Reagan turned towards me. “Here we are,” she said. “I’d knock first if I were you.” She threw me a wink and walked away as I stood there wondering what the fuck.
I didn’t knock.
When I walked in, I saw Mystic sitting next to David at a small utility table, looking over blueprints of some sort. The sound of the door opening had both of them turning my way.
David smiled, but Mystic looked confused. “Ga-Mr. Evans?”
I shut the door behind me and walked deeper into the room. David was oblivious to the tension, but Mystic wasn’t. “Oh, hey, there, Mr. Evans,” he said, greeting me.
Mystic was driving me crazy and that was the only explanation for what I did next. “You want to tell me why my girlfriend was practically sitting on your lap when I walked in?” I snapped.
David’s eyes widened in shock, while Mystic let out a horrified gasp. “Gage!”
I shot my gaze toward hers. “What?”
“Are you insane?!” she screeched.
David jumped up from his chair and stepped away from her. “Uh, Mr. Evans…I, uhm, that’s not what-”
Mystic stood up next. “Have you lost your mind?!”
“Yes!” I roared. “Now tell me why the fuck you’re all cozied up with him in a private fucking room!”
Mystic’s eyes were the size of platters. “I’m not cozied up with him. These rooms are assigned to teams and project groups, Gage. They’re larger and more comfortable than the offices.”
“You mean more private,” I accused. “Of course, I could see how it would be uncomfortable to have him in your office with everyone working right outside your office door.”
“Mr. Evans, you have this all wrong,” David injected. “Mystic and I-”
“Mystic? Not Ms. Anderson?” I asked like a lunatic.
He paled as Mystic made her way around the table to stand in front of me. “Stop it!” she yelled. “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but David and I are colleagues on a project, only. You have no right to come in here an-”
“No right?!” I thundered in her face. “I have every right to do whatever the fuck I want when it comes to you!”
“Gage, this is my workplace,” she argued. “You can’t come in here acting as if you own the place and causing a scene.”
Ignoring her, I addressed David. “David, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll walk out of this room right the fuck now.”
“You can’t-”
“I can,” I bit out, interrupting her. “I’m his fucking boss, Mystic. Make no mistake. I can tell him what the fuck to do.”
“You’re being ridiculous!”
“No,” I denied. “Since you haven’t agreed to marry me, I’m just making sure you’re not spreading your legs for anyone else but me.”
The slap echoed throughout the small room.
“You bastard!” she seethed, and we both ignored the slamming of the door, announcing David’s departure.
“Maybe,” I conceded, my cheek throbbing like a sonofabitch. “But you’re out of your mind if you think I’m going to let you make a fool of me by hanging all over another man.”
Mystic took a step back, shock all over her pretty face. “Are you kidding me, right now?”
“It’s all Reagan Contreras could talk about,” I told her. “How you guys can’t keep your hands off each other.” Her face went from shock to a flash of pain before she schooled her features.
But it was the emptiness in her big, brown eyes that told me I was in trouble.
Chapter 37
Mystic~
I stood in the middle of the room, wondering how in the hell did I find myself back in time. A time where, once again, my word wasn’t good enough. Where the people-or person, in this case-believed the word of someone else, rather than coming to me and asking me to explain their confusion.
Like my parents, Gage heard something he didn’t like and charged liked a rhino, instead of trusting me.
My heart’s been broken only twice in my life and both times by the same person.
The only difference was that, this time, I wasn’t a confused, scared girl. I was a strong, empty woman. And if I didn’t take this shit from my parents, I sure as hell wasn’t going to take it from Gage Evans.
“Let me get this straight,” I said, shock and emotion gone from my voice. “Reagan, mind you, a woman who doesn’t like me and you know this, came to you and told you I was all over David, and instead of asking me about it, you assumed it was true, and so, you, what? Barged in here to catch us?”
Gone was the anger. In its place was resignation. “Mystic-”
“No,” I spat, cutting him off. “It’s a yes or no question, Gage. Is that or isn’t that what happened here?”
