“Good. Stay. You handled this exceptionally well, Carrie. I don’t know many people who would be as selfless and level-headed.” He disconnects and I press my hand to my stomach. Reid is not going to handle this well and if I don’t rein him in and fast, he’s going to go at Elijah in a big way.
I glance at the security guard. “Thank you for this. I have help coming. If you don’t mind I’m going to stay right here beside you.”
“I’m happy to help, ma’am,” he says and thankfully he seems quite genuine.
I stand there, trapped and waiting, and I keep replaying last night. You’re not allowed to die, ever, Reid had said. He is not in the right frame of mind to have this happen. The timing is horrible and we’re going to find out if I have any real ability to calm him or not. My cellphone rings again and I glance at the number to find Royce. “I talked to Reid. He’s fine. He has no idea there’s an issue. One of my men was in the area. He’ll be there in about two minutes. Big scar on his face. Savage is the last name and what we all call him.” I glance up as a man that fits that description walks in the building.
“He’s here.”
“Good. I’m headed to Reid now. Savage will bring you to us.”
“Thanks, Royce.”
“No thanks needed.” He hangs up and I hurry toward Savage, who is in jeans and a T-shirt, with a leather jacket over the top. He’s a beast of a big man, which is pretty wonderful right about now.
“Thank you,” I say when I reach him, “for rushing to me.”
“Rescuing damsels in distress is what I do,” he says, giving me a playful wink but then sobering quickly. “We’re going out a side door.” He motions me back to the security desk and the guard indicates the best method of a safe exit.
A few minutes later we’re at a side door and Savage glances over at me. “Stay right by my side.” I nod and pray all of this is paranoia, but I’m not sure it is. Elijah’s a successful businessman following around Reid’s woman. That feels like an obsession. Savage opens the door and takes my arm, guiding me outside into the cold air, and then placing my hand on his arm. We start walking and we don’t speak. He’s alert and ready for whatever comes our way and I’m just plain nervous.
The walk feels eternal when it’s not. We reach our building and enter and I think I can finally breathe. Savage’s phone rings as we walk toward the elevators and he mostly listens. Once we’re in the elevator car and alone with the doors shut, he updates me. “We have eyes on Elijah. He’s no longer in the area and Royce is at your door waiting on us.”
The doors open, and spotting Royce, I hurry forward. “Give me a minute with him, will you?”
Royce gives me a nod and I unlock the door and enter. Reid is on the couch where I left him with the kitty on a cushion next to him. “How’d it go?” he asks, setting his computer aside, his eyes narrowing on me as he stands up. “What’s wrong?”
I cross to meet him in the middle of the room. “I had a problem. I called Royce. He’s outside.”
His hands come down on my arms. “What problem required you calling Royce and not me?”
“I didn’t call you because I knew you’d come to me and I was afraid you’d be in danger.”
“What the hell is going on, Carrie?”
“Elijah followed me to the wedding venue and confronted me. He even grabbed me at one point. I was afraid he was luring you out to shoot you or something. He was not right when I saw him. Not right at all and—”
He sets me aside and heads for the door. I whirl around and dart forward, placing myself flat on the door. “Reid. Talk to me first.”
“I’m going to deal with Elijah, Carrie. Either you’re going to move or I’m going to move you, but the outcome will be the same.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Carrie
“Reid, stop.”
His hands come down on my waist. “Carrie, this is not one of the many battles you will win with me. Not this one, baby.” He lifts me and literally sets me aside.
I wrap my arm around his body. “Stop!” I shout. “Stop now. You will listen to me first. You have to listen.”
He twists around and grabs my wrists, pulling me to him, but that’s okay. He’s not trying to walk out of the door. He’s right here with me. “Stop, woman. Stop and let me deal with this.”
“He’s crazy. Do not handle this yourself. Let Royce handle it. Let’s talk about calling the police. I need you to step back from what you were feeling last night. We both know that’s dictating how you’re reacting right now.”
