by Brynne Asher
I smile back. “I’m not giving up this phone, so you should get on that.”
“What did you need besides to tell me gadgets make you sentimental.”
I look to my feet. “I need to ask you something.”
“You want to start negotiating positions before the celebrating commences, there’s no need. I’m up for anything you’re in the mood for.”
I smile and close my eyes. “I’m serious.”
His voice dips. “So am I.”
I ignore that. “I told you we’re interviewing companies to revamp our security, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t want to outsource it, it makes me nervous. I want it done in-house.”
“You need references? I can help with that.”
“No.” I pause and open my eyes. “I want you.”
“Baby, it doesn’t matter how many ways you want me, you’ve got me.”
“No, Eli. I’m offering you a job. I want you to be in charge of Global Security for MI.”
Silence.
I tap my Tabitha Simmons heel on the carpet and wait.
“You’re serious?”
I sigh. “As a gunshot wound.”
I guess he knows how serious I am because he gives me more silence.
“You’ll have complete say on who we hire, the infrastructure you want to put in place. The position is going to cover all our refineries and satellite offices. I can show you the salary structure if that’s a concern—”
“Baby, stop. I’m not worried about the money. I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do. Is this about me getting shot? Because that was a freak incident. There hasn’t been a shooting within FBI offices like that in … hell, I have no clue. But I promise you, I’m calculated in what I do. I’m done working undercover. It’s a safe job.”
I’m quick to respond. “It’s not about that.”
“Then what’s it about?”
The sun is setting and, as the fiery orange ball starts its descent, I tell him the truth. “I know I asked you to look into things before when the situation was bad and I was desperate. I know you can’t do both under normal circumstances. But if I’m going to do this—take over this company—I want it to be you.” I hesitate for a tick before telling the truth. “You make me feel safe.”
I hear him move and shift and, if I know my man, he’s running a hand through his hair or over his scruffy jaw that tickles and scratches every part of me in a delicious way. What I don’t do is tell him he can have access to the Gulfstream whenever he needs to visit his parents or, with the bonus structure, he’d be able to afford to do anything for them. I want to say all this, to make him accept because I’m being selfish. I want him here with me—the thought of the FBI moving him again makes me want to scream the building down.
But he doesn’t need the job I’m offering. We’ll go to Chicago as much as he wants and I’ll do everything I can for his parents.
Instead, I decide to go with, “I know it might be weird, you working for me, but you wouldn’t report to me. And after all this hoopla, my mom mentioned that she’s going to push my dad to retire sooner than later. She wants time with him and he can still sit on the board.”
“I’ll think about it.”
My eyes close and I breathe a sigh of relief. I thought he’d shoot me down immediately. “You will?”
“Yeah. I just need some time.”
“Thank you. For thinking about it.”
His voice dips. “I love you and I’ll do anything for you, but that can happen in a lot of different ways.”
I let that seep through me and nod. “I know it can. I love you, too.”
“I promise you’ll always feel safe.”
My voice hitches and I squeeze my eyes shut so I don’t ruin my mascara. “Thank you.”
He changes the subject. “Sarah just called. She was less of a bitch than she’s been in the last few months, letting me know your lawyer did his thing and my parents have the first check from their insurance to start fixing the damage from the fire.”
I smile. “I’m glad. Trig did that as a favor.”
His voice goes tight. “A favor for what?”
I almost laugh. “For not letting my dad go at him in the conference room a few weeks ago.”
“That’s fucked up,” he adds.
I sigh. “I know. The Montgomerys—we’re drama llamas, right?”
“I’ll see you tonight.”
“Tonight,” I agree and can’t wait. “My next meeting is waiting for me, I’ve got to go.”
“Don’t be late,” he warns.
I start to smile, but hear a scuffle outside my door. “Never.”
“Love you.”
I turn to see what’s going on as I tell him the truth that I’ve never meant more, “Love you, too.”
We hang up and I double-time it across my large office when I hear her. “Get out of my way. I don’t give a shit what she’s doing. I need to talk to her.”