His jaw clenched as he bit out, “Yes.”
This is the part where you’d think tears would be flowing, but they weren’t. I was too numb for that. I was too heartbroken for that.
I was too empty for that.
I arched a brow. “I guess you owe my parents, my sister, and Margot an apology, huh?”
His lip curled in fury. “It’s not the same thing.”
“Yes, it is,” I argued. “Just like they took Margot’s side over mine, without a thought to asked me, you just did the same thing. But, even worse, at least Margot had been my best friend. My parents had no reason to think she was lying. You took the word of a woman who hates me and would love more than nothing to cause problems for me.”
“Why would she lie?” he asked, another nail in the coffin. “It’s not like she knows about us.”
I shook my head, ready to end this. “Of course, she knows about us, Gage,” I told him. “Damn near everyone in this building does.”
His head reared back, disbelieving. “How?”
“That day in the conference room? People heard and saw us, Gage. It was all over the place that there was something going on between us. Sure, they didn’t know what, exactly. But they knew. Reagan knew.”
“Mystic-”
I turned to clean up the meeting room, wanting to get away from him. “Go to hell, Gage,” I spat. “We’re done here.”
“We’ll never be done,” he replied, his voice hard and unyielding.
After stuffing all the design materials in a CI briefcase, I turned to face him. “That’s where you’re wrong, Gage,” I told him. “My soul might be tied to yours, but my soul survived being without you for ten years. It’ll survive another fifty years without you.”
Gage shook his head. “No,” he snarled. “You don’t get to leave me, Mystic. Especially, not over one stupid fight.”
“I’m not leaving you over one stupid fight,” I clarified. “I’m leaving you because my voice matters. My word is worthy. Because I am not a cheater or a liar.”
I went to leave the room, but his hands latched onto my arms and he hell me prisoner where I stood. “Mystic-”
With every ounce of strength I possessed, I shoved my heart, my soul, my very essence back, and faced the only man on the planet who had the ability to destroy me so thoroughly. “If you do not let me go this very second, I will break into so many pieces, I will never be able to put myself back together again, Gage.” His face paled at my vulnerability. “Let. Me. Go.”
His hand dropped, but he wasn’t done. “This isn’t over, Mystic.”
I ignored him and left the room. I knew it wasn’t over and I knew he was going to come for me at some point, but I couldn’t worry about that right now. Right now, I needed someone who knew loyalty like she knew her own name.
I needed Rowan.
As soon as I got back to my office, I emailed Lacey and told her I was taking a sick day, and I locked my office without any thought to whether an email that I was leaving was acceptable or not.
I just needed the hell out of here.
My phone was up to my ear before I walked out of the lobby. When Rowan answered, I didn’t bother with pleasantries. “I need you,” I said, proud of myself that my v
oice didn’t crack.
“Where are you?”
“I’m outside of Cavanaugh Industries, and I’m about to walk wherever, Row,” I told her.
I could hear shuffling in the background. “Okay,” she breathed out. “There’s a little hole-in-the-wall eatery on Wilmington. Walk there and wait for me.”
“Okay.”
“Whatever it is, it will be okay, Mys,” she assured me. “We got this.”
I didn’t think we did, but what did I know at this point? “I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Ten minutes,” she promised, then hung up.
I powered walked my way to Wilmington until I saw the eatery Rowan had mentioned. The entrance was through the alley, so I could see how people would miss it. I didn’t go in, but I did stand inside the mouth of the alley and waited for her.
I also ignored the buzz and ringing of my phone the entire way here.
One time, scrolling through Pinterest, I saw something that read ‘Don’t make permanent decisions while you’re experiencing temporary emotions’ and I always thought that had sounded so wise. But what if you’re not feeling anything? What if you really feel empty? Is emptiness a temporary emotion, or is it an unfortunate state of self? I wasn’t sure, but what I did know was that I didn’t want to talk to Gage right now.
