Annihilate Me (Vol. 3) (The Annihilate Me Series)

by Christina Ross

  “Which deal?”

  “The potential deal with Henri Dufort. They asked me to see if you’ll go alone and answer his questions. Apparently, he has a lot of them.”

  “You want me to leave Alex here alone?”

  “He won’t be alone. I’ll be with him.”

  “But I’ve never brokered deals before. It’s not what I do. I don’t know if I can do that.”

  “The board thinks you can. So do I. But that’s not what this is about. This is about keeping the conversation going. Given how much press the accident with Alex and you has received, Dufort knows that Alex is unavailable to him. At least for now. But Dufort is all about Dufort. When Alex hinted at the potential for Dufort’s Streamed joining Wenn Entertainment, it set the wheels in motion. This is something Dufort wants to move on. He wants to meet with you informally tonight. You’ll have cocktails with him and be his guest at dinner. You’ll lay out your ideas—since they were, after all, your ideas. The board informed him of that. Now, he wants more information from you, and possibly to strike a deal when Alex is well. Obviously, Alex is in no shape to go, so the deal will need to wait a couple of days. Dufort wants to pick your brain, but informally. So, it should be nothing more than casual conversation about a subject you’ve studied. Will you do it? For Alex?”

  “For Alex or for Wenn?”

  “Is there a difference?”

  Of course there wasn’t. Alex was Wenn. So, I agreed.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Before I left, I wanted to see Alex.

  Blackwell and I had lunch, which was so good that she insisted that Charlie contact her tout suite about a possible scholarship through Wenn, which she confided to me she’d make certain he’d receive. Then, with the guard following us at a discreet distance, we went back to Alex’s room.

  “How long will I have a guard tailing me?”

  “As long as it takes for the police and the FBI to do their jobs and find out who was behind the shooting.”

  “That could take days. Weeks.”

  “You’d rather have no protection?”

  That shut me up. We stepped into the room, and I was surprised to find Alex sitting up in bed. He didn’t look as groggy as he had before. In fact, he looked alert. When he saw me, he smiled.

  “Would you two like a moment alone?” Blackwell asked.

  “No,” I said. “Please stay. I’m sure Alex wants to see you.”

  “Of course he does,” she said. “Just a touch of my naturally cheerful personality should give him all he needs to heal.” She went around the bed and took his hand. “Are you feeling better, dear?”

  “I want to get the hell out of here.”

  “So, you are feeling better.” She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. “That’s good to see.”

  “I feel fine now. Why do I have to stay another day?”

  “Stop behaving as if you’re twelve. You’re here to make certain that there are no complications. From what I understand, you struck your head quite hard.”

  “There’s work to do.”

  “Work is getting done without you. Yes—it’s true, Alex. Imagine that. Wenn can manage without you for a few days, just as it did when you two were in Maine. The board obviously is concerned, and they’re moving forward with what you’ve already approved while keeping everything else on hold until you get back tomorrow. Does that suit?”

  “Yes, but I see no reason why I can’t go home tonight. I’ll just rest in my own bed. I’ll take it easy. I promise.” He looked over at me. “Jennifer will be with me. She’ll make sure of it. Won’t you?”

  I exchanged a glance with Blackwell, who took the lead. “Henri Dufort is circling,” she said.

  “About the Streamed deal?”

  “That’s right.”

  He shrugged. “Great. I can meet with him tomorrow.”

  “That’s the thing,” Blackwell said. “He wants to meet tonight. He knows that Jennifer is intimate with the deal, and he’d like to meet with her to keep the conversation and the possibilities going. He’s asked that she attend a dinner party with him so they can discuss those possibilities.”

  For a moment, Alex went silent. Then he turned to me. “How do you feel about that?”

  “I’m happy to do whatever I can.”

  “But do you want to do this?”

  “If it means making sure that we bring him in, I think I should do this. And it’s at an informal setting, which is good—it will help to keep the discussions light. I’ll answer his questions, but all negotiations must go through you.”

  “I’m not comfortable with you being out in public right now.”

  “She’ll have security with her,” Blackwell said. “I’ll make certain of it.”

  “Who’s having the party?” Alex asked.

  “Peachy Van Prout at her mansion on Park.”

  “Jesus,” Alex said. “She’ll have two hundred people there for cocktails. Then have fifty for dinner. Am I right?”

  “You’re correct.”

  “I can’t stand Van Prout.”

  “That’s because your mother liked her.”

  “Probably.”

  “Definitely. But Peachy is nice—and she’s always adored you. You know that. She's always been kind to you.”

  “She’s been kinder to her image. What’s the party for? To cure some disease Peachy probably learned about through her publicist? Let me guess. Now she’s determined to rid the world of something she could care less about.”

  “It’s something like that,” Blackwell admitted.

  “Something or exactly?”

  “Maybe exactly.”

  “She’s such a fake.”

  “No comment.”

