free of blemishes or freckles. Light makeup capped off her look.

  “Thanks for coming over, Jude.” I exclaimed when I shook her hand. “Please excuse my appearance. I was in a car accident . . .”

  “No need to explain. Carson told me you wanted to move into the city right away because of the car accident.” She sat down, opening a file folder she had tucked under her arm. I smiled and sat down.” After she sorted the paperwork, Jude explained, “I picked out four buildings around Pentagon’s corporate headquarters. The range of rent for each would start on the low end of four thousand two hundred dollars up to over seven thousand dollars a month.” My mind shrieked at such high numbers, but I’d calculated I would bring in at least thirty thousand dollars a month in salary.

  Jude showed me floor plans for each building. I only needed a one bedroom and didn’t want to bother with the two bedroom floor plans. However, Carson told me I could afford a second bedroom with a second bath, which was more comfortable for having guests; like my father or him, if he ever got into a fight with Turner. I agreed. I wanted to be comfortable and put my guests at ease. Jude eliminated the one bedrooms and focused on the two bedroom apartments. I eliminated one building because there was no dedicated security system. Two buildings were closer to Pentagon, which allowed me to walk with ease to the office. Both of those buildings had spacious two bedrooms available. Jude offered to show me the spaces in the morning. Carson objected, wanting to be there with me, but not able to get off of work in the morning. Wanting to accommodate Carson, who set this whole thing up, we settled on showings in the late afternoon.

  I raised concerns over my credit because I hadn’t used much credit in two years, but I had no debt. Jude seemed to think I wouldn’t have a problem. The worst that could happen was my need to put a higher security deposit than required. She prepared me to pay at most twenty one thousand dollars at signing. Because the apartments were vacant and available now, I’d have to choose one quickly and put in an application, which Jude had a computer program to generate a standard application. We completed the forms together, and at the end, she had me virtually sign it on her tablet. Once I made my decision of which apartment I’d like to move into, Jude would press a button and send it off with a picture of my check as deposit to the agent for the building. If I were approved, I would hear within twenty four hours.

  Carson offered Jude a cocktail, but she declined. As quick as she entered the apartment to help with my search, she left to go meet friends for drinks. I felt slight envy for I was not much older than Jude, and I never went out for cocktails or dinner with my friends. Another change I planned to make was to go out more often with friends and family. Attending more restaurants, bars, and clubs were in order. I had the money to treat myself and my friends to the occasional dinner and drinks.

  Carson retrieved my pills and gave me water. He pulled me up from the couch and walked me to the guest room. After tucking me into bed, he left me to rest. Thoughts about the quick transitions in my life, kept me awake. I retrieved my tablet and reviewed the apartments, which Jude had emailed to me. Seeing the floor plans of my future dwelling, I thought back at my comfort in being with Matt at his spacious apartment. I thought it was too big for a single man, but was cozy for the two of us. He’d work in his office for some time while I’d read a book, or we’d watch television in the large living room, which usually ended up with us making out on the couch and him carrying me to his bedroom to make love. I tossed the tablet aside and turned to my injury free side, curling up into a ball. I was still in pain, not just physically, but emotionally. I prayed for my misery over the demise of my relationship with Matt to end soon.

  *****

  In the afternoon, Jude and I met Carson at the first high rise in the Copley Square area. In an instant, I was in love with the location. It was close to shopping, pharmacy, the T, and most importantly, the library. Even though I bought a tablet and enjoyed reading books from it, there was nothing better than picking up a book and holding it in my hands. Carson helped to paint the picture of where all the new furniture would go in the space. I could see his vision perfectly, and was getting excited beyond measure. The place was spacious enough, and at over five thousand dollars a month, it was virtually a steal for the location. It rested at the top of my list.

  We walked a few blocks over to the second apartment building with a vacant two bedroom. Upon entering the fifteenth floor apartment, I knew it was my home. The living room and the master bedroom were more spacious than the other apartment. The kitchen had been recently renovated with a new large refrigerator and stove. It was an open living concept where I could cook in the kitchen and see out to the living area. There was a dining nook beside the living space. Carson agreed it would be a far cry from my studio. It was a four city block walk to Pentagon, but not unmanageable. I wrote out a check for eighteen thousand dollars; the most I’ve ever written from my personal account. I kept my fingers crossed, awaiting approval for the apartment. Jude promised to call me as soon as she heard. We separated from Jude, and I treated Carson to a latte.

  We arrived at his place and I took out my tablet to type out a list of things I needed to do to prepare for the move. Within twenty minutes of typing out my next steps, I received a call from Jude.

  “I got it.” I shrieked with glee. “I can pick up the keys tomorrow at the front desk.�
� I voiced for Carson to hear. “Move in times and days will be supplied by the manager when I pick up the keys.” I repeated out loud so Carson could remind me of the details. “Perfect. Thank you so much, Jude. I’ll connect with you soon.” We hung up.

  “Okay, what time are you going over to pick up your keys?” Carson asked.

  “Maybe about nine in the morning?” I estimated.

  “I’m going to call Magnus. He can meet you over there and you can give him an idea of what you need right away. He could have it designed, ordered, and delivered by the end of the week or sooner.” I nodded, even though I felt everything was happening so fast. Change was hard for me, but the need for safety and comfort superseded my need for consistency. As Carson spoke to Magnus, I fretted over little things like Matt not being able to find me. It was a stupid notion; one which made no sense because I walked away from him.

  I called my father, and told him I was going to move into a new apartment in the city. He was excited to hear that there was a bedroom for him to visit me, if needed. I consciously didn’t tell him about the last few days. He needn’t worry about his single daughter being kidnapped and injured. He was an old man who should live in blissful ignorance. I invited him to see the place as soon as it was decorated. He agreed. We bid our ‘goodnight’, and hung up.

  I sat waiting for Carson to finish his conversation with Magnus. “Magnus will meet you there at nine thirty. He’s not a morning person. He said he could definitely get started now with the layout. You just have to email him the floor plans.” Carson handed me a slip of paper with his email. I set to forward Magnus the plans, so he could whip up a preliminary design of furniture type and placement. How Magnus would know what I’d like was a mystery to be solved tomorrow.

  After warning Carson I needed to shower and to listen for my passing out, I retrieved my night clothes and toiletries. I took a nice, long hot shower, washing my hair. My bruised and tired muscles were soothed by the jets of the shower head. I scrubbed myself gently, getting rid of grime. A memory of Matt bathing me and brushing my teeth the first night I spent at his place came to mind. I wasn’t ill or injured like I was at that moment, and I’d wished he was there to help me when it mattered. ‘When will I fall in love again?’ I asked myself. I needed to move on, but even the most mundane acts brought Matt to mind. My divorce from Ben didn’t elicit as many thoughts of good times as I had with Matt. The best thing for me to get over him would be to date and date often; another task I added to my mental list.