Hardline

by Meredith Wild

  “Of course. Take your time.” Will stood quickly, gathering up his phone and papers.

  As unsettling as Daniel’s presence could sometimes be, I relaxed when Will’s brand of stress left the room. Daniel sat back, legs crossed, drumming his fingers on his knee.

  “How are you doing?”

  “I’m good.”

  “How’s Blake?”

  I shot a concerned look his way. He laughed quietly. His mood seemed light, but out of habit, I approached any direct communication with him, especially on the topic of Blake, with caution. Maybe I was still a little shell shocked from some of our other less civilized meetings.

  “I’m just asking. Last time we spoke you said you were engaged. Any news on that front?”

  I inhaled a breath, relief tempering the worry that he still harbored a serious grudge toward my fiancé.

  “Um, no. Not really. How’s Margo?” I asked, hoping to change the subject.

  Daniel shifted his gaze from me.

  “She’s coming to terms. The election has been a saving grace for her, given her something to focus her energies on, thank God.”

  “That’s good, I suppose.”

  “She actually asked about you the other day.”

  I hadn’t seen Margo in weeks, since before Mark’s death. No part of me wanted to face the woman who’d mothered my rapist knowing that our unfortunate connection was what had ultimately led to his death. I couldn’t see the sorrow in her eyes and share it. And I couldn’t pretend I didn’t know my father was the reason she was now childless.

  “Does she know I’m working with you on the campaign?”

  He nodded. “She knows. You and Will worked out the details?”

  “Yes, I think we came up with a good plan for your next steps. If things continue to go well outside of the online outreach, it seems our efforts could put you over the edge. I mean, I haven’t done this before in terms of politics, but it’s promising, I’d say.”

  “Excellent. That’s what I want to hear. I’m glad we could figure this out, one way or the other.”

  I doodled into my notebook. He was glad now, but he’d put me through hell to get me here when he could have simply asked nicely. Without the murder and violence and death threats that I hoped were all now safely in the past.

  “Erica.”

  I lifted my chin at his more demanding tone.

  “Would it help if I said I was sorry? For everything that happened?”

  “I’m here now. Isn’t that enough? Do I have to be happy about it too?”

  “I’d feel a little better if you were. If we win, there will be plenty to be happy about.”

  I tried to imagine that for a moment. I wasn’t sure my vision of victory lined up with his. “Do you really believe that winning this election will bring you happiness?”

  A deep frown marked his brow, and he stood. “I have a full day. Need to go over some things with Will before I go, but it was good to see you.”

  I collected my bag quickly, stuffing my notebook into it as I rose. “I’ll see you later then.”

  I stepped past him, reaching for the door. He placed a hand at my elbow and I jerked away. My heart sped up at the memory of the last time he’d touched me, shaking me with rage.

  I looked over my shoulder. Our eyes locked.

  “Even if it means nothing to you, if you aren’t necessarily happy to be here, I want you to know that I’m glad that you’re a part of this.”

  I gave a short nod and moved forward.

  I waved Will a goodbye and left as quickly as I could. As I did, I caught Daniel’s figure watching my departure, his expression stoic.

  * * *

  I stepped into the apartment to the savory smell of dinner, quiet jazz playing in the surround sound. Blake was in the kitchen, a look of concentration on his face as he put the finishing touches on two plates.

  “What is all this?” I tossed my bag down and leaned against the island to watch him.

  “If I did everything right, it should look and taste like beef wellington. Julia Child would be proud, I think.”

  I smirked, enamored by the gesture and a little proud too. Not surprisingly, Blake was amazing at anything he put his mind to.

  “If I knew getting on my knees was going to result in home cooked meals every night, I would have done it sooner. You know food is the way to my heart.”

  He grinned. “Watch that mouth. I might have to punish it later.”

  I hummed with a giggle. “Sounds intriguing. I hope you put it to good use.”

  He flashed me a dark look. “Don’t mistake my culinary prowess for weakness, sweetheart.”

  “I wouldn’t dare. Nothing you do is anything less than perfectly dominant. Just don’t make me call you Master while we eat, okay?”

  I came up behind him and circled his chest with my arms, giving him a hug as he placed tiny springs of herbs on top our plates.

  “Fair enough. Come on, let’s eat,” he said.

  I let go, and we walked to the table. My cheeks heated at the memory of being tied down to the very thing, having come home to a far less amiable Blake.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  I widened my eyes as if I’d been caught in the very act. “Um…the table.”

  He laughed and popped a bite of steak into his mouth. “You’re trying to rush us through a gourmet meal so I can tie you up, baby?”

  “No. I like to unwind a bit before you start practicing your rope work. What has you so chipper anyway?”

  He leaned back in his chair. “Max is out.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “Out of Angelcom? That’s amazing. How did you do it?”

  “Unfortunately, my chat with Michael was pretty fruitless. He said exactly what I thought he’d say. Always wants us to work it out between us, not get involved. So I worked it out.”

  “How did you do it?”

  “I was talking to Heath about pulling our investment from Sophia’s business. He’s invested too, you know. I’m not sure it can be done without—”

  “Wait, what does this have to do with Max?”

