by Tia Siren
She looked up from her phone when she heard me approach. “Afternoon, Mr. Burke.”
“Afternoon,” I returned coolly, still on edge about who the rat was in my office. I knew Joanna considered Sabrina a close friend, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Sabrina knew something more than what she would let on.
“I, um, heard that there is some weird harassment thing going around,” she said. A blush filled her cheeks when I glanced at her sharply. “I mean, I have no idea who is doing it from inside the office, but I think both of us know who is responsible for it.”
“Maybe,” I said, fixing Sabrina with an intense stare. “Who might that be in your opinion?”
Sabrina gave me a strange look. “The same person you think it is—Sid.”
I nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. “I know it’s him pushing this. I just don’t know who he convinced to create a fake sexual harassment suit.”
“I can’t help you there.” Sabrina leaned in to whisper into my ear then. “Just know, Mr. Burke, that Sid has been stalking Joanna’s mom, too. He had another female call Joanna’s mom last week pretending to be me to try to get information about where Joanna is. Maybe she’s the same woman claiming all these things.”
“He was calling Joanna’s mom, too?” I repeated in disbelief. “Seems a bit farfetched, but I suppose he’s desperate enough at this point.”
“Very desperate,” Sabrina said quietly. “I just think until Joanna does something, like stand up to him for once, it won’t ever stop. Sid thinks he can bully her back into his control.”
I shook my head at the thought of Joanna returning to that prick. I pictured those ugly dark bruises beneath her thick foundation. Never again. Not while Joanna lived inside my mansion back in Park City.
“She won’t do it, though.” Sabrina continued on in exasperation. “I’ve tried telling her that hiding isn’t going to be enough. She needs to put him behind bars for all the fucked-up shit he has done to her. It’s like—”
“Talking to a brick wall,” I finished solemnly. “Trust me, I know. I’ve tried to talk to her before about pressing charges against Sid. She doesn’t want to hear it.”
“I think it’s too painful for her to think that she was manipulated into that type of relationship. She was with him for such a long time.”
“Maybe,” I said, sighing. “It’s hard to tell what she is thinking sometimes.”
Sabrina turned to look directly at me. “Do you know where she really is? She wouldn’t ever tell me where she was, though I have my suspicions.”
“I can’t disclose her location,” I replied crisply. “It’s for her protection, but I can guarantee she is safe.”
Sabrina’s lips thinned. I could see that she wanted to ask more, but I twisted on my heel sharply to head back inside. I didn’t know who to trust just yet, but for the time being, I wanted to hear Joanna’s voice. I needed to hear her.
“Any messages?” I barked out to Roger when I passed by his desk.
“None, sir. None at all.”
I closed my office doors before dialing the landline in Park City. It rang a few times before going to voice mail again. Same thing with Joanna’s cell phone.
Smoothing a hand through my hair, I tried to calm my aggravation while I paced about the office for the next few hours. I couldn’t afford to leave work again in a rush after being back for one day. Not with the workers’ union all over my ass, and then expecting a police investigation to open up at any moment.
Ashton arrived at my office around four, a welcoming distraction from the unease building inside me. We talked over a few potential contracts that wanted our investment. I wanted to gather as many as I could, solidify them in contract, before the shit-storm came out.
“Have you talked to your lawyer about all of this bullshit going around about you?” Ashton asked while I closed up my office quickly. “It’s been a real fucking treat, answering all sorts of questions about whether or not I think you are capable of sexual harassment.”
“Who asked you questions?” I asked.
Ashton shrugged his shoulders. “Some police officer that called a few days ago. He wanted to verify if I had heard anything from any of the employees here about inappropriate work conduct.”
“Fucking prick,” I growled, rubbing at my aching temples. “This cop is determined to fish Joanna out of my life.”
“Maybe it’s a good idea to let her go then,” Ashton said. “I mean, this is your career. This is a business you built up yourself. I don’t think it would be a good idea to keep Joanna under your personal care while all of this is going on.”
“You’re saying that I should turn my back on her?” I twisted around to glare at Ashton, who immediately dropped his gaze to the floor to hide his guilty expression. “That’s what I thought. You can’t just turn your back on the people you love.”
“Love?” Ashton repeated, startled. “You’re in love with Joanna? Since when did this happen?”
Uncomfortable with the topic change, I adjusted the tie around my neck to loosen it. A lump formed in my throat because I didn’t like to say that word out loud to anyone. Not even to Joanna, who accepted the fleeting moments I did say it.
“This isn’t going to end well for you,” Ashton said. “I hate to say this, but it’s bordering the Sierra ordeal.”
“How could you say that?” I asked and powered my computer down before gathering my winter coat from the closet. “Sierra is a gold-digging whore. She only cares about her alimony check that she gets every month in the mail. How is Joanna even comparable?”
“Because she’s causing havoc in your life.” He held up a hand when I opened my mouth to reply to that. “Granted, it’s not intentional. I realize that half of this isn’t her fault by any means, but maybe temporarily taking a step back might help the situation out here. You’re a bit blinded at the moment.”