  “Immaculata is friends with Peachy. So is Tootie-Staunton Miller. Jennifer, you’ll need to be aware that they’ll be there and that you’ll need to deal with them on your own, not that you can’t. I’ve seen you in action. I know that you can handle—” He stopped speaking and furrowed his brow at me. “What’s the matter?”

  I quickly wiped my eyes. “Nothing.”

  “That’s not true. What’s wrong?”

  I blinked away tears and when I spoke, my voice was thick. “It’s just that you seem yourself again, and I’m relieved. I’ve been sick with worry over you. You seem better.”

  “And here is where I leave,” Blackwell said. “I’ll be just outside if you need me.”

  She put her hand on my shoulder before she left the room.

  “Come here,” Alex said when she was gone. He moved over a little and patted the side of the bed. “Sit with me.”

  I went over and sat beside him. As I did so, he leaned forward and kissed me on the lips. “Are you all right?” he asked.

  “I’ve been so worried.”

  “I mean physically. Are you all right physically?”

  “I cut my arm and bruised my hip. I didn’t get it nearly as bad as you did. I’ll be fine. Alex, I’m so sorry for reacting the way I did. I’m the reason you’re here now. I’m sure of it.”

  “You know better than that.”

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t. At the time, did I think I was doing the right thing? Yes. But looking back, do I think I did the right thing? Absolutely not. I was scared, and I didn’t keep my cool. And look what happened. Hell, look what could have happened. I could have lost you.”

  “But because of you, you didn’t. If I’d been standing beside that car when it exploded, I’d be dead now. We both know that. By standing up to me, you got me away from the car before the explosion caused serious damage, which it would have. What happened that night is on me. I should have told you about the threat before we went to Maine, but I didn’t because I didn’t want to lose you again. I didn’t want you to see what my life is really like. At least not yet. I thought that if I fully let you in, you’d leave me again, if only to protect yourself. And who could blame you if you did? That decision was selfish on my part. If I’d told you the truth, you would have been pre
pared when you were threatened with that email. You said yourself that you would have told me immediately about it because you would have known the two incidents were linked. I’m sorry, Jennifer. I really fucked this up.”

  I put my hand on the side of his face. “Why don’t you take these things seriously?”

  He kissed my palm and, for a moment, he closed his eyes and pressed his face against it before he straightened and looked at me. “For the first year, I did. For the first year, before my parents died, I took every threat seriously, even though I knew this sort of thing was routine for my father. But over the years, just like with my father, nothing ever happened. Nobody ever followed through with their threats, so I had a false sense of security. Now, somebody has finally acted.”

  “Who is behind this?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s like I told you that night. Wenn has made its share of enemies. We’ve driven people out of business. Some people have lost everything because of us. It could be anyone. I’m assuming the FBI and the police are investigating. Any word on who that man was in the car?”

  “Not that I know of. He was dead by the time your guard got to him. From what I understand, he had no ID and the car he was driving was stolen. So that gives us nothing with the exception of the source behind the texts you received and the emails I received. The last time one of your men updated me, which was yesterday afternoon, the police didn’t know if they were sent from a TracFone or from some other device. Maybe that’s changed today. Let’s hope it has.”

  He looked disappointed. “Not every mystery has a solution, Jennifer. You need to be prepared for the fact that we might never know who did this. This isn’t a book and it isn’t a movie where everything is wrapped up in a neat bow at the end. Those stories are illusions. This is real life, and real life often fails us. Whoever attacked us might be satisfied with me in a hospital bed. That could have been all they needed to feel vindicated for whatever it is they needed to feel vindicated about. It could end with this, or it could have just begun. Until I speak with my team, that’s all I know. And that’s the truth.”

  “Thank you for telling me the truth.”

  “I should have told you the truth a week ago.”

  “We’re beyond that now, OK?”

  “All right.”

  “And thank you for the note you left me. It was lovely.”

  A wariness crossed his face that I hadn’t seen in him before. For a moment, he looked on edge. “You’ve read it?”

  “Of course I read it.”

  “When?”

  “That night on the roof deck. I read it when you were with Henri Dufort.”

  “And then the shit hit right afterward. My timing is impeccable. I was hoping that it would lead to a special evening between us after the party. It didn’t.”

  “So it didn’t. But we’re here now. You’re focused and your eyes are clear, for which I’m grateful. And I’m all right. My bruises and cuts will heal, and so will yours.” At that moment, I made a decision. I pushed my inner demons aside, leaned down to his ear and told him the truth about how I felt about us. “And as your girlfriend, I can’t wait to get you out of here and home so we can make love in your bed.”

  I kissed him, and he kissed me back with such ferocity that it surprised me. I thought he was still weak. Not the case—his strength was back. He gripped the back of my head and pulled me in close to him. It was a kiss filled with such passion, relief and meaning—and with what Blackwell likely considered love—that I let it wash over me and tumble through me such that my heart started to quicken as my stomach fell away.

  “I love you,” he said in my ear.

  “Oh, Alex.”

  “I know you need time. I know this is all new to you. But do you feel something close to love?”

