Equity (Balance Sheet #3)

by Shannon Dermott

  “Spill it, blonde,” I said before I took my seat back on the couch.

  She turned and let her legs hang over the solitary chair she favored. For a second I was taken back to that first night after my one night stand with Kalen. Nostalgia almost took me over until I remembered I needed answers.

  “Last night, he asked, and what was I supposed to say?”

  “Do you want to marry him? I assume we’re talking about tiny dick Hans.” I needed to clarify.

  Violet didn’t speak, giving the floor to Lizzy.

  “Yes, cock challenged Hans. And I don’t know. He’s funny, sweet, and takes good care of me. He can eat a pussy like a Pie Eating Contest Champ. He gets points for that, right?”

  “Enough to marry?” I asked seriously.

  “What about you?” Lizzy asked, turning the tables on me. “You’re having a baby. Did Kalen ask you to marry him?”

  Quickly, I retorted, “Yes… maybe, I cut him off. He didn’t have a ring. So even if he was, he was only doing it because of the baby. I’m not going to tie myself to a man forever just because I’m having his kid.”

  Funny enough, both my sister and best friend just nodded.

  “I’ll give him points for thinking about asking,” Lizzy said.

  Me too, I didn’t say. Instead, I set the conversation back on its earlier path. “If you’re not sure, why are you wearing his ring?”

  She sighed as Violet and I both waited for her response. “He asked at dinner. He made such a production of it, everyone was watching. He had this… hopeful look on his face. I just couldn’t be a bitch to say no or maybe or I’m not sure only to embarrass him.”

  “That was sweet of you.” It actually was. The Lizzy I knew and loved didn’t have a problem cutting guys off at the balls. Maybe this guy was a keeper. “And no one is perfect. He’s built like a Greek god.”

  “I know, right?” Violet agreed.

  Stunned, I looked at her. “You’ve been around Lizzy too much.” Violet didn’t talk like that. Apparently she was adjusting to city life well.

  They laughed, but I sobered. “You have to make a decision.”

  “I know,” Lizzy breathed.

  “And how are you doing, Vi?” I asked, giving Lizzy a breather.

  “I’m great,” she said a bit too enthusiastically.

  “And how’s Matt?” You could hear the slyness in my tone. She blushed. “I knew it. I saw how the two of you looked at each other. And an overnight visit.”

  She waved me away. “There’s nothing going on. We talked and I’m just not ready for a relationship right now.”

  They still hadn’t found Mike. I didn’t bring it up because I was sure she or Lizzy would have called if news of that came.

  “Well, karma is a bitch. I bet Matty’s feeling that one now,” I teased, looking at Lizzy.

  “Yep,” Lizzy said.

  “What’s that about?” Violet asked.

  “Matty turned down your sister when she was pining for him in college. I don’t know what it is with you girls and my brother.”

  “He’s hot,” I stated boldly.

  “He is,” Violet said sadly.

  I faced her. “He’s a great guy and not Mike. You should give him a chance.”

  “My poor, poor brother,” Lizzy cooed.

  Violet was good at changing topics too. “Are you still having nightmares?”

  They came every night. But I didn’t want to worry them, so I just shook my head. “What do you guys have to eat?”

  “I know, we should go out,” Lizzy proclaimed.

  Holding my hand up, I said, “I’m in no mood for a club.”

  “Who said club? We can just go to the lounge.” I knew Lizzy stretched the word lounge. She meant her favorite dive bar located not too far from here. It was the place she usually would meet her previous boyfriend. Guys with tattoos from prison, I used to tease her.

  “Why not.” I gave in at her pouty lip. “Let me get changed.” I was still wearing work clothes because I’d left straight from there.

  “I’ll make you a snack before you go,” Violet said, giving into mothering tendencies from being the oldest.