Maybe never.
A yellow cab pulled up to the curb, and through the window, I could see Rowan throw some bills at the poor man before jumping out of the cab. Despite it all, I smiled. Rowan was the be-all-end-all of best friends.
I stepped out of the alley as she rushed towards me. Her beautiful face flushed with anxiousness, she asked, “Are you okay?” And the fact that she asked that first, instead of asking what was wrong, made me love her even more.
“I’m not sure,” I answered honestly.
Her beautiful blue eyes narrowed. “I will fucking kill him,” she seethed.
“Not yet,” I said, not ruling murder out. “I…I’m…” I shook my head. “I don’t know what I am.” She wrapped her arms around me, and I held on. I wasn’t embarrassed to be weak or vulnerable around Rowan. The woman didn’t judge, and I knew she’d be on my side, no matter what.
She pulled away and looked at me. “Well, we can go inside and eat, or go to your place or mine,” she offered. “Or wherever you want to go. It doesn’t matter.”
“I don’t want to go to my place,” I told her. “I can’t guarantee Gage won’t show up there, and…I just can’t with him right now.”
My phone rang again, and Rowan looked down at my purse. “Is that him?”
“I’m pretty sure. I haven’t looked at my phone after his first two phone calls,” I admitted.
Rowan grabbed my hand and pulled me back onto the sidewalk. I didn’t say anything as she flagged down another cab. As the car pulled up, she looked at me and said, “I know the perfect place where we can hide. We can stay there the rest of the day, and if you don’t want to go home tonight, you can stay at my place.”
I gave her a grateful smile and followed her into the cab. I didn’t care where we were going, I just know I needed room to breathe. Once in the cab, I sent Alaric a text, telling him my phone was going to be off because Rowan and I were doing quality time. He was the only other person in the world who would worry if I didn’t answer my phone, so I didn’t want him to panic. After he returned my text with a thumbs-up emoji, I turned off my phone.
“How bad?” Rowan asked.
I let out a sigh. “You tell me,” I replied. “Once we get to where we’re going, and I tell you everything, you tell me, Row, how bad it is.”
“Well, hell,” she muttered.
Well, hell, indeed.
Chapter 38
Gage~
I was standing in my office looking out at the city of Chicago wondering how I could have fucked up so badly.
It never occurred to me that Mystic would end up seeing me in the same light as she viewed her parents, and that was frightening, if I were being completely honest with myself. Forgiving me for being stupid was a no-brainer. But forgiving me for treating her the same way her parents had, not so much.
It didn’t help when Lorcan came searching for me because David had gone straight to him to tell him I had Mystic trapped in that room. While I had wanted to kill him, I could also appreciate his concern for her. It was the only reason I wasn’t firing his ass. Lorcan had stormed into the room as I blew up Mystic’s phone, demanding that I tell him what the fuck was going on.
After I told him everything, he called me a stupid motherfucker, and told me I was too stupid to be as wealthy as I was.
I didn’t deny it.
Then, being the best friend that he was, he called Reagan Contreras into the room, ripped her a new one, and fired her on the spot. He still had leverage from that thing with her and Mystic, so she really didn’t have a leg to stand on. She had cried and begged Lorcan to give her another chance, but, again, Lorcan was dead inside; her tears and pleas had been pointless. After that disaster, Lorcan had kicked me out of CI and told me not to go back until I got my shit together.
He also told me to call him if I haven’t heard from Mystic by tonight.
Now I was standing in my office, my calendar completely clean for the day, wondering where the fuck Mystic was, and wondering what the fuck was I going to do if she decided to end things. Of course, I wasn’t going to let her, but I didn’t want her unhappy.
I turned at the sound of the door opening, and my head dropped as I saw my mother walk in. I had completely forgotten she was in town and I promised her we’d do lunch.
Sonofabitch.