  I don’t know why, but my eyes welled up with tears again. I think the reaction was fueled by two feelings: happiness that someone actually considered me worthy of love, which no man in my life ever had, and utter fear that this man did when a part of me still felt that unworthiness. I needed to shake that part of my life off. I needed to listen to Blackwell. I needed to trust men again. As foreign and as fearful as it was for me to trust any man, I needed to trust Alex. I would never forget my father’s abuse, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t have it within me to shelve it and move forward. It was time to think rationally. Every man wasn’t like my father. I needed to believe in that.

  I took a breath and kissed him again. “I’m falling for you, Alexander Wenn. I’m falling fast, and it scares the hell out of me for some reasons you know, and other reasons you might never understand. But I’m working on those reasons. I’m doing my best to work through all of my stupid issues—”

  “They’re not stupid.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. But what happened between my father and me over the course of all those years did happen and it did affect me. Of course it did. How couldn’t it have, when some drunk fool stood in front of me when I was six and struck me with a belt across my back for no reason? All this happened while my mother looked on, and she never intervened because she also was frightened of him.”

  “Jennifer—”

  I stopped for a moment to collect myself. I closed my eyes before I looked at him again. He certainly didn’t need some emotional wreck to deal with now.

  Get it together.

  “Blackwell and I had a wonderful talk earlier today,” I said, pressing on. “I’ve really come to admire her and respect her. I consider her a friend, which she doesn’t want to hear. But I guess we all have our hang-ups, don’t we? She thinks she’s unworthy of friendship. I think I’m unworthy of love. We’re two peas in a pod.”

  “You are worthy of love. I love you.”

  “I know you do. And I’m grateful for that. As for Blackwell, she told me what I already know. And that’s that somehow, I need to learn to trust. I promise you this, Alex. I plan on giving all of myself to you—not just physically, but everything I have within me. It might not come as quickly as you want, but it’ll come. I’m working on it. I know I sound pathetic right now, but if you knew what he did to me, and how frequently he did what he did to me, then maybe you’d understand. It won’t be easy. But I’m committed to moving through it and having a loving relationship with a good man—you. I said I’m your girlfriend. I said it because I meant it—not because you wanted to hear it. And you know what? I’m happy that I said it because this is officially the first time I’ve had a boyfriend. You have come to mean so much to me. Please, just give me a little more time to work through whatever it is that I need to work through—to throw that bastard aside and realize my own self-worth. Because if and when I do tell you that I love you, you will know for certain that it’s the truth.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  When I left Alex, I slung my handbag over my shoulder and met Blackwell, who was standing just outside the door and talking with one of the guards. She stopped when she saw me.

  “Are you all right?” she asked.

  “I’ll be fine. I’m very lucky.”

  “So is he.”

  I glanced at the guard. He was a good-looking man. He had short brown hair, stood well over six feet, and was nothing if not a muscular brute. “Do we know anything yet?” I asked him.

  “Unfortunately, nothing of significance, ma’am. The man who fired shots at you is dead.”

  “I understand that. We killed him.”

  “Out of self-defense,” Blackwell said.

  I looked at her, but didn’t respond.

  “He carried no identification, though the FBI is using their Facial Recognition Technology to see if they can match his face with anything in their files,” the guard said. “If he ever was arrested, they will be able to match his face with his identity, which will give us something to work with. If they fail, because he had no previous record, then we have nothing because the car he used was stolen and obviously not listed in his name. We’re working every angle, but we might not ever know wh
o he was or whom he worked for. I need you to be prepared that.”

  “That’s what Alex said.”

  “Alex is correct. Whoever is behind this might already have accomplished what they set out to accomplish—terrify each of you and keep you on edge going forward because of what happened the other night. We’re not going to stop investigating this—that’s far from the case. I just need you to be prepared in case they have already pulled back their team and gone underground.”

  “I doubt that.”

  “Why?”

  “Because of what was written in the email I received. They’re playing with us now. If they wanted to shoot Alex or me, they would have. I come from Maine. I know how accurate a rifle is because my uncles and aunts are hunters. If anyone wanted either of us dead the other night, they would have had us in their sights and they would have killed us. So, why didn’t they?”

  “Other than what I already presented to you, we don’t know why.”

  “I think it’s because they want to screw with us even more before they do kill us.”

  “We can’t be certain of that, ma’am.”

  I shrugged. “Of course you can’t. What we can be certain of is that my life with Alex is going to be spent on edge if these people aren’t found and brought to justice.”

  “If you’re with Mr. Wenn, your life always will be in danger. Mr. Wenn is a target for a whole host of reasons. That will never change. If you’re with him, you must also assume those risks and that lifestyle. That said, both of you always will have a highly trained security team around you.”

  I absorbed that for a moment. Is that how I wanted to live my life? With guards protecting me? Having almost no privacy? The answer came at once. If that’s what it took to be with Alex, then that’s how I’d live my life. “Will I be safe tonight?”

  Blackwell, who I knew had been itching to stop my questioning because of the dark turns it had taken, intercepted with a nod. “Tank here is going to make sure of it.”