  Roughly an hour later, we walked in. Trouble greeted us from the moment we stepped inside. Lizzy was dressed to the nines in an outfit that probably cost more than my rent. Yet, it was made to look like she fit in at a place like this. Violet clutched her purse. Apparently Lizzy hadn’t brought her here yet. The place was run-down but not to the point of needing to be condemned. It just appeared very well lived in with wood that looked faded, if that was possible. Maybe it wasn’t real wood. Brass fixtures that needed polish—or maybe that was peeling paint—were dotted around like accent pieces. Still, I liked the place. It always felt more comfortable here than at the ritzy places Lizzy’s parents hauled me to.

  We found stools as the clientele appraised us before going back to whatever they’d been doing before. Most of them were just working class folks who were looking for a quick drink or bite before finding a more interesting spot or heading home. Friday nights weren’t generally packed like other nights.

  “What can I get you?” the bartender asked.

  I shot a glance at Violet. She shrugged. “A beer for her and a bottle of water for me.” I looked for Lizzy to see what she wanted and she wasn’t there. I turned all the way in my seat to see her stalking towards the pool table off to the side from the front entrance. And just like the last Friday I’d been in here, Lizzy found her target.

  There with a pool cue in hand was the guy that had shrugged off Lizzy those many months ago.

  With quickness, I snagged Violet’s arm. “We have got to stop her or this isn’t going to end well.”

  The guy, I think his name had been Striker or something like that, smirked as Lizzy continued to stalk towards him.

  Thirty-Seven

  After leaving Keely’s, things didn’t get any better. With Sandy’s address, we found his place. Peering through windows on an apartment located on the first floor, it appeared vacated. Either Keely had lied, or Sandy had already executed an exit strategy. Griff and I stalked some of his old haunts only to end up coming out scraped and bruised. Griff had demons he needed to release and took them out on those Sandy may have hung out with. I hadn’t been in a brawl in years. It felt good. I too had my own pent up energy.

  While we were fighting our way through half of Sandy’s associates, my security team was tasked with making those around me safe.

  I’d had a conversation with my mother surround that topic that was fresh in my mind.

  “Ennis is moving in with you,” I’d said.

  “Says who?” My obstinate mother had grated. “I’m still your mother, you know.”

  More of the same as we went along.

  “You aren’t to talk to Keely.”

  “Why the hell not?” she’d challenged. I’d explained Keely’s involvement with the guy I suspected caused me all of my current problems with my company. After a back and forth conversation, she agreed not to talk to Keely about me and my company, but she wouldn’t turn her back on her best friend’s daughter just because she’d made poor choices. I’d rolled my eyes and given in.

  There also was a female security professional, Pat, who was going to move in for a short time until Sandy was caught. It felt like the money was a bonus to him and this was more personal than we’d thought. I couldn’t leave my mother at risk. Ennis was a great da and a good shot. Still, I wanted backup. He had to work and couldn’t be with my mother all day long every day.

  It was the call from my mother that came in just before I boarded the plane back to the states that was the silver lining to an otherwise shite of a day.

  “Kalen, he’s so cute,” she crooned. “I love him. I’m going to call him Jay.”

  She was referring to the golden retriever puppy I’d gotten her. He wasn’t there for security as he was an early warning system. He’d bark if anyone got close, hopefully giving Ennis and Pat enoug
h time to act.

  Luckily, Bailey had stayed at Lizzy’s most of the weekend. She didn’t find out about the extra security detail until Monday when a car picked her up from work. She had several choice things to say to me.

  “This is crazy, Kalen,” Bailey said on the other line for the fifth time.

  “I need you safe.” I was firm on that point. “You can always move back here.”

  “You are so not running my life,” she called out. “And I can’t have two body guards in front of my office. I’ll get fired.”

  “That’s good. Then you can come home to me.”

  She growled into the phone and I couldn’t help but laugh. Her frustration was also because I hadn’t yet told her all the reasons for the step up in security. I wanted to tell her in person because there were things in my past she needed to know. Things she needed to accept.

  “I have to go,” she fumed.

