by Ace Gray
Four months ago…September…
What the fuck had changed in September? I pulled up my calendar and started looking over the notes that had been plugged in.
“Us.” I mused down at my BlackBerry.
“What?” Brooklyn stood up and leaned toward me at the same time Jaime shook his head and scoffed.
“Us. We got back together in September.” I met Brooklyn’s eyes.
“Kate, that’s not…” Jaime started.
“No, that’s exactly it.” Brooklyn’s green eyes glowed. “You went public in September. The press, the partnership, the brawl, those were all in September.”
“All that was very uncharacteristic of Bryant,” Jaime added.
“Yeah.” Brooklyn shook his head. “And those events proved pit bull over here mattered more than most.”
At the exact moment Brooklyn gave voice to it, my heart shuddered. It sat so well, I didn’t even pause to snark at the dog remark, other words were tumbling out. “He knew Nick was happy…” My words trailed off, at the realization that Christopher had done whatever he could to make sure Nick didn’t get a happy ending.
“He pulled in Piper to push you away. Victor to pick apart the business.” Brooklyn was still being succinct, efficient. “He had to know what Francis…” My eyes snapped up, warning him with a slightly crazed face to shut up. He had the decency to stop short and even throw in an apologetic, almost sorrowful shrug.
“They were all just pawns. In a game to ruin my fiancé. If what he had on Piper is any sign of what he has on Victor, I don’t know how we make this go away.” I was having a hard time not choking on the facts.
“I need a list of what’s important to you as a couple.”
My eyes fell to the paper I’d been doodling on.
“Outside of the people we love?” The track record of attacking them was pretty straightforward.
“People, places, anything.” Brooklyn was watching me intently as if I’d had the answer all along, I only needed to unearth it.
I stared into the ghostly green of his eyes. They didn’t swirl, they didn’t cloud—hell, they didn’t move—they just pulsed with a luminescence that cut through me. I wondered idly if he used them against people, forcing them to spill their deepest secrets, sometimes secrets they didn’t even know they had.
He was dangerous. And I was grateful his powers of persuasion were on my side.
“There’s no need to make a list.” The answer was staring me right in the face. Well rather, it was the only thing not scribbled down on the yellow lined paper. I picked up the legal pad and tossed it across the desk. It spun and slid for just a moment before Brooklyn caught it with catlike reflexes, his eyes still boring into my skull. “It’s Vesper.”
Jaime rounded the table, reading the list over Brooklyn’s shoulder. Both sets of eyes reacted, Jaime’s going narrow and fierce, Brooklyn’s taking on an unearthly glow.
“The decoy is to keep us busy. He knew that Nick wouldn’t come. He knew that you would. He did very simple math to figure out how to take finish the job with one swift move. ”
Dread settled into my bones. Thick, heavy, almost consuming. My heart started rattling again. My body was panicking because it was completely and utterly true. When the table suddenly shook beneath my fingertips, I was convinced that this was it. I was finally going to succumb to the Tetrahexa-whatever.
“That was an explosion,” all eyes snapped to Brooklyn when he spoke.
"What?" I cocked my head back. Jaime’s hand flew to his holster. As if on cue, the conference table shuddered again. The glass chattered too.
“Minor. Sounded like a fire extinguisher,” Brooklyn continued nonchalantly as panic filled up the rest of the room.
“Yeah because types of explosions are distinguishable.” I arched my eyebrow as I crossed my arms.
“They are, Kate. Quite.” He shot me a look. “They explode in high heat fires,” he said simply as the fire alarm started blaring through the office. The lights shut off and a strobe blared in time with the siren. Jaime flew to the phone and started barking orders as Brooklyn ran to me. The blaring fire alarm cut off Jaime’s words but didn’t stop Brooklyn from scooping me up like a sack of potatoes.
“Put me down.” I kneed his chest to get his attention but he just kept barking instructions at any being we passed.
We were in a stairwell when the second rumble shook the structure. The lights in the stairwell flickered but Brooklyn’s footsteps didn’t falter in the least. Emergency lights flashed on a moment later and they gave an eerie glow to the concrete. A disembodied and utterly evil cackle floated through the air.
