by Tia Siren
She wiped underneath her eyes where mascara was smudging. “It started out with him just being protective. I didn’t think much of it, but then it started getting physical whenever something upset him.”
My hands were shaking at my sides. I quickly hid them from Joanna in my suit pockets when she glanced up at me with vulnerable eyes. She looked so lost and confused that it pulled hard on my heartstrings.
“What do I do?” Joanna whispered. “I can’t go to the cops because he is a cop. They will protect him before they even hear me out.”
“You have to get out of the situation first,” I said. “That’s why I’m telling you that you need to call it off with this guy and come stay with me until things settle down. I honestly don’t mind having a guest in my house. I have the room.”
Joanna chewed her lip in indecision. “Where do you live?”
“I have a log mansion in Park City. There’s a lot more security there than my penthouse apartment here in Salt Lake.”
“No one can get in at your place in Park City?”
“Not without tripping the alarms,” I said assuredly. I grabbed ahold of Joanna’s soft hands to squeeze them. “Joanna, listen to me. I know this is scary—”
“It’s fucking terrifying,” she burst out, and then tears slipped from the corners of her eyes. “You have no idea, Mr. Burke. He’s threatened to kill me if I try to leave. What am I supposed to do?”
A red haze filled my mind. Blood rage. Nothing gave me more pleasure than remembering my fist colliding with Sid’s jaw. He wasn’t tall, either—a short fucker who had obviously scrummed his way up from the streets. I didn’t know what motivated him when it came to hurting Joanna, but it was evident he had manipulated her enough emotionally to keep her coming back to him for years.
“Leave,” I repeated firmly. “You have to leave, Joanna.”
“It never used to be like this,” she said, shaking her head. “He’ll come after you, Bastian, if he knows that I left with you. I can’t stomach knowing that he’s going to try to destroy you in the process. I can’t let that happen because of a stupid mistake I made.”
I was in awe of the control this fucker had over Joanna. I wasn’t immune to scandals or threats. I had my fair share of dealing with them in the press, but none of it fazed me. My business had nothing to do with people. I could carry on without batting an eyelash at the public opinion if Sid decided to try that route.
“Don’t worry about what he thinks he can do to me,” I said. “I can take you to a shelter if you are more comfortable with that.”
“A shelter?” She grimaced as she folded her arms across her chest. “I’d rather not go to a shelter, or anywhere to be honest. He knows where all the shelters are.”
I stomped down on my impatience when the doors to my office opened. It was Roger, who peered at Joanna’s back as he looked over at me.
“Your nine-thirty conference is about to start,” he said. “I can push it back if you need to.”
“You better get to the conference,” Joanna said, wiping away the tears on her cheek. “Thank you, Mr. Burke, but I will be all right.”
“Cancel it,” I told Roger curtly. “I will reschedule it for next week. Call my driver as well, and tell him to bring the SUV up from the parking garage. I’m going to need the space.”
Roger nodded before he closed the doors. I looked over at Joanna, who was staring out the window with a distant glint in her eyes.
“I can’t leave him,” Joanna said quietly. “It’s too much of a risk to leave. If I leave, he’ll just keep coming back to hurt me.”
I shook my head in frustration. Striding across the office, I stepped into Joanna’s line of sight to gain her attention.
“You are a beautiful woman,” I said. “You don’t deserve to be bruised up by some punk of a man who is using you to feel better about himself. You are smart, and you are capable of living in this world without him believe it or not. I have the utmost faith in you.”
More tears welled in Joanna’s eyes as she gazed at me. Those beautiful blue eyes were so hurt and touched by my words. She sucked in a watery breath before nodding at me.
“Okay,” she said. “Just please don’t tell anyone here in the office about it. I know Sabrina has her suspicions, but I don’t want them to know.”
“Not a word,” I promised with a small smile. “It’s going to be okay, Jo. I promise you that it will be okay. I have the best lawyers around here that can help you if needed.”
“Thank you,” she said. “What next?”
