by Holly Hood
I swallow down my coke and sigh. “That’s part of the reason I want to talk to you.”
“So, talk to me.”
I really would like to have a normal conversation with him but the way he is staring me down with his sex eyes, he is making it hard to stay focused.
But as soon as I look over and see the red sweater on the arm of the couch everything comes back to the forefront.
“I remembered something today. And I have to ask you something because you’re the only person who probably will have an answer.” I take a deep breath. “When I was five, my parents let my mother take me for the holiday. Something happened that I had forgot all this time until now. And it has to do with Phillip Thorne.”
Nash drops his hand onto the counter and tenses up. “What would you know about that guy?”
“Nothing that I want to know. Did you know him?”
He sighs. “Phillip Thorne was Ike’s father. He disappeared back when we were kids.”
“But the police ruled it a suicide without a body. Where is he?” This is the thing that I want to know. “Is he in the warehouse?”
I can tell he is drifting away from the conversation. Its bothering him. “What happened?”
I shake my head. “That doesn’t matter. I just want to know that he is dead and if he is, that means they are going to find him when they tear up that warehouse.”
“It does matter.”
“I was playing upstairs, with a boy and that’s when the door opened and …I ended up in that room with him.” I turn away, trying to pull it together. So I can get the rest out. “But before the worst possible thing that could happen to anyone could happen, that little boy saved me, he opened the door and let me out of there.”
I turn back around.
Nash will not look at me.
“And I got out of that room. And when we got to the bottom of the stairs, that little boy told me to stay there that he would be back,” my voice breaks and I can’t get the rest out. I grip the counter.
Nash stands up. He makes it over to me and pulls up the stool so I can sit before I fall over. “That stupid kid did something he never knew he was capable of. He shot that asshole so he could never hurt anyone else. And he never saw that girl again.”
I search his eyes. “Nash, it was you wasn’t it?”
“What if it was?” He uses his thumbs to wipe away the tears falling from my eyes.
I touch his arm. “If it was I want to thank you for saving me from that monster.”
He doesn’t accept it.
I take him by the shoulders standing up. “And someone who would do something like that for me deserves me doing the same for them.”
He doesn’t understand.
“I cannot let Jackson tear down that warehouse. After what you did, I need to help you. I’m going to help you.”
Nash shakes his head. “This isn’t a choice I want to make. It’s the right thing to do. And you’re not going to stop my deal. It’s already done.”
“But they will tear it down,” I assure him. “They are going to find those bodies and then what?”
“I haven’t thought that far into it. These people aren’t stupid. We’re not stupid, we will figure something out.”
I sigh. “These people are trying to hurt you. Are you forgetting the gun that guy held to your head at the club?”
“No, I haven’t forgotten. That’s why you need to stay out of it,” he tells me.
“Maybe I don’t want to stay out of it.” I throw a hand on my hip feeling defensive. “I know this is what you probably do to keep people away but it’s not going to work with me. I want to help.”
He looks like he wants to leave. I hurry to the door and stand in front of it before he can run from his problem. “What can I do to help, Nash?”
I twist the lock and prepare for battle because with him I know its going to be tough to get any kind of answer.
“Ike doesn’t know that his father is in the warehouse.” He sighs, bringing a hand to his head. He runs a hand through his hair. “Ike thinks his father left because he was on the run.”
“So why do you want to let him find out what really happened to his father?”
He shakes his head. “I didn’t say that I did. But I am more worried about helping my father than Ike right now.”
“What do you think would happen if Ike learned the truth?” I didn’t know a lot about Ike.
“Ike is fucked up. He’s not in his right mind most days. He wouldn’t think twice about getting back at whoever lied to him his entire life.”
“That wasn’t you. You were just a kid.” A kid helping another kid.
“I can help you.” I pull my phone from my pocket but Nash stops me.
“If it’s not your boyfriend buying the property from me someone else will. There are all kinds of people wanting to get their hands on that property.” He brushes his fingers against my lips studying my every movement my every breath. “Don’t think I don’t appreciate what you are trying to do.”
I shake my head. “You saved me. And you don’t even see that or understand what that means to me.” Why can’t he see how big of a deal he is to me?
“And after all that you’ve been through I wouldn’t want to see you ruin your life for me. Promise me you will stay out of this?” He stares me down.
I slowly nod. And he rewards me with a soft kiss on the lips. When he pulls away I inhale watching him head to the door. We lock eyes one last time before he slips out the door and away.
Twenty Seven
I have been sitting and enjoying the pleasant quiet of Sophie’s apartment all the way until she walks in ending it with the thud of her keys on the kitchen counter.
She slinks out of her sweater and removes her earrings and necklace before she takes the spot across from me.
“How was your day?” she asks, just like she always does when she gets home if we are in the same room at the same time.