“She’s late for a meeting. She can’t see you now,” Callie insists, taking her horse-holder position a bit far, even for my liking. Especially with Ellie.
“Get your fucking hands off me. I might be small but I promise I could kick your ass all the way to Waco and back and won’t give it a second thought. Let me through.”
“What’s going on?”
Callie is trying to block Ellie from my office and has a grip on her forearm. I glance over at Seth, the vice-president of environmental standards, and my next meeting. He’s moved close and I can tell he’s wondering if he should step in.
Callie is tall and lean and I’m not sure Ellie could even kick her ass to south Dallas, but she has more spirit, that’s for sure. She might win on effort alone.
But I don’t want that brawl to go down in my reception area and demand, “Let her go, Callie.”
Callie releases her arm and takes a step back before turning to me. I can tell she’s flustered when she runs her hands down her skirt and tries to catch her breath, telling me something I already know. “You’re already late for a meeting.”
Ellie moves past Callie as she gives her a glare that would remedy the mosquito issue in Texas. That is, until she turns her glower on me.
What the hell?
I turn to Seth. “Do you mind giving me five minutes?”
He settles back on the sofa, happy to not have had to break up a cat fight. “No problem.”
I turn and barely get my door shut when she unleashes. The moment she loses it, tears fill her eyes.
“You weren’t going to tell me?” she cries. “You of all people? Sure—Mom and Dad, I get. But you?”
The pain cutting through her is almost tangible as it fills my office. I take another step toward her. “Calm down. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“The hell you don’t. How long? How long have you been keeping me in the dark? It fucking kills me that you, of all people, would hide this!” she screams.
“Lower your voice,” I demand.
She doesn’t lower her voice. She moves and thrusts her phone in my face and I freeze. All the oxygen leaves my body and everything clicks into place.
Shit. I knew this would be hard but this is not the way I wanted it to play out.
“I’m in a meeting with my contractor and a notification from the Dallas Morning News pops up on my phone, alerting me you got your dismissal. But when I open the Twitter link, this is what I see. Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Ellie,” I lower my voice and try to reach out for her. “Let me explain. It’s been a ridiculous few weeks and I wanted to tell you the right way and not—”
“Fuck you!” she exclaims and throws her phone across my office. It hits my credenza, exploding like a firecracker that matches my heart, splitting into pieces. “There’s no excuse! Not if you love me. Not if you have my back the way you always promised. I have no one but you and I find out like this?”
She’s right. I have no excuse other than tal
king myself into the fact I was protecting her when really, I knew this would happen and was avoiding it.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you.”
“How long?” Her angry words sting like a slap. Her tears are coming heavy, taking every trace of makeup with them down her fair skin. “He’s representing you. How long have you known he was back?”
I lower my voice. “Not long. A couple weeks.”
“Weeks?” Her hands go to her head and she fists her hair, turning away from me.
“Please. Let me explain.”
She spins and puts a hand up to me. “No. I don’t need you to explain. Seeing you stand next to Trig on the steps of the federal courthouse was painful enough. Fuck, I can’t believe he’s back. I could forget, or at least pretend to forget, when he was across the country, but not here. Not back in Dallas. This is why I never wanted to come back. I knew it would hurt to be this close to him. Why would you keep this from me?”
I shake my head. “Because I knew this would happen. I had the investigation to worry about. I went to Chicago to find Eli … I just,” I pause and let my arms drop to my sides. “I didn’t know how to tell you. You’re married, Ellie. Nothing good would come of it. Not after everything that’s happened.”
She shakes her head and wipes her sleeve across her face. “I can’t go home. Not like this. Griff is with the sitter but I can’t see Robert. I can barely take him most days, but going home to him now?”
I take a step and hold a hand out to her. “Go clean up in my bathroom. I’ll cancel my meeting and we’ll go back to my house. I’ll pick up Griffin, make an excuse for you—we’ll tell Robert we’re celebrating my dismissal. He won’t want to be a part of that anyway.”