I glanced up at my clock above the office doors. “We need to get you home and get your belongings. Clothes and personal things.”
“What about work?”
“I can do work from anywhere,” I said and gathered my wallet from my desk. “We’ll wait here until my driver texts me that he is here in the private garage. Surprise is essential for getting you out of the situation before it can turn around.”
Joanna chewed on the pad of her thumb as she glanced at the doors of my office. “Do you think I could do something really quick with my phone before we leave?”
“You don’t have to ask permission,” I reminded her. “What are you planning to do?”
“Let Sid know that I’m leaving him,” she said. “If I don’t say anything now, I’ll never do it.”
I nodded in agreement. “Use my office if you need some privacy. I’ll tell the security guards down in the lobby to keep an eye out for him.”
Joanna exited my office after tying her scarf around her neck again. She didn’t want the attention, and I didn’t want to tell her that Roger and Sabrina already suspected that something like this was happening. I sat down to write off a few emails while I pulled out a couple documents for Joanna to sign so it wouldn’t draw attention to her. A personal leave of absence was the only thing I could think of to protect her from gossip around the office, or if Sid did manage to wrangle information out of someone.
I rose from my chair when Joanna entered my office again with her phone in hand. Her face was pale from fear when she looked down at the papers in my hand.
“They aren’t papers saying you are fired,” I said. “It’s for my payroll. You’re still going to get paid even if you are working away from the office.”
Joanna’s eyes widened at that. “Bastian, you’re already doing so much. I don’t expect anything else.”
“Well, it’s happening regardless, even if you don’t sign this paper,” I said sternly. “I’ll step out to run these to payroll while you call—”
“Wait.”
Her hand desperately clutched at the sleeve of my shirt. “Would you stay in here for a moment while I call? You know, just in case he…”
“Of course. I’ll stay in here as a witness.”
I closed the office doors when an employee walked by curiously. Joanna’s fingers were trembling as she scrolled through her phone. She hit the speaker phone button.
“I’m driving at the moment.” Sid’s voice cut through the office impatiently. My fingers clenched into fists at the sound of his voice. “What is it, Jo?”
Joanna sucked in a hard breath. I nodded encouragingly when she looked up at me with terrified eyes.
“Do it,” I mouthed. “Do it now.”
“I’m leaving you, Sid,” Joanna said, her voice surprisingly steady given how her entire frame was shaking. “I’m done with this relationship. I’m breaking up with you.”
Silence stretched out on the other end of the phone.
“You’re breaking up with me?” Sid repeated dubiously. He broke out into humorless laughter. “I should’ve known this was going to happen when I dropped you off at work. I’m coming by there to get you.”
“I’m already gone, Sid. I have my things. Please stay away from me. I’m done with you hitting me and controlling everything I do.”
“Bitch—”
Joanna hit the end button before he could finish his sentence. Tears were filling her eyes a
gain as she looked up at me.
“Is your driver here yet?” she asked. “God only knows where he really is at the moment. He can drive fast without a problem.”
“I’m sure the driver is here,” I said. “Let’s take the back stairs separately. I don’t want gossip flying around the office about us leaving together.”
I waited a minute while Joanna left my office to use the back stairs. Powering down my computer for the week, I gathered everything I imagined I would need to work from my office in Park City. I strode through the office, no one raising a question. They knew better than to question my whereabouts or to even question what I was doing.
The air was frigid in the private parking garage when I jogged down the back stairs. I found Joanna standing nervously near the door with her purse clutched to her chest. I spotted Ethan, my personal driver, parked in his usual spot with the black SUV I asked for.
“Over here,” I said and molded a hand gently against Joanna’s lower back. “That’s my driver right there. Just give him the address, and he’ll get us there in no time.”
I ignored the sparks that went up my arm at the contact. Ethan wordlessly pulled out of the garage while Joanna told him the address. I kept one eye peeled for a cop car following behind us, but nothing screamed unusual as Ethan pulled into a middle-class neighborhood about thirty minutes later. He pulled up in front a small house with a fenced-in yard. The front pathway was freshly shoveled of snow.