I look up from the book in my hand. “It was alright.” Which isn’t true and for a few hours now I have immersed myself in a fictitious romance in hopes of forgetting about Nash and his problem with the warehouse. I’m trying not to go back on my word.
“Mine too. Are you hungry?” She groans and settles back against the pillows. “I could go for a bite to eat. Maybe we can try out that little restaurant by the river.”
I nod. “Yeah sounds good. I’ll jump in the shower.” I go to stand up and she jumps up.
“I almost forgot.” She rifles through her big purse and pulls out a magazine. “Look what I found today.” She hands it over.
I give her a look and then take it from her. “A magazine. You read these a lot.”
She takes it back rifling the pages and when she finds what she is looking for she hands it over. “Tell me you aren’t surprised.”
I feel like someone just kneed me in the gut. Right there in the paper is a picture of Ryker and a pretty blonde. “Wow.”
“Savy, the article says he is engaged. When did this happen?”
I shake my head, tossing the magazine on the coffee table. “I don’t know. Obviously from the looks of it it’s been going on for quite some time now. I hope he’s happy.”
“Are you okay?”
I scoff. “Ryker and I were never meant to be.” I go to the hall closet and take out a towel and return to throw in the last words before my shower. “And Jackson and I either. I think I am better off not trusting anyone at this point. It’s better this way.”
The words echo my thoughts; I shut the bathroom door and sigh.
It’s not that I am angry that Ryker found someone to marry. Or that he is in love. It would have been nice to get a warning before reading it in a tabloid. But if I mattered, he would have bothered to give me a call.
I slip out of my clothes and turn on the shower. I warn myself not to let this bother me. I vow not to cry as I slip into the mist and underneath the showerhead.
I close my eyes, giving all my probl
ems to the hot water. But it only works for a few minutes before I am tensing up at the thought of other things going on in my mind—like Nash.
How can I sit by and let something bad happen to him after he saved me?
I cut the water and get out.
I have to do something.
Twenty Eight
Jackson is bent over his desk going over blueprints when I come through the door of his office. I don’t bother knocking. I called to confirm he was there before I even showed up. He’s expecting me.
He clears his throat before he says anything to me. It doesn’t take long before he takes his attention away from the blueprints and looks at me. “You look gorgeous.”
I accept the kiss on the cheek and let him help me out of my jacket. He looks me over, focusing in on my low cut shirt and the skinny jeans I have on. He’s always had a thing for my causal look.
I take a seat. “What’s all of this?”
“Ideas. Plans.” He sits on the edge of the desk.
I cross my legs. “For what?”
He smiles. “Did you come here to talk business with me?”
He pushes off the desk and straightens up.
“Maybe I did. What were you expecting?” I tilt my head, exposing my neck. It feels a little nice to flirt with him so innocently.
“Round two.” He arches an eyebrow. “Doesn’t that sound good to you?” He offers his hand, I take it and let him pull me up. I wrap my arms around his neck and look into his blue eyes.
“Yes it does.” I kiss him, when he goes for my mouth. “I was thinking about that warehouse. And what plans you and your family probably have for it.”
His grip loosens on me. “I never knew you cared about our expansions.”
“This one time I do. And I don’t want you to tear it down.” He lets me go and takes a seat on the edge of his desk again so he can get a better look at me.
He shakes his head finding it all amusing. “Can you give me a reason why you don’t want me to tear down an old abandoned warehouse?”
I have a lot of reasons, none that I can or will share with Jackson at the moment.
“I guess I just think it would be best if you stay away from the 8th sin.” There, at least I offered up some form of honesty.
“But you’re running around with them,” he points out. “He was up at the hospital with you, Savy. There has to be more to it.”
He watches me poke at his glass paperweight. I do my best to dodge the interrogation.
“If you can’t give me an answer, I can’t help you.” He pulls me close. “And you know how much I want to help you.”
“Sometimes you need to learn to just be here for me and not help me.” I tell him.
“You’re asking me to halt a major project. How do I just let that go and do what you want?” He touches my face. “Look at me. If there is something going on that you are trying to handle all by yourself with these people, you need to tell me.”
I pull away and sigh. “I’m going to go.” I collect my things and head for the door. “Clearly, me coming here was the wrong choice to make.”
“Savy,” Jackson says, looking down at the ground. He won’t look at me. And I’m not sure if that’s because he knows he is letting me down or that he hates not giving me what I want.
Either way, I am not sticking around to stroke his ego and pretend that everything is okay because I know that it’s not.
My cell rings and the thought of chucking it across the parking lot plays in my mind. But I rifle it free from my purse and sigh, it’s not Jackson calling me to apologize, it’s Ryker.
I hit ignore and open my car door but before I can even climb in my phone is ringing again. He’s not going to let me ignore him, but I try anyways.
I hit ignore again and immediately am bombarded with three text right in a row.
Don’t be an ass!
Sav, answer the phone!
We need to talk!