I finished the last button of my coat before nodding curtly at Ashton. “Thanks for the concern, but I think I will be okay. I’ve handled PR-related things before. This isn’t any different.”
“The only difference is that you are actually guilty of sleeping with an employee who collects a paycheck here,” Ashton said pointedly. “Just keep that in mind as you’re handling all of this, because that will come out.”
I didn’t even bother with a response. I tried to call Joanna again, but to no avail. It was Marcie who ended up answering the landline when I tried that again.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Burke,” she said. “I have been running errands outside the house today. What is it that I can do for you?”
“Joanna,” I said irritably. “I need to speak to her. She hasn’t picked up the phone the entire day.”
Thick silence followed that.
My heart joined that lump in my throat as I climbed behind the steering wheel of my SUV. I turned the engine on to fight the cold, but I didn’t dare put it into drive yet.
“What is it?” I asked. “Marcie, what do you know?”
“I was so sure that you would’ve known by now. Joanna left this morning. She left her phone and computer here for you to have back.”
I clutched the steering wheel tightly with my free hand until the knuckles went white. Hurt flashed through me while I stared across the parking garage. What the hell was she thinking?
“Did she give you any reason for why she left?”
“Nothing,” Marcie said. “I don’t know who picked her up either. She just said that she needed to leave. I’m sorry, Mr. Burke. I tried to get more out of her, but she didn’t want to say anything else.”
“Thank you, Marcie. I’ll be at the penthouse tonight, so don’t bother with dinner there.”
I tossed my phone angrily into the passenger seat next to me. If she’d left on her own will or not, I needed to know. There were only a handful of people who knew where Joanna was, so I started in the direction of the one place I suspected she could be.
Chapter 28
Joanna
This morning was no exception when I walked in to find her cooking breakfast. She wore a pair of nice pants, short boots, and a nice blouse with her blond hair curled and sprayed into place. It didn’t matter if the world was crashing down on her shoulders—she insisted on looking her best at all times.
“Morning,” she said cheerfully. “I figured you could use a home-cooked meal. You look a bit starved in my opinion.”
“I’m not starved,” I replied, rubbing at my aching head. “I’ve been eating fine. Just some coffee if you haven’t made another pot.”
She nodded to the coffee maker. “There’s a fresh pot. Does your head hurt?”
“Everything hurts,” I muttered cynically. “I’m seriously not hungry, Mom. You didn’t have to do any of this for me.”
“Of course I did,” she said. “You’re my daughter. I love you. It’s obvious that you need the help right now.”
“I don’t need that type of help. I don’t have an eating disorder.”
“I wasn’t talking about that sort of help, Joanna. I meant that it’s obvious you haven’t been taking care of yourself.” She turned away while I poured myself a cup of coffee. “It’s obvious that this boss of yours wasn’t feeding you properly.”
I rolled my eyes as I sipped my coffee before dumping myself into a chair at the dining room table, resigned to the fact that I would have to force myself to eat despite my queasy stomach.
“He took care of me fine,” I said. “I don’t know why you’re so keen on trying to break him down. He gave me a sanctuary to get away from it all.”
“He also used you,” she pointed out and pulled out a waffle from the waffle maker. “Try to remember that part, too.”
“He didn’t use me, though. It was—”
“Oh, for goodness’ sake, Joanna!” She turned to face me in exasperation. “He took advantage of the situation because he knew that you would be vulnerable. Why can’t you see that?”
“Because it isn’t true,” I snapped, shaking my head at her. “I’m not going to give in to your idea of what happened because you have no idea what happened.”
“I’m not oblivious to what happened. I get that Mr. Burke is an attractive man, but he’s also a very calculated one. He knows how to get what he wants. His entire life is about making those types of choices, and he’s good at it. I’ll give him that.”
Confusion cut through my defenses while my mother settled a plate full of food in front of me. The sight of it brought on another wave of queasiness. I couldn’t handle the thought of taking a bite of food right now when my entire world had flipped itself over.
I waited for her to settle down in the chair across from me before I pushed the plate away. It had troubled me since the moment my mother had started trying to push me as far away from Bastian as possible. She had been practically gloating in the van the entire drive back to Salt Lake.
“Why is this such an issue for you?” I asked. “You were somewhat fine with what I was doing for a while until the past two weeks. What’s changed?”
“Nothing has changed,” she said defensively. “Why would you even ask me that question? I’m glad you’re back home with me is all.”
I shook my head at her in disbelief. “I don’t believe you. Something isn’t right. So why don’t you just be honest with me about what is going on here?”
For a long time, she kept her gaze focused on the table to hide her emotions. I waited patiently for her to say something, to hint at the real reason why she had been so insistent about me coming home.
“I’ve been thinking long and hard about this entire situation of yours,” she said. “I just think that maybe Sid is in need of some counseling is all. Running away really was a foolish decision, Joanna. It only added fuel to that fire.”