  “I ordered lunch for you.” I’d said it just to infuriate her until I realized it truly was a good idea. She was safer in her office than walking around on the street.

  “Bye, Kalen.”

  She ended the call sounding more pissed off than when she first began it. I wanted her happy, but I needed her safe more. Despite it all, I found I was in better spirits. In fact, I forced myself not to call my plane to make an unexpected trip to DC to meet her for lunch. I would see her this weekend, I told myself. She asked for time. As much as I hated that, it gave me time to get my company back on track. I would spend long days at work so my weekend would be totally free for her.

  Word came in once I was back state side that Keely had been taken in for questioning shortly after we’d left her apartment. Part of me felt bad about it. She’d never wanted to be arrested. It wasn’t quite the same, but I knew she wouldn’t see it that way. I couldn’t help what I’d had to do. I turned over the information about the e-mail to the authorities to get the ball rolling in search of Sandy. Interpol was involved because the crime crossed countries. I trusted that my team could have found everything. I, however, needed legal reasons for Sandy to be caught. If I got my hands on him I feared I would kill him. That wouldn’t do well for my unborn child if I was in jail for murder.

  Keely ended up agreeing to let an agent pose as her in the Caymans. The agent would check in at the hotel he’d reserved for them. The fact that Keely was cooperating gave me hope that she wasn’t involved. There was also the possibility that she was only trying to save her own arse. It chuffed that I couldn’t wholly trust her.

  Griff stayed in Scotland to help with a computer system examination. He had a degree and several certifications in computer science. I trusted him completely. He and his team were searching for planted backdoor traps, anything Sandy might have used in order to gain access to our intercompany server or to assist with the stealing of my funds over the last several years.

  By the time Friday came, I thought I might have to jerk one out before I saw Bailey in fear I’d lose my shit in the first thirty seconds with her.

  “Lass,” I said into the phone as I stared at her bonnie face.

  “Yes,” she answered, her expression said she knew what effect she had on me.

  “Don’t bother wearing any under garments unless you want them destroyed.”

  “You say the sweetest things. Surely you don’t mean that anyway. How are we possibly going to have sex with all the extra bodies in my small apartment?” Her smile was sweet and so was the tone of her voice, yet it was all too clear she hadn’t yet forgiven me for her new security protocol.

  “We’ll find a way,” I promised.

  Her eyes narrowed. “I guess I should take them off now.” She smiled, then she pivoted her head to the side. “Do you guys mind if I get undressed?” There was a pause. “No problems, okay then.”

  “Lass.” I said with a hint of frustration. I wasn’t sure if my surliness came from my dick turning to steel with the idea of her getting naked or that I wanted to kill whoever was in the room with her. “You don’t want to get them fired.”

  “That’s exactly what I’m thinking.”

  The phone went dark. She’d hung up on me. Minutes later a frantic call came from one of the guys watching her, explaining that they were not inside her room. She’d been speaking through the door. The poor lad sounded like he might piss himself if I fired him.

  The tease. I wasn’t one for sexting, but I found myself taking a picture fisting my dick through my pants. Along with the picture, I texted her I would have to take care of myself since she insisted on playing with me.

  Immediately, she sent back a picture with her nipples hard and on display through a thin shirt that clung to her curves. It wasn’t a naked picture. Yet, it turned me on so much more.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  A thunderous downpour grounded Kalen’s plane. He was still hoping for takeoff, but as the lightning struck more and more, I began to wonder if he’d make it. He said he may not get to contact me if they were cleared suddenly.

  My mood had grown murky. I needed Kalen in the worst way. According to the famous book for expecting mother’s my libido was supercharged now that I was pregnant. The damn picture of the imprint of his cock through his pants had me thinking very bad thoughts.

  I’d shooed out my security detail into the hall after they’d ensured no one could get to me. Cranky, I sat on the couch in a robe covering sexy lingerie waiting on my guy.