I stare at the phone screen unable to form a single word, my finger looms over the screen and my stomach ties into knots. The more that I think about Ryker the sadder I feel.
I didn’t realize until this moment how much the thought of not having Ryker around hurts.
I’m in town. Sitting outside of Sophie’s apartment.
What do you want Ryker?
I’m not leaving until I can talk to you.
I start my car and call him because my fingers will never be able to keep up with everything that I have to say to him.
“If you plan on telling me that you are sorry about your engagement you can save it,” I inform him as soon as I hear his voice. “This wouldn’t be the first time you went for another girl.”
“First off, asshole. I’m calling to give my condolences on your grandfather.”
“I barely knew him.”
“Way to put up the wall,” he says with a sigh. “Are you heading over here or not?”
“I haven’t decided yet. Unlike you, who is busy making headlines I have more important things to do.” I proceed to tell him about my plan to stop Jackson from buying a warehouse in hopes of keeping my life at least a little normal.
The weird part, I don’t even know why I think this would change any part of my life if the warehouse sold it wouldn’t change me, it would ruin Nash.
I know why I feel the way that I do. My secret is buried underneath that building and I would rather it stay buried.
“What if someone gave him a better offer?” Ryker asks.
I scoff. “You mean you want to buy the warehouse? For what?”
“For you? I have the money, and I want to do this for you.”
“Why? Because you feel guilty about your fiancé? Because you shouldn’t.”
“I only met her two weeks ago. I got drunk, said the wrong things in front of paparazzi, it’s nothing like what they are making it to be,” he promises me.
I believe him because I can’t see why he would lie about something that neither one of us ever cared about.
“And for someone who says they want no feelings involved in our arrangement you are acting very emotional.”
I roll my eyes and pull up next to him in the apartment parking lot. I turn my car off and hit end on my phone getting out.
Ryker welcomes me with open arms. I reluctantly give in and hug him. As much as he annoys the shit out of me, he also has this way of making me feel okay again.
“Long time no see,” he messes my hair and throws an arm around me as we walk to the doors of the apartment.
“What took you so long to come back?”
He shrugs. “I stay away from girls that don’t know what they are doing.”
“I don’t know what I am doing?”
“You’re running around chasing after ideas of what you think is going to make you feel better. And that night at the bar you did a really stupid thing. And it pissed me off.”
We go inside. I give him a look before I press the button on the elevator. “That stupid thing being going with Nash instead of you. I don’t know Ryker, you’re sounding emotional right now.”
“Emotional because I don’t want to see something happen to you,” he says, arching an eyebrow. He leans against the wall of the elevator and crosses his arms. “Forgive me for giving a fuck about you.”
“Watch your mouth,” I say, he smirks.
“I thought my mouth turned you on,” he steps forward, pinning me against the wall. He presses one finger against my bottom lip. “I really want to kiss you right now.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s hot when you’re pissed off,” he says. I lift my head, giving him access to my lips. He snags the back of my head grabbing a hold of my hair and lays it on thick.
The door opens and it takes a few seconds before we break apart and exit the elevator.
He inhales my hair, nuzzling against the space between my neck and ear. “You smell really good.”
“Did you miss me?” I smirk, letting the two of us into Sophie�
�s place. I toss down my purse and wait for him to shut the door.
“Is she home?” He waits for an answer and pulls off his t-shirt.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I watch him take a couple steps toward me.
“I’m going to bend you over this counter, have my way with you and then we are going to finish this argument we were having,” he informs me, undoing his jeans.
I’m already pulling my shirt over my head. The thought of Ryker after all of these weeks sounds more satisfying than ever. I tug my underwear down and undo my bra. “I think I am okay with that. We can call it a sexual pause.”
He smirks, backing me into the kitchen. He does just what he said he was going to do and bends me over the counter palming my ass roughly several times until he is hard and ready to go. “God damn, I’ve missed this ass.”
I yelp when he smacks it. He rubs his erection against me, pressing himself against my back. His warm skin turning my insides to an ooey gooey mush when he connect with mine.
A rush of heat crawls across my skin taking shelter in between my legs.
“Do you have something?”
“Always.” He hurriedly says, tossing the condom wrapper next to my hands on the counter. He thrust into me, letting out a groan of satisfaction as he pushes the rest of the way inside.
This is not the way I saw our meeting up working out but it’s a hell of a lot better than what I was feeling a couple of hours ago.
Twenty Nine
I wasn’t imagining waking up to Jackson’s glare the first thing I would see this morning, especially with Ryker beside me in the bed.
I sit up and cover myself with my bed sheet. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I’m trying to figure out how it’s possible a transaction that was finished has now suddenly been retracted. And the first place I thought to come was here for answers,” he looks me over, rubbing at his forehead.
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about. I just woke up. There is such things as a phone call,” I grumble, rolling to my side, I grab my phone from my nightstand. I regret my words when I see several missed calls from Jackson.