“Gage, honey,” she said as she walked towards me. “I’ve missed you.” She wrapped her arms around me, and the force of her hug supported her statement.
I hugged her back, and when we broke apart, I glanced down at the tiny woman and realized how much I missed her, too. “I missed you, too, Mom.” To the world she was Dr. Evans or Maureen Evans, wife to Dr. Quintin Evans, but to me, she was just Mom.
She stepped back and straightened her blouse. “Well, where to?”
I let out a sigh. “Now’s not a good time, Mom,” I told her. “I’m sorry-”
Her brows drew down. “What’s wrong?”
I jammed my fists in my pockets and told her the truth. “I suck at relationships.”
The surprise on her face was almost comical. My mother and I never got personal, so this had to feel like out of left field for her. “Relationships?” I couldn’t fault her surprise. I’ve never been in a relationship before. Mystic had been my first, was my only, and my last.
Hopefully.
“Do you remember Mystic Anderson?”
“The girl you started dating your senior year of school?” Like all the other adults in our lives, at the time, my mother thought Mystic and I had started dating the night I had outed us at Margot’s party. While Mystic had kept me a secret from her parents-and rightfully so-I had told my mom about her.
“Yeah.”
“What about her?” she asked as she set her purse on my desk and got comfortable.
“Turns out she’s working for Cavanaugh Industries, and I ran into her last week, while I was meeting with Lorcan.”
I could see indecision written all over her face. She was debating saying what was on her mind or falling into her maternal role and telling me it was all going to be okay. She knew the breakup had done a number on me, so I could understand her wariness.
“And?” she asked, deciding on getting more information before deciding how to parent me.
“And I don’t think I know how to do this,” I confessed. “I don’t know the first thing about what a healthy relationship looks like, and all I seem to do is hurt the poor girl.”
My mom gasped. “What does that mean?”
It was time.
It was time to stop lying to my mom. And it was time to try to move the hell on from the demons that kept me captive. I knew I’d never be able to shake the vi
olent sex, but I wanted to try to rein in my trust issues. Deep down, I knew Mystic wasn’t a cheater, but looking at my mom now, I knew she didn’t think her husband was a cheater either, so what the fuck did I know?
It must have been written all over my face because her voice took on a stern, no bullshit tone. “I asked, what does that mean, Gage?”
“I accused her of cheating, even though I know she’d never,” I admitted. “She was in a room, working on a project with someone, and I let…I let a co-worker, who’s jealous of Mystic, get into my head.”
She was quiet for a few seconds before saying, “Because you don’t know what a healthy relationship looks like. Is that what you’re saying?”
I nodded. “Pretty much.”
My mother let out a deep sigh and took a seat in one of the unoccupied chairs placed in front of my desk. I watched as she smoothed her skirt over her legs in a nervous gesture. I went to sit in the chair next to her, not feeling comfortable sitting behind my desk as if she were a meeting to be had.
She looked over at me as I sat down. “I’m going to ask you something, Gage.” She cleared her throat. “I’m going to ask you something, and I want you to be completely honest with me, okay?”
“Of course,” I agreed.
“Why do you hate your father?” I wasn’t surprised by the question or the kick in my chest. I spent years protecting my mother’s happiness, only to destroy it now.
Fuck Quintin Evans.
I stared into the blue gaze that resembled my own and came clean. “I don’t know if he still does, but he cheated on you every time you went out of town when I was a kid,” I finally confessed.
She let out a slow, steady, painful breath and I knew she was gathering strength to keep this a mother-son conversation and not turn it into a woman-scorn situation. My heart broke for her at the same time I really wanted to murder my father.
After a minute, or so, she finally spoke, “When did…when did you find out?”
“I was twelve.” Now it was me taking a long, deep breath. “I was supposed to stay the night at Chance’s, but I had gotten sick. His mother took me home and…and when I had gone looking for him, I had found him in his office, and I had walked in on…on…”
Our Broken Pieces (The Pieces Series Book 1) Page 17