My heartbeats started doing things they never had before. They smashed against my ribs and flattened my lungs. I writhed on his shoulder, the unearthly howl now echoing from above was ominous but the thumps emanating from my chest, and signaling the end of my life was far worse.
The bright light blinded me.
I scrambled on Brooklyn’s shoulder to shield my eyes from the daylight. We’d made it outside just in time to hear the awful crack of splintering glass. The pangs increased with ferocity, echoing off the neighboring buildings as they ratcheted to fast and furious sounds. Then the sounds stopped for a single breath, an ominous sign before a windowpane thunder clapped above. Shards of all sizes rained down on us. The boom was so loud, it wasn’t a usual tinkling of falling glass, but rather a crystalline roar with accents of sharp glass screech. Smoke billowed from the now gaping hole of my twenty-second floor office.
Brooklyn swore and got me out of the spray by shoving me onto a nearby window ledge covered by a thick green awning then turned and tore away. I watched his three-piece suit disappear around the corner just before the massive shower pelted the ground. Only the window behind me caught my teetering body, The large pane clattered against my weight then came alive in time with the thumping of my heart.
My world was a mix of the crashing glass and blaring fire alarms, yet my heartbeat tried to overshadow the chaos. And when a new three-piece suit stepped in front of me, it succeeded.
“Where is your security?” Victor Alexander hissed at me.
I couldn’t really hear his words over the uproar inside me. I shook my head and my eyes went wide as saucers, but that was all I managed.
“Kate, where are the bastards responsible for you?” The sirens nearing helped cut through the din and this time I could process. Processing didn’t help though. If I answered truthfully, Victor would know how vulnerable I was. I’d hold the door wide open for whatever was coming next.
“We’ve got to get you to safety before Christopher realizes you’re alone.” His head whipped back and forth. “An ambulance maybe?” He was thinking out loud, more to himself than anything. His lips kept moving with options, ideas, mumbling, his eyes rolled back in his head.
“You want to help me? I still can’t figure out why?” I couldn’t help the frustration that dripped from my lips.
“Kate, I know you have no reason to trust me. But Christopher is playing with us all. He can link me to some rather unsavory things. I tried to warn you without implicating myself. Until I saw what he did to Piper, I thought it was worth playing along. Then he started using me to do unspeakable things. This…” Victor’s voice trailed off as he looked up and down the street again, slower, more sorrowful this time. “This isn’t revenge, it’s chaos.”
His hand came to my upper arm and pulled me brusquely off my stone perch. I couldn’t function outside of clutching my chest; I didn’t know if I would resist him anyway. My heart had jackknifed as Victor spoke and now my chest ached like the bones themselves were the splintering glass. Victor wheeled me toward the arriving emergency vehicles only to freeze one second later.
“Let her go, Victor.” Jaime and Brooklyn were stalking toward us.
Both had guns raised and the most severe faces I’d ever seen. I wanted to tell them to hold on, to allow Victor an explanation but my heart was reacting all the more vio
lently to the site of steel barrels pointed in my direction. My knees buckled and I slumped to the pavement in a heap. Victor tried to soften my fall but didn’t succeed, instead falling to his knees right next to me.
Jaime and Brooklyn started barking at us, or him, I couldn’t even tell anymore. My whole head swam against the current of mayhem around us. The edges of my vision were going dark as both men bore down on us. I only noticed when Victor raised his hands in surrender because my body pitched forward further, my cheek headed for the ground.
A strong pair of arms were around me in a second, stopping me from hitting the debris-cluttered pavement. Jaime pulled me up to teeter on my stilettos while Brooklyn closed in on Victor. Jaime kept hold of me while he holstered his gun, taking most of my weight and with it, a lot of my fear.