“I thought I was protecting myself.”
“Wrong,” she said, shaking her head. “Bastian thought he was protecting you. Was going away even your idea?”
I clicked my mouth shut to keep that response to myself. A majority of my life had been spent trying to appease everyone in my life—including Sid. Even Bastian. I had let both men take complete reign of my life without question.
“You’re right that I should’ve been in control,” I said. “It was just a bad situation, Mom. Sid hurt me. He has been hurting me for a long time. Don’t you see that?”
“I have never seen it,” she said. “I just never saw what you were describing to me. He’s a cop too, Joanna. Did it ever occur to you that maybe his job is a bit stressful?”
I set my coffee down on the table with a noise of disgust. “You’re defending him. You’re actually defending him.”
“I’m not defending him,” she said in exasperation, holding up her hands. “All I’m saying is that these sorts of things never happened back in my day. Sure, your father had some rough days while working at the bank. We got into our fair share of arguments—”
“He never hit you, though,” I interrupted. “Not once, Mom. I have never seen Dad speak to you the way Sid speaks to me.”
Her eyes narrowed at me. “Is it any different from how Bastian speaks to you?”
“Of course it is! He doesn’t make me feel like a shitty person. That’s a good thing in my eyes. And he never strangled me or threatened to kill me.”
A knock on the front door stopped the conversation quickly in its tracks. I sat back in the dining room chair in disbelief while my mother rose from her chair, not willing to let whoever was at the door wait.
“All I’m saying is that people are angry for a reason,” she said. “Sometimes that anger is taken out in the wrong way. I won’t condone abuse, but maybe there’s more to it that you aren’t thinking about.”
The headache pounding in my temples only worsened. Coming back home had been a mistake. A major one. It was vividly clear whose side my mother had picked, and it certainly wasn’t mine. I rose from the table to grab the handset. Bastian’s cell phone number was on my fingertips when the kitchen door opened behind me.
“Hello, Joanna.”
The phone slipped from my fingers. Cold fear crawled up my spine as I slowly twisted around to find Sid standing in kitchen with my mother right behind him. His dark eyes flicked up and down me in a scrutinizing manner that instantly made me flinch back from him. He hated it whenever I didn’t shower first thing in the morning. He liked how my mother was always dressed and ready to go in the mornings.
“Wh-what are you doing here?” I stammered, wishing I hadn’t dropped the phone. “I told you to stay away from me.”
“Your mother invited me here,” Sid said. He turned to look back at her with a smile. “She was very kind enough to hear my side of the story.”
I looked over Sid’s shoulder to catch my mother’s eyes. The smile on her face faltered ever so slightly when I let the hurt I was feeling flash on my face.
“I just thought it would be appropriate to hear him out,” she said. “Hear his side of things, Joanna. It’s not a bad thing to talk to each other.”
Sid took a step forward into the kitchen. I got up and took a step back to keep the distance between us as he scooped up the phone from the floor. He handed it over to my mother before I could ask for it back—a subtle isolation trick of his. Take away any chance of me ever trying to contact help.
“Just hear me out,” Sid said and nodded to the table. A warning flickered in his eyes when I didn’t move. “Please? I’d hate to argue with your mother standing right here. It might hurt her to hear it.”
The threat didn’t pass me by. With my fingers trembling, I slowly sank down in
a chair across from him while my mother closed the kitchen door to give us privacy. Which was exactly what Sid wanted judging from the pleased look he sent her direction.
“You see, Joanna? Your mother gets it. She gets how to be a good wife and when to listen to someone.”
“You manipulated her into coming here,” I said through clenched teeth. “She’s oblivious to the fact that you can charm almost anyone. What do you want?”
He reached a hand across the table, but I pulled myself back from his touch. He ignored the movement, though, by snatching out to grab ahold of my hand. Pain shot up my arm as he yanked me into the table to bring our heads close together.
“I’ve had enough of chasing you around for the past few weeks,” he said into my face, the smell of cologne and coffee thick. “I know that you’ve been shacking up with that boss of yours in Park City. It’s not that difficult to figure out where you’ve been.”
I squirmed beneath Sid’s iron grasp. “I don’t want to be around you, Sid. You aren’t the man I once loved years ago. You’ve changed.”
“Your mother is right. A job can change you. The things I see in a day…” He trailed off with a glazed look in his eyes. “It’s horrendous. I carry those demons inside me every damn day I clock out of my shift.”
“I know that. It’s not—”
His fingers dug into the tendons of my wrist painfully. “And it would be nice to hear some appreciation for it, Jo. Money means nothing at the end of the day.”
“I never said it was meaningful.” I gasped, trying to pry his fingers away. “Stop it, Sid. You’re hurting me.”
“Only because you’ve done it to me,” he replied smoothly. “You ripped my heart into pieces by doing what you’ve done.”
Tears coated my eyes. I couldn’t escape even if my life depended on it, or my mother’s. Sid never hesitated to shoot and then explain later. That was who he was.