  “Basically, I looked into every investment I shared with the dissenting board members and figured out the absolute worst move I could make on each of them. A few short conversations later, I had consent.”

  “Wow. You fight dirty.”

  “This surprises you?”

  “No,” I admitted.

  He shrugged. “I could have hacked their bank accounts and bled them dry. I was being nice.”

  “Did you tell Max?”

  He shook his head, the undercurrent of contentment still glittering in his eyes. I hated Max, sure. But I loved seeing Blake finally happy after what he’d put him through.

  “I had one of the admins send him a copy of our minutes with our sincerest apologies. He’ll get the message.”

  I chewed in silence for a moment, trying to imagine Max’s reaction to the news. I wondered if he cared as much about getting kicked out as Blake did about getting him out. If nothing else, Angelcom was a major channel into Blake’s affairs that gave Max opportunities to hurt him again in the future. Without access to that, Blake was safer. We were safer.

  “You must be relieved.”

  “I am. And I’m hopeful too, because while we were voting on board positions, I had them add someone new.”

  “Who?”

  “The future Mrs. Blake Landon, of course.”

  I stared at him in shock and searched for words.

  “I think some of the trust issues that we have maybe root from the fact that I’ve been involved with your work, and you have virtually no involvement in mine. I’m happy that you came to me, Erica. I can’t tell you what a relief it’s already been. But I don’t want you to think that you have no power in our relationship, that you have no say. And I don’t want to discourage your growth as an entrepreneur. It’s that spirit that attracted me to you after all, so the last thing I want to do it dampen that flame in you. I’
ve thought about it, and I think a position on the board would be the perfect place for you to participate with your experience as a startup.”

  I set down my fork and swallowed over the tightness in my throat. The words and the gesture were almost too much for me to process right away. Everything that I was so scared of having taken away from me felt that much safer in Blake’s hands. In his control. Maybe all I had to do was give up a little control to have it come back to me in a different way.

  “Thank you. I’m flattered that you would even consider it. But are you sure? I mean, I already feel like I’m in over my head at any of these industry events. I can’t imagine sitting on the board and holding my own. Involving me at that level is a huge decision.”

  “Deciding to marry you was a huge decision. Adding you to the board was easy. You’ll have these guys won over in no time. You’re smart and beautiful, sassy as hell. They won’t know what to do with you, the same way I don’t half the time. I can’t wait to sit back and watch, frankly.”

  “Aren’t they all investors, though? I’m not an investor. What place do I have?”

  “You’re my wife, or you will be. And this is what I do. I find new projects to invest in. When I decide to drop one or five million into a new project, you’ll be a part of that decision process now.”

  I toyed with my napkin on my lap. “I have no wish to ruin this amazing night, but maybe this is a good time to talk about that. I mean, I’m assuming you want a pre-nup, right?”

  We hadn’t talked about ownership of assets, or any of those things since he’d asked me to be his wife. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to shake the inequity between us when it came to money. As much as he reassured me that it meant nothing, I wanted to earn my way, make my own contribution to our lives.

  The warmth in his eyes faded a little, a seriousness coming over him. “Make no mistake, what’s yours is mine. I don’t need a legal document to make me feel any safer in our marriage. If you decide to divorce me and rake me over the coals, I’m not sure any amount of money would ease the pain of losing you. It’s a non-issue for me.”

  “That seems rash. You’ve spent half your life amassing your wealth, and you want to risk it all now?”

  “Are you a risk? Usually when you leave me, you just take my heart. That’s the biggest risk of all, I’d say.”

  I tossed my napkin onto the table and looked past him, hating the fresh reminder of how I’d hurt him. Before I could slip much further into my pout, he caught my hand and pulled me up and onto his lap.

  “I don’t want to talk about the what-ifs of not being together, in any capacity. I love you. I want to marry you. Nothing’s as important as making that happen. That bond, that promise, is the only paperwork I’m interested in having between us.”

  I sighed. I wasn’t going to win this argument. I rested a hand on his chest, feeling the slow rise and fall of his breathing. His heart beat there, feeding the flesh and blood of the man who I loved so much it hurt. “I hope you know I would never—”

  He lifted a finger to my lips. “I trust you, and believe me when I say I’m not worried about it. About Angelcom, is it something you want to do? I mean, I wanted to vote you in while I had them all by the balls, but if you really don’t want to do it, you don’t have to.”

  “I think it would be fun. And I agree it would be nice to have some more insight into everything you do. It’s scary of course, but it would be a good experience for me. You’ve taught me so much already.”

  “Good.” He threaded his hand through my hair and pulled me down for a kiss. My mind reeled a bit as I reveled in the softness of his lips. His firm but loving hold around me, anchoring me against him. Amidst the sweet moment between us, I stumbled over all this...progress. That part of me that had wanted to hold back and protect myself for so long now seemed very small, almost childish. Giving Blake my trust, all of it, had already changed things between us more than I could imagine. In a very good way.

  This shift reminded me of something less positive. I pulled back, searching his eyes.