Brooklyn was giving Victor explicit instructions on surrendering with the barrel of a pistol pressed to his temple. Victor was being perfectly compliant and I guessed it had little to do with the gun. When Brooklyn was able to fasten zip ties around his wrists, he tucked his firearm away, and my breathing slowed further. I noticed that the sirens had stopped, though red and blue lights reflected off every surface along the street. There were no more alarms from inside or labored breathing from the people nearest me.
I managed deep breaths, got up, and regained my balance on sky-high heels. Jaime let out a deep breath and managed a half smile when he felt me support my own weight. Brooklyn’s eyes lit up and a full-blown smug smile split his too symmetrical face as he loomed over Victor.
“Did you use me as bait, Brooklyn?” I shrieked.
“Does it matter?” His smile didn’t falter.
“Yes it fucking matters.” I stomped my foot.
“Kate, your heart.” Brooklyn arched an eyebrow and his smile spread further. If there weren’t so many witnesses I would have throttled him. “I told you, I fix things. I didn’t explain my methods, nor do I intend to. Matter of fact, I believe a thank you is in order. I’ve taken care of Victor.” He looked positively devilish when he finished and gestured at the complacent man at his feet.
"You did use me as bait!"
"Kate, you know that in business you have to do a cost-benefit analysis. I did one. Victor versus your heart. I was right. Stop worrying about it.
My heart rattled in my chest, a reaction to the furious temper welling up at the cocky bastard. And for finding the cocky bastard painfully charming at the moment. My hand dropped from my chest as I opened my mouth to bicker with him nonetheless, but Victor beat us all to speaking. “I promise, I’m the least of your worries.”
27.
Jaime’s eyes went wide when Victor spilled his guts in the alley but Brooklyn hadn’t even wavered. Hell, he hadn’t even responded to Victor. He’d simply turned toward me and launched into a description of the way victims of Tetrahexazine were said to hemorrhage from their ears, nose, and mouth before they died then asked if, perhaps, that deserved my attention.
An overwhelming urge to choke swiftly replaced any thoughts that he held boyish charm. The only thing that stayed my hand was Jaime collecting me—mid-sentence and without asking—to take me home. And when my heartbeat went crazy all over again, he forced me out at the entrance to One Madison alone so he could park the car. As odd as it felt, there was no one there to back us up, what with being occupied by Vesper, or still in New Canaan, and I couldn't even walk from the garage around the block.
My heart had a vicious reaction to every step I took toward the building. It jackhammered in the elevator then each step to my bedroom hurt worse. I kept checking my eyes and ears and mouth, half expecting the blood Brooklyn had described to be oozing out of me. I didn’t know what had set me off between Vesper and the apartment, but I knew it was something.
When I fell to my knees, clutching my heart, I knew I was going to die. Every cell in my body agreed. For the briefest moment, I closed my eyes and I lay on the floor waiting for a bright white light. Instead, I saw Nick. He filled my senses the way he always did, his smell, the feel of his skin, the swirl and marble of his eyes. The will to get back to him had me opening my eyes, forcing me to my feet and the last few steps to my closet.
I shrugged out of my well-worn, days-old Yves Saint Laurent suit and it laid piled on the floor when I realized the real reason my heart had gone haywire. A man’s reflection appeared in the glass next to my lingerie clad form. The twisted smile and shockingly blonde hair had snuck in behind me, blocking my only exit.
“Don’t bother calling for Jaime. He’s not back yet.”
Christopher’s laugh sent goose bumps across every inch of my skin; I wanted to itch and crawl out of it. I reached out for the dresser to steady myself.
“I see the Tetrahexazine is still in your system,” he snickered. “Better not work yourself up too badly.”
My heart twisted in my chest. This thud was even more painful than the one moments ago and my body sank uncontrollably back to my knees. Christopher started laughing, a loud, harsh, soulless sound.
“This is going to be easier than I thought.”
His detached voice did nothing to mask the sound of him shifting off the leather of the ottoman.
“You’re more beautiful up close.”
If I’d been paying attention to the reflection I would have noticed him slithering up behind me. I would have known he was about to touch me.
“It’s that pale, smooth skin.”
