Tainted Love Series Boxed Set

by Lily Zante

  She stopped, went back to a photo she’d closed. She recognized the girl as someone who worked at the Zimmerman Group too. Melissa paused, felt her chest tighten as she glimpsed more photos of this girl who was almost naked in some of them, and seemed happy about it too. She swallowed, feeling sick to her stomach. Even though the girls in the photos looked happy, she felt wrong for seeing their intimate images when she had no right to.

  She immediately closed the photos and moved on, speeding up as she searched frantically for hers. She didn’t dare look at her watch, now relying on Heather’s call if there was trouble. She still hadn’t found anything of hers and she wasn’t leaving until she did.

  There were no names on the folders, only some sort of coding system. And then she realized they were dates. She quickly hovered over the folders, looking for something named appropriately for the past few months.

  And then she came across it. A folder full of her images.

  They were the same images she’d seen him delete that last time.

  Perplexed, she looked through them all. She’d seen him delete them. She’d stood by his shoulder and watched him delete them, before he’d made her…

  Tears started to fall down her face as she stared at images of her staring back at her. He obviously had a backup somewhere.

  Then her eyes fell on a different file. A movie file. Her hairs prickled along her arm as she tentatively clicked on the file.

  He’d filmed her…with him…that last time. She stared at the ghost of her lying on the bed, tears streaming down her cheeks as he moved over her. She’d turned her head that day, and she’d been facing the laptop.

  The camera was here somewhere…she froze in place…was he filming her now? Would he know she’d been here? Did he have it switched on all the time? Or only for “performances”? Panic poured over her and she quickly copied the entire folder to her memory stick.

  Pull yourself together.

  Then she deleted it from his laptop. Remembering, she emptied the recycle bin on his computer. She noticed he had a few external devices connected, a USB stick for one and a couple of other external drives. His whole desk was a jumbled mess of wires and cables and all sorts of hardware boxes of all sizes lying haphazardly around. She wouldn’t have the time to go through everything—and she wouldn’t be able to come back. Nor did she intend to.

  Just then her cell phone vibrated. “He’s on his way back. Get out.” Heather was hysterical. Melissa glanced at her watch and her heart leapt. She’d been here longer than she should have.

  She looked around, and her gaze fell upon a pile of CDs lying on his desk. She had no time to check through them now. So she took them. Slipping them into her blouse, she shivered as the rectangular plastic box smacked cold against her bare skin.

  She leapt from the room and quickly scuffled along the hallway, her heartbeat racing like a rocket on takeoff. Her eyes fixed on the front door ahead. A few more steps and she’d be through the kitchen.

  But she heard the key turn in the door and she held back a scream.

  Any second now, Matt would walk through the door.

  “Melissa?” She turned around and stared at Noah’s startled face.

  The door opened and one leap was all it took for her to push past Noah and dive head first into the only open door she saw.

  Chapter 36

  Ashen faced, Noah stared at her as she hid in his room and then he finally asked her, “What’s going on?”

  She drew up her shoulders and looked around the room, unable to meet Noah’s gaze head on. She hated herself for being in this situation—for the look he now gave her. “You’re in the wrong room.” His face was hard.

  “Please, Noah. He doesn’t know I’m here,” she whispered, glancing at the door he’d closed behind him. He’d understood enough to see she was hiding. “Please don’t tell him you saw me.”

  Concerned eyes searched her face, but before she had a chance to tell him anything, her cell phone vibrated again. She answered it before it buzzed a second time, her eyes fixed on Noah.

  “What the hell, Melissa! He’s already gone inside. Where are you?” Heather shrieked.

  “I’m coming,” Melissa whispered. “Stay put.”

  “What’s going on?” Noah asked again, even though she had the cell to her ear, still trying to pacify Heather at the other end.

  “Is he winning you over with his words?” Heather sneered.

  “Melissa?” Noah’s eyes burned into her, immediately bringing back memories of New Year’s Eve.

