Savaged Vows: Savaged Illusions Trilogy Book 2

by Jennifer Lyon

  But her aunt Mari no longer cared. Liza hadn’t spoken to her since last June when she’d been in the hospital.

  “I’m sure you passed and probably got an A,” Tess said.

  “Thanks. I’d better get to my office.” She was only working a couple hours today. Justice was coming home tonight and taking her to dinner to celebrate finishing her classes.

  “Actually, Sloane wants to see you.”

  She considered dropping her purse in her office first, but it was best to see what Sloane needed. “All right then, thanks.” She strode to the office, knocked once and went in.

  Sloane looked up while holding a phone to his ear. He waved her in and finished his call.

  Liza passed the sitting area and beverage bar to the chairs facing his desk. The bright sun lit up the San Diego skyline, but the treatment on the windows cut the glare and kept it from making the office too hot in the summer.

  “Congratulations. You’re a college graduate.”

  She forgot her worries for a second and grinned. Setting her purse down, she settled in a chair. “Thanks. It feels a little surreal.” No more thinking about classes and homework.

  He nodded. “You’ve done well here, Liza. If you’re interested in staying at SLAM, I can offer you a full-time position as my administrative assistant.”

  Shock then pleasure warmed her. She’d thought they’d have this conversation after the holidays. But then this was Sloane—he was decisive, and some considered him a cold hard-ass. Which he was, but he was a fair hard-ass, and Liza liked working for him. “Like I’m doing now?”

  “With additional duties, including stepping into a more public role as the communications liaison. In other words, if I’m not doing it myself, then you’ll be the one to issue public statements. In some cases, you’ll be doing it in conjunction with my department heads, but you will be representing SLAM Inc.”

  Communications liaison? Excitement and fear tangled in her belly, making her almost queasy. Could she do this? She’d be stepping back into the public light and could become a target again. Hayes had backed down after the stabbing and arrest of Hans. Or at least he’d been quieter. Would she bring unwanted attention on herself?

  Better question—was she going to let Gene Hayes stop her from taking this amazing opportunity?

  Hell no.

  “I’m definitely interested.” But what if she was pregnant?

  Then she’d need the job even more.

  Sloane handed her a sheet of paper. “Here’s the official offer with salary and benefits. There will be some travel included with the job.”

  “With you?” That wasn’t a problem for her. Sloane had clear-cut boundaries, and Liza was firmly in the employee category. She just wanted clarification.

  “As my assistant, yes. Once you gain some experience, and if you do well, there may be times I send you in my stead.”

  Excitement made it hard to sit still. A job like this would give Liza the tools and chance to become powerful in her own right. People would see what the girl accused of ruining a rock star had become—a successful businesswoman.

  She took the paper, hoping her hand wasn’t shaking. This was a dream job, but overwhelming at the same time.

  You might be pregnant.

  She’d think about that later. Right now she focused on the paper, saw the salary and blinked. “That’s…” She cut off the words a very good offer.

  “Competitive. Let me know your decision next week. Now go home. You’ve graduated, Justice is coming home, and you deserve a break.”

  The salary wouldn’t make her rich, but it was a solid start, and more than she’d hoped for. Then again, she’d kind of assumed he’d move her over to an entry-level job in marketing. This was even better. She liked working as his assistant where she got daily, hands-on knowledge on every aspect of the business, and now she’d get more experience as the communications liaison.

  Rising, she met her boss’s gaze. “Thank you, Sloane. I appreciate that you took a chance on me and in the last five months gave me the room to prove myself. I’m very interested in your offer.”

  He gave her a rare smile. “It was up to you to prove yourself. You did that.”

  She walked out, closing Sloane’s door behind her.

  “So?”

  She was so caught up in her whirling thoughts, she’d almost walked right by Tess. Liza spun around to apologize.

  The whole room tilted, and Tess blurred like she was out of focus. Whoa. Slapping her hand down on the desk, she dragged in a breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Her entire body broke out in a hot, sweaty flush.

  “Liza?”

  Opening her eyes, she was surprised that Tess had gotten up and rounded the desk.