  He reached up and brushed a strand of hair back from my face. “Everything okay?”

  “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

  I went to move, but he held me there.

  “Tell me.”

  I hesitated a moment. “Isaac came to the office yesterday.”

  “Did he.”

  The displeasure that left his lips was less of a question and more of a threat. I toyed with the fabric of his shirt. I wasn’t so sure I liked talking about people he despised in such close proximity.

  “He reached out to me a couple weeks ago. I ignored him at first, not knowing how I wanted to handle dealing with him in light of what he did.”

  “You didn’t mention it.”

  “I didn’t, but I am now.” I looked into his eyes, trying to convey that this too was progress, even if it was packaged in news that he didn’t like. “I didn’t want to upset you, and I wanted to think through it a little on my own also. He wants to advertise with us. It wouldn’t be a small account either. It would span all the publications relevant to our market, which would be an enormous coup for us.”

  “You can’t bring him on as an advertiser.” His voice was flat, without a shred of doubt.

  “I had a feeling you’d say that, and I understand your reasons. Obviously I share them. For what it’s worth, he seemed genuinely sorry. Outside of that incident, he seems fairly harmless.”

  “Anyone with that much money and power is far from harmless.”

  “Then with all your money and power, what makes you any different?”

  He lifted his eyebrows. “Do I come across as harmless to you? Because I’m in love with you doesn’t mean I’d hesitate dismantling someone who threatened you, me, or either of our businesses.”

  “True enough. It would help us bridge the revenue gap while we roll out these changes with Alex, but I suppose it’s not a risk worth taking.”

  “You’d pay for it later, I can guarantee it. Everything comes with a price.”

  I studied him a moment. “What’s between you two?”

  “As if trying to force himself onto you isn’t enough of a reason to hate the man?”

  I slanted my head, a silent call for his honesty. “I know there’s more. You knew him before we met, and you didn’t like him much then.”

  He sighed and released his hold on me. He patted my ass in a way that said, Shoo.

  I frowned. “No. You can tell me right here while I’m on your lap.”

  His expression didn’t change for a moment, and I worried he might not agree. Finally he blew out a breath and began to speak.

  “As long as I knew Sophia, Isaac had been in her circle of friends. She modeled for his shoots and they’d known each other for a while. When I ended things with her, he came to her rescue. He played the hero, and oh, did he play the part. I’m certain he only wanted to fuck her, and who knows, maybe he did. When we broke up, he made a point to demonize me to her and others. I didn’t really care what everyone else thought. I cared more that she felt like I abandoned her.”

  “But you didn’t abandon her.”

  “I told you before, she didn’t take it well. She was clean when we broke up, and she couldn’t understand. It took a lot of willpower for me to not go back to her if only to see her stop hurting. But it wasn’t just the drugs. In reality it was the last straw. The distance when she was in rehab just polarized how different we were. How it would have never worked.”

  “Did you love her?”

  He drew his lips drew together. “I don’t know. We said it, but I can’t tell you if what I felt then was love. I wanted to take care of her, and she thrived on being taken care of. It worked for a while, but I can’t say that was love. It wasn’t anything close to what we have, Erica.”

  I chewed my lip, trying like hell to ignore the jealousy that coursed through me.

  “I’ve thought about what you said, about exiting f
rom her agency. Financially, it could be damaging for her if I did. I own more stake in it than anyone. I invested heavily when she started to help get her off the ground. Beyond that, Heath is also invested. I’m not sure what his thoughts are on the matter, but he seems hesitant. Their relationship is different. They have more of a friendship, a connection that she and I didn’t. Maybe because they went through a difficult time in their lives together and have come out of it. I don’t know, but a part of me doesn’t want to push Heath on it if I don’t have to.”

  I looked past him, trying to hide my disappointment. Making James work from home wasn’t exactly convenient for me either. I tightened my lips into a firm line as resentment set in. Blake slid his palm over my cheek and turned me slightly, regaining my attention.

  “I understand why it bothers you, so I’m going to see what I can do. Maybe it can be done more gradually so it doesn’t impact her business so dramatically.”

  “You baby her still.”

  He tensed slightly. “Maybe. Old habits die hard.”

  “She’s not as helpless as she seems. If you’d seen how she spoke to me…she can be truly vicious. If she uses that personality in her business life, she’ll do fine.”

  “Jealousy can turn people into very ugly versions of themselves.”

  My thoughts swirled around the sentiment. I’d been forced to expel James from our office to satisfy Blake’s own jealousy. I pushed off of him abruptly, despite his effort to keep me there.

  By the time I reached the kitchen with every intention of cleaning until I wasn’t so pissed anymore, he was behind me. He spun me and pushed me back to the counter.

  “Stop.”

  “Stop what?” I snapped.

  “What do you want me to do? Destroy her business?”

  “You’re smart, Blake. I think you can figure it out. Put her on a payment plan. Make her take out a loan. Maybe she can start selling what I imagine is a sizeable designer shoe collection. But I don’t want her claws in you, at all, in any way.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Her claws are not in me. Yours are. Like, right this fucking minute.”