  Thoughts traveled to home and how I needed to pay a visit to my family before I began to show. As much as my father loved me, I was certain I wouldn’t be allowed home as an unwed mother. I would be the bad example to all the impressionable kids. And if nothing else of my kidnapping experience, I valued life more. I needed my family as much as I needed to live outside of the community.

  Of course, thinking about them, my thoughts drifted to Turner. I’d sent another letter after my doctor’s appointment explaining that it was most likely Kalen who was the father. I apologized for not being able to tell him all of this in person. I also told him again I was sorry he didn’t receive the letter I’d left him at the airpark in Scotland.

  When my phone rang out, obliterating the silence, I jumped. The security team knocked on the door after my yelp, asking if I was okay. I assured them I was but didn’t open the door. I had a robe on, but I wanted Kalen to be the first and only person to see me tonight.

  “Vi,” I said into the phone. “Bored?”

  “Actually, yes. Kind of.”

  “Where’s Lizzy?”

  “Out,” she sighed. “She offered to take me along, but I wanted to stay here tonight.”

  “I hope she’s breaking the news to Hans.”

  “That’s if she’s decided to do that.”

  I wasn’t sure where my friend’s head was concerning that. So I changed the topic. “How’s school?”

  She told me all about the latest antics that happened in her culinary classes. These stories always had humor about those whose cooking skills were less than desirable. She was learning more than baking and loving it. However, she thought in the end, she would still end up working in a bakery.

  We let silence fill the space after her last words until I finally said, “You should really give Matt a chance.” I wasn’t sure why I was pushing Matt on her. Was it because I was happy and wanted her happy? Probably, and more because she was my sister. And then there was guilt that things didn’t work out between Matt and me and I wanted him happy too.

  “Who’s to say I haven’t?” she said slyly.

  “Shut up,” I said getting her meaning. “You and Matt bumped uglies?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Had sex, did the horizontal happy dance?”

  She didn’t answer, which was answer enough. “No way,” I yelled. Then I called out to the door after the team just outside the door questioned my safety. “I’m fine, just chatting with my sister.”

  When she still didn’t say anything I couldn’t help my curiosity. “How was it? I guess
it wasn’t good if you decided you just wanted to be friends. And what’s his dick like? Is it pretty?”

  I’d forgotten who I was talking to. If this had been Lizzy, I wouldn’t have had to ask. She would have told me all these details. And although Violet and I had been close, we’d never really talked much about sex growing up, at least not like this.

  “It was good. And if Lizzy’s descriptions are accurate, he’s got a whole lot more than what Hans has in that department.”

  Her statement wasn’t filled with life. It was like she was rattling off facts. “You don’t sound very excited about it.”

  At that moment, the lights went off in my apartment. A knock sounded at the door. “Vi, I just lost power and with any luck, that’s Kalen knocking at my door. I’ll call you later.”

  I put my phone down and opened the door. The hallway was dark, but I could see that the guards were blocking an intruder from entering.

  “This guy says he knows you.”

  Dripping wet with a feral glare for the two guys blocking his way to me, he stood straight and waited for me to say something.

  Thirty-Nine

  The ache in my balls had me surly at anyone who crossed my path. I knew once I was buried to the hilt deep in Bailey, the raging bull in me would subside. It was preposterous how I’d gone months without being with a woman and I wasn’t this hard up. It was as if my cock knew we were back together.

  After nearly opting to drive in order to get to her, my plane had been cleared for takeoff. The threat of wind shears had been removed by the National Weather Service.

  By the time I made it to her door hours late, I placed my head on it to check myself. The guards had explained that power to the apartment building had been lost for a short time. I really didn’t care as long as it was back on. The two guards looked on in confusion as I tried to master patience.

  Finally I waved them off, not wanting to know her every move. They traded looks while I opened the door, not bothering to knock. Bailey would be asleep and none of that mattered. I just needed to be close to her. We’d been video chatting every night and by request she’d leave her phone on while she fell asleep.