Joanna slipped out of the passenger seat with me behind her. “I’m just going to grab my suitcases to put clothes in. Everything else is Sid’s.”
“The less the better,” I replied as I scanned the quiet street for any unmarked cars. “I’ll help you carry out what you need while Ethan loads the luggage up.”
The smell of cinnamon washed over me when Joanna opened the front door. The entire house was tiny, but immaculate. Nothing was out of place. Joanna skirted around the living room to gather a laptop and a couple photographs on a bookshelf. I followed her into a bedroom where she pulled out three large suitcases to dump clothes into as quickly as possible.
I tried to focus on helping her put clothes in the suitcases rather than on what was being put in. Panties. Bras. It wasn’t time to think about those things. I zipped up a full suitcase to set down on the floor.
“Shit,” Joanna muttered, emerging from the bathroom with a bag of makeup and hair products. “I have a bad feeling, Bastian. I don’t know how to describe it.”
Her hands were trembling so badly that she nearly dropped everything. I grasped her hands when she tossed the last bit of her things into the suitcase on the bed. Her palms felt clammy with cold sweat against mine.
“It’s going to be okay,” I said. “Let’s just get these suitcases out. One thing at a time, okay?”
Joanna inhaled deeply through her nose to calm her nerves down. “Okay. Let’s get everything in the car before—”
The sound of car tires squealing on the road filled the room. My heart thumped anxiously in my chest when I heard angry voices echo out in the winter morning.
“Hey, boss,” Ethan hollered out. “There’s someone here. It’s two cops.”
Chapter 8
Joanna
Fear lodged itself in my throat as I jerked my hands out of Bastian’s soothing grip. I rushed over to the bedroom window to see Sid and his partner, Joe, getting in Ethan’s face. They were both dressed in uniform and armed.
“Shit.” I gasped and turned to look at Bastian as he zipped up the last suitcase hurriedly. “What are we going to do? I didn’t think he’d come here first.”
“Roll that suitcase out behind me,” Bastian said. “We are going to load them into the SUV. That’s what we are going to do. He’s not going to do anything dressed in a uniform.”
I wanted to believe that calm air about Bastian, but the uneasy feeling in my stomach only grew as I followed Bastian out the front door. Sid twisted his furious gaze away from Ethan, who stood up against the SUV with an unperturbed look on his face. Sid’s eyes immediately landed on Bastian, who continued down the pathway without batting an eyelash.
“What the fuck is this shit?” Sid demanded hotly. “You call to tell me that you’re leaving me, and you’re leaving with this fucking prick?”
I couldn’t even think of a response as Sid stepped in Bastian’s path to stop the both of us. He glared at me from around Bastian’s shoulder.
“I see how it is,” Sid said darkly. “You figured that I’d go to your work first, so you were coming home for some morning delight. No wonder you got such a promotion, Jo. You were always good at doing things on your back.”
“She earned her promotion,” Bastian countered smoothly. “Excuse me. You can’t keep us here against our will. You’re a cop. You know all about entrapment.”
“Right,” Sid said, scoffing. “Entrapment? How about trespassing on you? You aren’t welcome in my house.”
“I was invited by Joanna to come help her get her things.”
“She’s not on the lease for this house, nor on any of the bills,” Sid said.
Bastian shook his head. “Even I know trespassing doesn’t work like that.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
My fingers were clutching the handle of my suitcase so tightly that it hurt. I knew Sid wouldn’t do anything crazy with Bastian unless provoked because it would make it easier to explain everything away to his supervisor. He was biding his time for Bastian to do something.
“I followed your phone here,” Sid said, as if it were the most obvious thing. “I pay for it, Jo. You think I don’t have something to follow you around with?”