  “What?” Her head felt light, and her heart threatened to pole vault out of her throat. It was too much, with the two of them going at her, and the thought of Matt lurking outside.

  She held her hand out to Noah, signaling him to wait, while she dealt with Heather. Somehow, she could trust Noah to keep his cool. Heather was something else.

  “Don’t worry,” she told Heather.

  “He’s apologizing, isn’t he?”

  “What? No,” Melissa hissed, her attention ping-ponging from Noah to her friend, while her heart hammered so fast she thought she was going to pass out.

  But Heather wasn’t buying it. “He’s winning you over again, isn’t he? You can’t fall for his shit. I’m coming in.”

  “Heather, no! Oh my God. No.” The line went dead, and she knew her hot-headed friend was on the move. Melissa flapped her hands, fanning herself.

  This couldn’t happen. If Heather entered the scene now it would cause a serious shitstorm. “Please help me,” she pleaded with Noah.

  “For goodness sake, Melissa! What is going on?” Noah’s patience vanished.

  “Matt and I split…I can’t explain right now, but I’ve broken into his room.”

  Noah jerked his face back in surprise.

  “He can’t know I’m here. Heather is on her way here right now. Please stop her! Meet her outside…take her away…tell her to go home and to call me on the way. Matt can’t see her—he’ll know what I’ve done. Please.” Her words tumbled out like confetti, messy and all over the place.

  Noah took a step towards her, his whole body loaded with questions. He seemed unsure, as if he couldn’t comprehend what she’d told him.

  “Please, Noah.” He was wasting precious minutes. “It’ll be much worse if he finds out.” Something about the pleading tone in her voice must have made him change his mind because he rushed out of the room after that.

  Melissa closed her eyes and stayed put behind the door. She felt the sweat in her armpits, felt her knees start to give way. Her mind recanted the images on Matt’s computer. All those girls, all those photos. How many of them knew that he still had their images? Did they even care? How many of them had he blackmailed, like her?

  Her thoughts shriveled when she recalled the video he’d made of her. It sent her pulse racing, for all the wrong reasons. Outside, she heard the sound of the front door closing again—it was heavier than the normal doors, and made a more solid thud. Then she heard voices. Matt’s voice, and Noah’s. They were talking and laughing.

  She froze.

  Her cell phone buzzed again, making her jump. “What the hell is going on? You never told me your latest squeeze lived there. What is this—a soap opera?” Heather’s voice rose to a peak.

  “Where are you?” Melissa hissed. The voices moved closer to the door. Her heart throttled.

  “I’m going back home—unless you want me to wait for you somewhere around here. What the hell, Melissa? I can’t believe this.”

  This? What exactly did Heather have a problem with? Noah living here or their stakeout mission?

  Muffled voices suddenly became clearer and were now directly outside Noah’s door. “I’m really interested. I looked over the vacancies and I’ve put my application forward. Do you think we could talk about the nature of the job? It’s the kind of field I want to move into and if I could get some tips from you, dude, that would be cool.” She held her breath, not daring to move an inch. Matt’s voi
ce struck fear in her bones and she clutched the cell phone tighter, holding onto it like a magic talisman.

  The doorknob moved and she heard Noah say something. More laughter followed.

  Did Noah get on with him?

  “Well?” Heather hissed. Melissa didn’t dare open her mouth. “Melissa!” Heather yelled loudly.

  “Shhh,” Melissa whispered, not daring to go any louder. She wasn’t sure if Heather heard or not.

  “Thanks, I appreciate it. You let me know when you’re free.” Matt’s voice again, this time further away.

  “Go home. I’ll meet you there,” Melissa ordered and then stared at the door with her breath stuck in her throat. It opened slowly.

  “Give me a couple of days and we can sort something out.” Noah faced out and gave a wave and a false laugh.

  Then he walked in and closed the door behind him. Turning his head in her direction he stared at her like a man who needed answers yesterday.