“Damn straight it is. I’m not giving him a chance to hurt you.”
“I’m not giving him a chance to hurt you because he might not be bigger, smarter, or stronger, but the bullet in a gun would be. You don’t get to leave me, either. You don’t get to die.” Kesha starts meowing at our feet. “Now you have a wife and a furry daughter to stay around for.”
His lashes lower for several seconds, his expression all hard lines and torment before he looks at me. His hands go to my shoulders and he pulls me to him. “You aren’t my wife yet, but you will be. That’s the point. No one is taking you from me and we’re getting that dog, one with big fucking teeth.”
I’d laugh at that if he wasn’t so intense right now. “And no one is taking you from me. Can we please talk to Royce and find the right solution?”
His jaw sets hard and the next thing I know he’s kissing me, a deep slide of tongue before he says, “You really called them to protect me?”
“I love you. Of course I did.”
“God, woman. You have no idea what you make me feel.”
“I do because I know what you make me feel. Let’s talk to Royce. And Savage, Royce’s man who’s here. He came and got me while Royce came here to ensure you were safe.”
He nods and releases me. I pick up Kesha while he opens the door. “Royce,” he says. “Savage. Thank you both for taking care of Carrie,” he adds, backing up to let them both inside.
Royce and Savage enter the apartment and I suddenly feel like a midget surrounded by giants. “Let’s sit down,” Reid suggests, “away from the door. I’m fighting the urge to beat the shit out of Elijah.”
“As would I in your shoes,” Royce assures him. “But obviously, that’s not the best move, which I know you know. Let’s talk about what is.”
“Talk for now,” Reid agrees, and we all move to the living area where Reid and I sit on the couch and he and Savage claim a chair on either side of us.
Kesha darts from my arms and goes straight for Savage. He grins and picks her up. “A girl, right? Chicks like me.”
“Talk,” Reid says, focusing on Royce. “I need a solution and now.”
Royce leans forward, elbows on his knees. “You have ammunition to shut him down,” he says. “The question is, will that work? Considering his behavior today, I’m not certain he’s a stable person. You could send him into the deep end.”
“What ammunition?” I ask.
“Offshore accounts which means he’s hiding money,” Reid explains. “I had Royce dig up ammunition after our last encounter with him just in case he became a problem. If he was a stable person, that should be enough to shut this off.”
“He’s not,” I say. “I saw it in his eyes and I just felt it. The man is angry over something that happened years ago.” I give Reid a sideways look. “Do they know why?”
“No,” Reid says, turning his attention to Royce. “I fucked his wife, but I didn’t know she was his wife at the time. He thinks I did because at the time we were competing for the same deal. She used me to cut him.”
Savage whistles and sets Kesha down. “Ouch.”
Reid cuts him a hard look and before Reid speaks, Savage amends his statement. “Let me rephrase: What a bitch.”
“How long ago was this?” Royce asks.
“Years ago,” Reid replied. “Literally. I’ve stayed out of his path where possible, but something set him off again. He even tried to get me thrown off the bo
ard of West Enterprises.”
“Okay then,” I say. “His obsession with Reid after all this time is illogical. That doesn’t spell stable.”
“Nor does following you around,” Savage says. “That spells crazy person.”
“Then do we call the police?” I ask.
“You could,” Royce says, “but in my opinion, they will do nothing and you’ve poked the proverbial bear. We don’t know his state of mind or what triggered this new attention on Reid.” He looks at Reid. “Any ideas?”
“None. I don’t keep up with him.”
Royce looks at me. “What did he say to you?”
I open my mouth to share the details of what Elijah said but I’m not doing that in front of Royce and Savage. I know Elijah is lying. I fear Royce and Savage won’t. Instead, I summarize. “I don’t think he knew I was aware of what happened with him and Reid, so he told me Reid slept with his wife. He called him a liar and said Reid lies to me as well. Then I managed to get away from him.”