  The older woman touched her arm. “You okay? You went sheet white and your skin’s clammy.”

  The room settled back into place. “I turned around too fast, I guess. Kind of lightheaded for a second.”

  Tess’s dark eyes narrowed with concern. “Did you eat today?”

  “Yes. It’s not that.” Crap. Another symptom that had cropped up in the last couple days—dizziness if she stood too fast or turned suddenly.

  “Then what? Are you sick?”

  Liza glanced at Sloane’s closed door then back to the woman. Don’t. You haven’t talked to Justice yet. Clamping down the temptation to blurt out her worries, she said, “It’s nothing. I’m just overwhelmed.” She held up the file. “Sloane offered me a full-time position.”

  Tess’s face lit up. “I know, I typed up the offer letter.”

  The other woman’s genuine happiness made Liza realize just how lucky she was. And how much she wanted this job.

  “If you’re truly feeling okay, get out of here.” Tess flicked her wrist, shooing her like a fly. “I also know Sloane gave you the rest of the afternoon off, and that you and Justice have plans tonight. Go do something nice for yourself, you’ve earned it.”

  Impulsively, she hugged Tess. “Thank you.” Once the receptionist had warmed up to Liza, she’d taken her under her wing, showing her the ropes at SLAM, and before Liza knew it, they were friends. Liza had been to barbeques at her house and met her kids.

  Kids.

  Pregnant.

  Justice.

  On the ride down, another wave of dizziness assaulted her. Justice was one hundred percent focused on his career. What would happen if she was pregnant? How would he react?

  How did she feel?

  After leaving the elevator, Liza headed to her car and got in. Fretting about the possibility of a pregnancy wasn’t getting her answers. She’d been ignoring the symptoms for a couple days to get through her finals.

  Now it was time to face this.

  And then what?

  She pulled her mouth tight. It was one thing to take a morning-after pill to prevent a pregnancy. To her that was being responsible. But if she was pregnant… She already lived with the guilt of shattering her family from her bad choices. She couldn’t live with the loss of a child, especially through her own choice.

  Or from the fear that a pregnancy would scare her boyfriend into choosing his career over her.

  Okay, enough. She didn’t know yet, so why go down this torturous path? There was a simple and fast way to find out. She’d take the test, get the negative result, then she could relax and have fun tonight. Enjoy her achievements without worrying.

  Decided, Liza drove to Walgreens and headed inside. Focused now, she headed to the back and located the pregnancy tests. Which one? She grabbed the cheapest and wove through the aisles toward the front while scanning the directions on the box.

  “Liza?”

  Startled, she fumbled the box and dropped it. She looked up, right into her ex-boyfriend’s face.

  “Dillion?” Seriously? She hadn’t seen him in months. The last time had been at a coffee shop when she had been a student publicist for Justice’s band on Court of Rock. He’d asked her for tickets to the show, and she’d told him to get lost. “Uh…�
�� The pregnancy test lay on the floor between them.

  Dillion stooped down, picked it up and lifted his gaze to hers. “For you?”

  Heat burned into her face. For so many years, she’d tried to hide from the exact type of judgment that coated his tone and darkened his gaze. She didn’t care about Dillion, except that he’d dumped her because she wasn’t good enough.

  “No.” Nothing like a little shame to turn her into a liar. “It’s for a friend.” Oh, gosh, how original of her. Snatching the test from his hand, she asked, “What are you doing here?”

  He held up a box of condoms.

  Wild laughter bubbled in her throat. Okay, how perfect was this? Exes meeting up in a drugstore, her with a pregnancy test, him with condoms. Embarrassing much? “Let me guess, for a friend?”

  He smiled tenuously. “Right.”

  Uncomfortable silence hung between them. Where had her anger at Dillion gone? Now she mostly felt…nothing except maybe a little regret that she’d dated a man she didn’t really connect with.

  “Well, I’d get better get going.” She started to turn.