  Chapter 37

  “Thank you.” Melissa whispered to him as soon as he’d shut the door. She looked scared, and he needed to know why.

  “Is he heading for a shower?” she asked, clutching the cell phone to her chest.

  He nodded and she made to move towards the door. “Oh, no, you don’t.” He grabbed her elbow gently. He needed answers and he needed them right this minute.

  Her frightened eyes met his. “I should go. I have to get out of here without him knowing, remember.”

  He didn’t let go of her elbow. “In time,” he whispered, sensing her fear. “You owe me answers, Melissa.” She had to understand that none of this made any sense to him.

  Slowly she backed away and walked to the far end of the room where she leaned against his desk. He locked the door—the guys respected one another’s privacy—but he could already see how frightened she was. Now he would find out why. For one mad moment, a dart of hope made him wonder if there was more to her and Matt than met the eye.

  “How did you get in?”

  “The other guy was leaving and I slipped in.”

  “He saw you?”

  She nodded.

  Sighing, he asked her, “Do you want to sit down?”

  When she declined, he moved his chair away from her, and sat down on it, facing her. This would be interesting.

  “I’ve been looking for you at the coffee shop every morning this week,” she said quietly, not getting into the thick of it immediately. Still, the fact that this was the first thing she chose to mention lowered his guard a little. Because he’d deliberately avoided the coffee shop ever since that day.

  “I’ve been avoiding it.”

  “Avoiding me, you mean.”

  “Avoiding you.” He leveled his gaze at her and observed that same air of vulnerability she always had about her. Try as he would not to, his eyes kept drawing back to her lips as his gaze swept over her features, reminding him of every inch of the face he’d kissed that night. He went to sleep remembering her face, her smell, feeling her fingers…

  But he’d also convinced himself to wipe her from his memory. Yet something told him that maybe now there was a chance she could explain herself. That lurking behind that vulnerability he’d seen all too clearly, was the real reason for her sadness and it was only a matter of time before he unearthed it.

  “I split up with him—that day—last week, when you first saw me here.”

  He frowned. That wasn’t what Matt had told him. “Are you sure?” It was a stupid question, but he needed to check.

  Her cheeks flamed red, and he regretted the question. “Of course I’m sure,” she said, still talking in a low voice. “But I can’t stay here any longer. I need to go before he finds out.”

  He stared down at her top, and she looked down. Even underneath her coat, there was a distinct bulge. It was obvious she was hiding something.

  “What’s that?” he asked, his curiosity uncontained.

  She hesitated. “I can’t tell you.” She looked up at him. “Yet.”

  He scrubbed his hands over his face and got up from the chair. She exasperated him and made him feel for her at the same time. “Melissa, you’ve got to see it from my point of view. Everything that’s going on right now—with you—with Matt, this, that day, you and me, you and him—it doesn’t piece together.”

  She covered up her chest, holding the edges of her coat closer together. “I know how this must seem. But I’m asking you to trust me. Please. I have to go now, before he finds out I’m here. Please don’t tell him I was here.” She was frantic.

  He ran a hand over his forehead. “Okay. But I need to know. I need to know everything.”

  “The coffee shop tomorrow morning?” she suggested.

  “At eight?”

  She nodded.

  It would be his chance to find out everything and this time he needed all the answers. “I’ll be there,” he told her. She smiled in response, and for the first time that evening, her face brightened.

  He wanted to reach out and hold her again, because she looked so broken, and so alone, and weak. And because he’d missed her. But instead he reached out and stretched his arm, bringing his hand to the back of his neck and feeling the tightness in his muscles.

  “I’d better go.”

  “Let me check if the coast is clear for you.” He walked out and heard the shower still going strong. Paul had gone to meet his girlfriend—so he knew without a doubt that it was Matt in the shower. He walked back and beckoned Melissa out, then followed closely behind her as he walked her to the door.