“Fuck,” Reid curses. “Carrie—”
“I’m fine. I knew the story. You’d told me. He couldn’t shock me, Reid. Worry about him, not me.”
“Where’s the wife now?” Savage asks. “Did he divorce her?”
“I didn’t keep up with his marital bliss,” Reid replies dryly.
“They’re still married,” Royce says. “Same wife for ten years. I know this from my prior research.”
“He stayed with her and yet he’s angry with Reid now, years later?” I frown. “Something doesn’t add up.”
“Let me do some digging around. There’s got to be a trigger, something that set this off.”
I think of the comments Elijah made to me. “I wonder if his wife taunted him with Reid in some way?”
“But again, why now?” Savage says.
“There has to be a trigger,” Reid says.
“Or he’s insane and finally went over the edge,” Savage suggests.
“Then I need to get to the solution part of this conversation,” Reid says. “If I tell him I know about his nefarious offshore accounts, what’s the potential blowback?”
“We need to know more about where trouble might lie for this man,” Royce says. “If he has nothing to lose, violence could feel like an option to him. Or he might tell the world you fucked his wife, just to hurt your reputation.”
“God, I feel like we’re living Cat and Reese’s hell,” I murmur and then quickly look at Reid. “This was before my time. Don’t worry that this is going to affect me or us if he goes public. And frankly, people don’t work with you because you’re a nice guy. You make them money.”
Savage snorts. “She tells it how it is, doesn’t she?”
Reid ignores Savage and focuses on Royce. “What if I hit him with the offshore accounts and then we get on a plane and leave town? That gives him space to act out without us as a target.”
“No,” I say. “Because a) it’s Christmas, b) we have the kitty now, and c) he could hurt someone else because we’re not around.”
“Staying close to family while a crazy man wants to hurt us only brings the crazy man to our family,” Reid argues. “And we’ll take Kesha with us.”
“Give me a day to dig,” Royce says. “We’ll have men with you at all times.”
“A day,” Reid agrees, and we take a few minutes to work out the security detail.
Royce and Savage head to the door and Reid and I see them off, but the minute we’re shut inside, Reid grabs me, and I’m quickly placed between his big body and the door. “What did Elijah really say to you?”
“That you knew you were sleeping with his wife and you did it in their bed.”
His jaw sets hard and he surprises me—no, shocks me—by pushing off the door and walking away. I think of my earlier words: something doesn’t add up. I think I was right. What don’t I know?
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Carrie
My questions about what doesn’t add up are not questions I intend to keep to myself. Reid exits to the balcony with no coat on, which tells me he’s shaken. He wants an escape or to punish himself and I’m not sure if that’s the guilt over sleeping with Elijah’s wife, which I know he owns, or something more. He shuts the door, effectively using it as the division between him and me, and I don’t like it. Whatever the situation, we’re talking it out. I rush after him with the kitty at my feet and open the door. Cold air rushes in and Kesha meows, running the other direction. I suck in a breath and push forward into the bitter winter eve. Once outside, I shut the door to keep the house warm and flip on the fireplace in the corner.
The minute it fires up, Reid turns to face me as if he didn’t hear me exit, but he knows I’m here now. Reid isn’t one to tune out anything to that degree, let alone me. “Crazy woman,” he says as I rush toward him. “It’s freezing out here.” He grabs me as I stop in front of him and pulls me to him. “Go inside.”
“You’re here. I’m here. That’s how this works now. Talk to me, Reid.”
“Inside. I’m damn sure not taking care of you by keeping you out here.” He wraps his arm around me and walks me toward the door and pretty much physically moves me from the patio to the living room. The minute I’m inside, I rotate to face him. “What don’t I know?”
He snags my waist and pulls me to him. “Did you believe him? Do you think that I knowingly slept with his wife and did so in his bed?”
“No,” I say. “That would mean you lied to me and I don’t believe you lied to me.”