Instead, I was too busy trying to breathe—no, trying not to die—and his touch shocked me. I screamed and pitched forward, away from him, knocking against the dresser as I scrambled on hands and knees. Even though my heart was thudding in my ears, his laughter spliced through like a knife. I collided with the glass before turning to face him.
“There are those deep gold eyes and perky tits.”
“Get.” Gasp. “Away.” Agh. “From.” Gasp. “Me.”
“Oh come now, Kate. I’m not going anywhere. I had to work so hard to coordinate this.” He gestured between us, feigning hurt. “I had to start a massive fire at Vesper for this. For you.”
“No.” I barely eked it out through barred teeth.
My head lolled back and smacked against the glass.
“Victor really is very good at creating a diversion, isn’t he? Him turning himself in worked even better than the original plan. Of course they sent you home. Of course there was no one to stay with you.”
My thoughts were swimming as my head rolled side to side. My fingers were clawing at the purple bruises marring the swell of my breast.
This is what it feels like to die.
I couldn’t do anything when he came up and straddled my legs. Every inch of my skin crawled as he got close; my heart reacted all the more violently, too. When I could feel the heat radiating off his skin I closed my eyes. I was going to picture Nick during my last minutes if it killed me.
Well no, Christopher is going to kill you but…
I tried to push those thoughts from my head, filling my mind with Nick instead. Every moment danced through my mind; everything from his naked body intertwined with mine to the way he looked at me over the morning newspaper. I made myself feel his lips against mine and see the color his eyes had been when he proposed.
My mind was completely focused on Nick when Christopher ran his hand across my cheek and shoved it into my hair. My eyes flew open, and I stared up and into the soulless gaze of Satan. I tried to struggle away from him but his hand curled into my long strands and kept me thoroughly pinned. He wore a truly wicked smirk as his free hand moved to his fly.
That movement snapped me out of it. I wasn’t going to sit there and let Christopher fuck me. I was going to get back to Nick or die trying. I waited until Christopher started to work his pants down before launching my whole body at him.
My chest cavity constricted and the pain was on par with what being branded by hot iron had to be. But I rocketed off the glass with a lowered shoulder and lunged straight into him. I did my best to get my s
houlder into his crotch and judging by his howl something hit my mark.
I screamed for Jaime as I careened toward the door, sure he had to be up here by now. Desperately praying he was up here, I ricocheted off every surface, clattering furniture and sending clothing flying from its hangers. I didn’t get a chance to cry out again because a hand clamped down on my ankle. Christopher yanked, and I crashed to the floor.
“I don’t think so you little whore.”
He was pulling me back into the closet.
“No!”
I clawed at the floor desperate to get to the bedroom; I’d even pull up carpeting.
If I can just get to the doorframe.
I flailed wildly hoping I would propel me forward, or him back. Any way possible.
“I like it when they struggle,” he purred and it made my blood curdle.
Oh God, I forgot.
Bile rose in my throat, but I still refused to roll over and play dead. My fingers hurt where they dug at the floor.
“And I can’t wait to tell my brother how you struggled. How you tried to get to him.”
His unholy laugh filled the closet again and his hand moved up my leg.
“But that I fucked your ass on his carpet anyway.”
Christopher’s hand was on my lacy thong, pulling, when I found the strength, and mercifully the angle, to kick him in the face. He stumbled back, holding his wounded jaw. Free of his grasp, I clamored toward the bedroom door, screaming again.
Where the fuck are you Jaime?
My heart was far past painful. I was sure that Brooklyn’s description of organs exploding and ears bleeding would happen at any moment, if it hadn’t already. And honestly, I’d rather go that way. A ruptured, bloodied corpse wasn't pretty but my death wouldn’t be on Christopher’s fucked up terms.
I careened into a bookshelf as Christopher swore behind me.
“Jaime!” I finally projected my voice out into the open glass box of the apartment. The end of his name got a little mangled because Christopher caught up to me and shoved me up against the cable railing of the stairwell. One steel wire cut across my throat and closed off my airway. The other shoved against my lower ribs, hard enough to crack.