  “Bye,” she whispered and slipped out into the night. He wasn’t going to let her go that easily and instead, he walked her out.

  When he got back a short while later, Noah closed the door and heaved a sigh. She’d told him things, but now he had more questions. Because he wondered what it was that made her come back and do something like break into her ex’s room; something that was so alien to her character.

  And what was it that she’d hidden under her clothing?

  Chapter 38

  “What took you so long?” Heather rushed to the door the minute Melissa walked in. She shook her head, drained—that’s how she felt. This evening had sapped all strength from her. She was relieved to be back home. After shrugging out of her coat, she sank down on the sofa. “I was talking to Noah.”

  Heather flopped down beside her. “Imagine my surprise when he walks out of the apartment and quickly moves me back down the stairs. Christ, Melissa. What is this threesome thing you’ve got going?”

  Melissa lifted her head and angled it towards her friend. “Don’t say that. Imagine my shock when I found out Noah lived there.”

  “When did you find out? Did you know they knew each other?”

  “No. I swear. I had no idea. I don’t know how they know each other, all I know is Noah only recently moved in. I found out on New Year’s Day, when I left after talking to Matt.” She paused, took a breath. “I walked out and we bumped into Noah.”

  Heather’s eyebrows shifted about half an inch towards the ceiling. “Right after the night you and Noah had been rubbing lips together?”

  “Don’t say it like that,” groaned Melissa.

  “What did Noah say?”

  “He didn’t say much.”

  “I bet he didn’t.”

  “He didn’t make out he knew me either. He thinks I’ve been two-timing him.”

  “Ya think?” Heather’s sarcasm was at its peak. In a softer voice, she added, “No wonder you were so pissed off—so out of it that day you came back.” If that’s what Heather believed about that day, it was fine with her.

  Melissa sighed, pulling a hand down her face. “It’s been a nightmare—this thing with Matt. I tried to tell Matt, that day, that we were over and he was … horrible.”

  Heather’s face scrunched up. “What do you mean?”

  Melissa paused. She couldn’t talk about it—the shame of that day. Some things were better kept to herself. Just as she plan
ned to do with Noah, she was only going to mention the things that were mandatory.

  “What do you mean, Melissa? Did he hurt you?” Heather persisted.

  Melissa squeezed her eyes shut and slowly shook her head from side to side. “No.” She swallowed. This was getting harder to keep to herself. She’d bottled it up, hoping she could relegate it to some remote place inside her, where in time she would forget. But the bottled up simmering feeling, suppressed inside a finite space, now screamed for release.

  “Did you get what you went for?” asked Heather, obviously trying a different tactic.

  “Kind of,” Melissa sank her head back into the headrest, feeling hungry but not having the time or the energy to get up and cook.

  “What was it?” demanded Heather.

  Melissa opened her eyes again, wishing her friend wasn’t so insistent. “It’s nothing I can show you. I deleted it.” She had no intention of showing anyone what was on the memory stick.

  Heather’s brow knit together. “Deleted what?”

  “Some things.”

  “What things?” Heather’s voice grew sharper and when Melissa said nothing, she leaned in towards her. “What things Melissa? You’re scaring me. I’m thinking all kinds of crazy stuff here.”

  “He had some photos of me,” Melissa confessed, and sat forward. “We used to goof around.” Heather didn’t need to know the full details, or the whole truth. She didn’t need to know how Melissa didn’t want the photos taken but hadn’t had the courage to say no to him.

  “Photos?”

  “Yeah, you know. Messing around in my clothes—or underwear—kind of thing…”

  “Well, they can be kind of fun—” Heather started, then saw the look on Melissa’s face, “unless you don’t feel comfortable about doing that stuff.”

  “That’s it. I felt uncomfortable with him having them.”

  “Oh, Mel. What a bastard.” Heather bent forward and gave her a hug. “Is that all?” Heather wasn’t stupid and Melissa suspected that her friend imagined there was more to it than she was letting on.