“Are you sure about that?” he challenges, his voice sharp with barely contained anger, and it’s not at Elijah. It’s at me. “Because you just asked me what don’t you know, Carrie, and that doesn’t spell trust to me.”
I receive those words like the blow they are. “You’re right,” I say quickly. “I did ask that. I did think there was something you hadn’t told me, but I didn’t think for a minute that it was what you think it was. I just—that was the wrong place for my head to go.” I flatten my hand on his chest. “I’m sorry. I should have asked you what’s in your head right now because you’re shaken, Reid, and you’re never shaken.”
“You are the one person in this world that knows that’s not true. I just don’t show it, except with you. If that’s a problem for you, Carrie—”
“No. God no, Reid. I’ve really screwed this up tonight. You’re right. I do know how much you worry and fret and try to control everything. And right now, you don’t feel in control.”
His eyes sharpen. “If you know this, if you know me, why did you ask me that question?”
“It was the wrong question,” I repeat, “but I know you. You want to go throttle Elijah, but you know it’s not the right move, and not just because safety is an issue. You feel guilty. It eats you up inside to know you slept with his wife, and yet, you’re going to have to go after the man you hurt.”
“And yet, you asked me what you didn’t know.”
“Reid, I—”
“Yes,” he says. “I am going to have to go after him, but you’re wrong. I don’t feel guilt. Not anymore. Not after he came at you tonight. Now it’s war and I’ll win.” He releases me and runs a hand through his hair, turning away from me.
“You were a victim in all of this,” I remind him. “I know that and he’s forced your hand.”
He whirls around on me. “I fucked her. That doesn’t make me a damn victim. It makes me a fool. And for the record, it was at a hotel where an event was taking place.”
“I didn’t need to hear that,” I say. “I didn’t doubt you.”
“You did. We both know you did.”
“That is not what happened. Damn it, Reid. That’s not what happened. I knew you had more going on in your head than met the eye. That’s all.”
He scrubs his jaw, glances toward the ceiling, and then fixes me in an unreadable stare. “I need you to go to Montana, where I know your father is well insulated and therefore you will be well insulated.”
I blanch and recover quickly. “I’m not going to Montana. Not unless you’re going with me and that doesn’t solve anything. We need to deal with this.”
“I’ll deal with this and if you don’t want to go to Montana, pick a place. Back to Japan. Paris—I’ll meet you there when this is done.”
“No,” I say. “No. No. No. In case you didn’t get that: No. If he tells the world about this, we both need to be here, side by side, to deal with the board. And we do things together now, good or bad.”
“You doubted me, Carrie.”
“Stop saying that. I didn’t. I just thought there was something this incident brought to light that you hadn’t had time to share. Which is fine by the way. With time, we share more and more.”
I blink and he’s in front of me, molding me to him, his fingers tangling roughly in my hair. “I’ll know if you doubted me. I’ll know.” His mouth slants over mine, and I understand his words. He means that he’ll taste my lie, he’ll taste my doubt, but it doesn’t exist.
My arm slides around him, while my other hand settles on his chest and I lean into him, aware that he’s looking for his own self-hatred in me, but it’s not there. I regret so much the way I phrased my question tonight and that’s what I try to say to him in that kiss. I try to let him know that I love him, I trust him, I need him. I kiss him passionately with all those thoughts and feelings in our kiss, in the way my body presses to his and in the way I hold onto him, like I’m afraid he’ll leave. And I am. I’m always afraid he’ll leave, but on some level, I know he’s afraid I’ll leave. It’s a problem for us, something we have to get by and we will.
He tears his mouth from mine and stares down at me. “I didn’t doubt you, Reid Maxwell. I swear to you on everything we have ever been and everything we will ever be in this life together. I just felt out of control myself. He scared me. I needed inside your head, one hundred percent on the same page with you, because that’s my safe place. You are my safe place.”
“I didn’t keep you safe. I should have dealt with him when he came at us over the company.”
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