I blanched at the realization. It made perfect sense why Sid knew where I was at all times. He had something installed on my phone to keep track of my whereabouts. The pit of my stomach churned with nausea. Things had gone too far. I needed to leave before Bastian was forced to leave me behind.
“I’m leaving you,” I said again. “I’m serious, Sid. I don’t want any more of this relationship.”
His eyes flashed dangerously as he took a step off the pathway to head in my direction. Bastian immediately put himself between us and shoved Sid back into the snowy lawn with surprising strength. It sent Sid skittering back in visible surprise. He orientated himself again and pulled out his gun to point it at Bastian.
Fear stabbed through my heart coldly and painfully. It left me breathless as I stared at Sid’s dark eyes, which were focused on Bastian in front of me.
“Sid,” I shrieked. I tried to move in front of Bastian, but he kept me pushed behind him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Arrest them, Joe,” Sid said calmly. “They’re trespassing. The driver and Mr. Burke here are not welcome on my property.”
Ethan protested as Joe immediately shoved him up against the back of the SUV to slap on handcuffs. Hot tears filled my eyes as Sid yanked Bastian in the direction of the squad car with the barrel of his pistol pressed between his shoulder blades. He waited for Joe to place Ethan in the back of the squad before releasing Bastian to let Joe cuff him, too.
The suitcase handle slipped from my numb fingers as Sid stalked up the pathway in my direction. He grasped my elbow tightly in his fingers. I couldn’t even squirm in pain as Sid wiggled his gun in my face.
“Remember what I promised you?” he said, his breath puffing out in front of my face. “You’re such a slut, Jo. It’s really a shame, because you were so good for a long time until you started working for that bastard over there.”
“Sid,” I cried out, squirming against the pinch of his fingers on my elbow. “You’re hurting me. There are neighbors out here to see what is going on.”
“I know the law, sweetheart. He’s trespassing on my property.”
I looked over to where Bastian was standing calmly alongside the sidewalk as Joe rifled through his wallet for a driver’s license.
“You’re making a mistake,” Bastian told Joe with a th
reat underlying his voice. “You have no idea who you are fucking with, man. Look at the card and picture next to my driver’s license.”
“Don’t listen to his bullshit,” Sid spat as he picked up my suitcase from the ground. He grabbed me by the arm again. “Just put him in the car, Joe. Don’t listen to him.”
Joe pulled out a card and a small photograph from Bastian’s wallet. The color in his face drained before he looked over at Sid with panic in his eyes.
“Sid,” he hissed, “this guy is friends with the governor.”
Sid scowled at his partner. “Your point?”
“His point is that I’m close friends with the man who can yank your badge the second I ask him to do it,” Bastian said. “Not to mention I go golfing with the mayor and the chief of police on a regular basis.”
“Don’t undo those cuffs,” Sid snapped as Joe reached behind Bastian’s back. “Who the fuck cares about who your friends are?”
“I do, man,” Joe snapped back. “I have a wife and a family to care for. I can’t afford to lose my job because of your fucked-up temper. Just let her go.”
Joe undid the handcuffs, and Bastian rubbed at his wrist while he grabbed his wallet and things back from Joe. He started up the sidewalk to pick up the suitcase Sid had dropped to the ground, Joe on his heels.
“Put the gun down,” Joe said, placing a hand on Sid’s shoulder. “Come on, man. This ain’t the way to do shit. Your neighbors are looking out the windows.”
Violent shudders went through me that had nothing to do with the icy blast of cold winter air that pushed against us. Sid released my elbow when Joe pulled him away from me, but I didn’t mistake the promise in his eyes. A promise of revenge.
“Get in the car,” Bastian told me quietly. “Don’t get out no matter what happens.” He turned to Joe. “Can you release my driver?”
Sid stood motionlessly in the middle of the pathway with his eyes burning into my back while I stumbled forward on wobbly legs. I didn’t hesitate to slide into the warm SUV as Joe released Ethan from the back of the car. Ethan opened the trunk to place the suitcases inside as quickly as possible.