  “Wait.” He glanced down then back up. “I’m glad you’re all right. I heard about that attack last June and that you were in the hospital. I thought about texting, or calling, even coming to see you but…” He shifted uncomfortably. “Well, I didn’t think you’d want to hear from me. I wanted to say I’m sorry you were hurt.”

  She smiled. “Thanks.”

  “You’re okay now, right?”

  “I’m good.” She rolled her right shoulder automatically. “All healed. I finished my last final today, and once my degree is mailed, I’ll be an official college graduate. I have a good job and a great boyfriend.” So you know, other than holding a box that could rock my entire life, I’m doing fabulous. “And you?”

  “I’ll finish law school in June, and I’m already working for a firm. Getting married in August.”

  “Congratulations.” So why the condoms? Was he screwing around on his fiancée? He’d tried to get Liza to keep sleeping with him even after he broke up with her and was supposed to propose to the girl Daddy had picked out.

  “Thanks. You too.” He glanced at the box in her hand and back to her face. “If you ever need anything, you have my cell number. It hasn’t changed.”

  She had no idea what to make of that. This whole conversation was very different than their past encounters. “Well, uh, nice to see you.” Before he could say anything, she rushed to the front, paid and escaped.

  She had bigger things to worry about than an ex-boyfriend.

  Chapter 8

  “You were really surprised?” Nikki asked.

  Liza glanced around the outdoor patio at Wylie’s Cantina, which was decorated with streamers and Congratulations Graduate banners. Amazing smells emanated from the steaming taco bar manned by her ex-boss Wylie himself. A gorgeous cupcake-laden stand sat in the middle of a table surrounded by cards and presents.

  Justice had done all this for her—arranging a surprise party with their friends, including the ones she’d made at work—Sloane, Tess, Sophie from the reception desk and others.

  “Stunned,” she answered Nikki. “I’ve never had a surprise party. It’s perfect.” Although she wished her stomach wasn’t so tight with nerves so she could enjoy it more.

  “You’re lucky, Liza.” Nikki hesitated and added, “Let’s go back in time to our competition on Court of Rock and swap places. I get to work with Savaged Illusions, while you get stuck with the loser band Jagged Sin.”

  Liza frowned. “Ugh. I don’t know how you endured two weeks with them. But you did the best you could.” Nikki had tried, but Jagged Sin had been out of control.

  “What’s going on?” Em strode up to them.

  Nikki shook it off. “Just me whining because Liza’s got a hot rock-star lover. The truth is I got my ass handed to me today over a project at work. It should have been mine, and I’d have gotten a bonus, but one of my coworkers, who was probably sleeping with the boss, got it instead. I need that bonus to get out of my butt-sweat apartment. Now I’m stuck there until I think of something else.”

  Liza exchanged looks with Em. Nothing ever seemed to go right for Nikki, and she routinely blamed it on someone else. But she’d worked hard on her pitch to win that project, so Liza could understand her bitterness. “I’m sorry, Nik.”

  “Yeah. But I have some leads on other jobs. I feel better already.” After glancing at her plastic cup of soda, she said, “I’m going to head to the bar to get a real drink. Want anything, Liza?”

  Alcohol was off-limits now, but Liza tried to keep her mind off that pregnancy test. “No thanks. I’ll go mingle.”

  “Come on, I’ll be your wingwoman,” Emily volunteered. “We’ll see if we can find you a hot date on the trip to the bar.”

  “Let’s do it.”

  “No serial killers,” Liza teased as they walked off. Turning, she made her way toward Justice, Sloane and a few others, but her mind was on Nikki. Did Liza have any connections to help her get a better job? SLAM wasn’t looking for anyone in publicity and marketing right now, but who else—

  A hand caught her arm. “So now that you’re all educated, you’re too good to talk to us?”

  She took in the two men gazing at her—one with long dark silky hair that any woman would envy, the other in a leather vest and tats. “River, Lynx.” Her throat tightened with grateful joy. “You came.” She hadn’t known Justice invited them.

  “Damn right we did. It’s official now, you really are too good for Justice. Think I’d miss a chance to rub that in his face? The dude got his GED in juvie, and you’re a college graduate.”

  River laughed. “What are you talking about? You didn’t even do that much. It was Justice’s grandma who made you get your GED after you got out of juvie.”

  “I’m street smart.”

  River rolled his eyes, hugged Liza, and said, “Any of those cupcakes red velvet?”

  She looked up at the bassist. “Ask Tess. She ordered them.”

  His eyes lit up. “Tess? She likes me. Bet she ordered red velvet just for me. Probably has a whole box of them stashed somewhere.”

  “Huh, she barely tolerates you,” Lynx said. “Bet she has vanilla for me.”

  The two men walked off, fighting over cupcakes and cornering Tess. Liza guessed they knew her from the Fighters to Mentors program since her son was in it. Justice, River and Lynx had all been in the program too and often worked with kids now.

  Emily caught her arm. “Oh my God, you won’t believe who we saw on our way to the bar.”

  “Who?” She was standing close to the fire pit in the middle of the patio, and tried to peer through the large, arched doorway to the main restaurant, but Justice, Sloane, River and Lynx stood there talking and blocked her view.

  “Let’s go sit down,” Emily said. They headed to one of the tables.

  Once seated, Liza glared at her best friend. “Spill it. Who’d you see?” A flicker of hope surged—could it be her aunt and uncle? Maybe her grandmother? Had Justice invited them? Maybe now that she’d finished college they would see she wasn’t going down the same path as her mom.

  “Dillion.”

  “Oh.” Disappointment trampled all over that little glimmer of hope, and she shrugged. “So?” Although it was odd that she hadn’t seen him in seven months then ran across him twice in one day. But she wasn’t going to bring that up. Emily could read her too well. If Emily happened to ask why she was at Walgreens, she’d end up saying too much. Liza wanted to tell Justice first.

  “With his fiancée.”

  Okay, now Em had her attention. “How do you know?” Liza hadn’t met her, so how would Emily know?

  Her friend sighed. “Facebook. Jeez, Liza, don’t you know how to stalk your ex?”

  “It looks just like her,” Nikki added, holding up her phone. “See? Look at her ring. Must be the engagement photo the way she’s flashing that rock. Her name is Stacy Jo
.”

  Liza leaned in. Ignoring Dillion, she studied the girl. Shoulder-length brown hair with a straight side part. Sleek and shiny—so unlike Liza’s own. It took quality time with a battery of hair products and a straight iron to get even close to that look. The girl had classic features, maybe a bit boring, but that ring—wow! A square-shaped diamond cut to create a halo effect.

  Em eyed the screen. “It’s too square for her man hands.”

  A bubble of laughter shot up her throat, but Liza swallowed it. She hadn’t met Stacy Jo and had no reason to hate her. Liza had enough of ugly judgment from people who’d didn’t know her. “I doubt Stacy Jo even knew he was dating me before he proposed to her. Let’s just leave her alone, okay?”

  “It doesn’t bother you that they’re here?” Em asked.

  Liza shrugged. “Nope.” Although she really didn’t want to see Dillion again. Not after he’d been buying condoms at Walgreens. She didn’t need to think about him and Stacy Jo using them.

  You were buying a pregnancy kit.

  Right. So better not to see him at all. Plus Justice and Dillion didn’t get along. Dillion’s very existence had a way of pushing her boyfriend’s buttons. “Don’t tell Justice.”

  “Tell me what?” He dropped into the seat next to her and set a plate with two soft tacos and steaming rice in front of her. “You haven’t eaten. When I saw you finally sitting, I grabbed you a plate.”

  Lynx sat down next to Nikki, his plate piled high. “All the women here are after me. You gonna protect me?”

  “Depends.”

  “On?”

  Nikki eyed his plate. “I want one of your tacos.”

  “That’s a steep price, but seeing as how I’m driving women mad with lust…” Lynx gave her one of his tacos.

  Justice touched Liza’s bare thigh beneath the table. “So what aren’t you telling me?”

  Liza had to think fast. “How many times a week Emily and Ben have sex.”

  Lynx choked on a bite of food.

  “Twelve.” Ben sat down next to Emily and handed her a plate of food.