“No,” she seethes. “You don’t get to do this now—play the loving big sister. The time for that was the moment you found out he was back.”
“Ellie, don’t be absurd.”
But it’s too late. She’s moved around me, running out of my office with her blond hair and plaid shirt that’s cinched around her waist, trailing behind.
She’s already flung the door open and I rush after her. “Ellie, stop!”
She turns back to me one more time. “Don’t. Don’t you dare follow me.”
Shit.
Chapter 29
Wild and Terrified
Jen
Dammit. Of course, she picks today to throw her phone across the room.
“She hasn’t checked in?” I ask over the Bluetooth as I back out of my parking spot.
“No,” Ellie’s babysitter says. I hear Griffin squeal in the background. “She’s been gone all day—said she had some work to do at the new studio. I’m happy for her. She’s really excited about it.”
“Yeah, she is.” I pull out onto the downtown Dallas streets. I had to explain to Seth that we’d need to reschedule and, since Callie wasn’t at her desk, I had to do that on my own. By the time I grabbed my things and locked my office for the day, I left at least twenty minutes behind Ellie, maybe more. “When she gets home, have her call me right away. It’s important.”
“Sure thing, Ms. Montgomery.”
“I might be the one to come and get Griff later. Ellie and I are planning a girl’s night. It’s why I need to talk to her.”
“That’ll be fun,” she exclaims in a voice that sounds like she’s talking to a baby. I hear a rattle and the tunes of a baby toy in the background.
“Have her call me as soon as she comes home,” I reiterate.
“Okie-dokie,” she baby-talks to me again.
I disconnect. I’m at a loss. No way would she go to the ranch. My parents are the last people on earth she’d want to see after finding out Trig is back in town. I know I should’ve handled it differently—told her the second I left our first meeting at Lehmans. It was purely selfish on my part because I wanted to protect her and I knew this would happen, but I didn’t imagine it would be this bad.
Maybe she went back to the new studio. She has no one else she’s close to—right now, it’s my only option. I hop on the highway and head north.
My phone rings through the car and I cringe when I see who it is. It’s still officially work hours and I always make myself available whenever I can.
Taking a breath as I hit the gas and take a chance, hopping into the HOV lane by myself to bypass Friday afternoon traffic. I answer my phone. “This is Jen.”
“Jen. It’s Robert.”
“What’s up?” I ask, innocently, not at all like I’m chasing after his out-of-control wife who’s doing everything she can to avoid him and me.
“I went to your office but you were gone. I was going to see if I could sit in on your meeting. Never too early for me to learn the EPA standards side of the business.”
I frown because he’s never been interested in our environmental efforts. “Sorry, another time. I had to reschedule. I forgot I had an appointment across town. I won’t be back today.”
“Oh.” He pauses and I hear some shuffling of papers. “I’d love to get some of your time next week—get in on that meeting if I can. I know this is a passion for you and, with your dad probably stepping down in the near future, I’d like to learn as much as I can about it.”
My exit is two miles up and I veer off the HOV lane. I need to get him off the phone quicker than a breakup text. “Sounds good. Get with Callie. She’ll add you to the meeting.”
“I appreciate it,” he responds and drags this shit on way longer than necessary. “I’ll read up on the standards this weekend.”
“Perfect.” I need to get him off the phone and lie, “Speaking of Callie, she’s calling. Have a good weekend and give that nephew of mine kisses for me.”
He’s back to disinterested, just like always. “Will do.”
I disconnect and switch lanes to exit. I’ve only been by her studio once. Eli brought me by after work Wednesday and Ellie showed me around. Her babysitter was not wrong. Ellie is over the moon excited about the studio. It’s almost like she has a new lease on life—a fresh start, which is what she’s needed for a long time. But today I stomped all over that new lease and am afraid she’s right back to where she was years ago and I can’t blame her.
When I turn the corner, and the old building that my sister now owns comes into sight, her Lexus Hybrid RX is sitting all alone right by the front door.
Thank God.
I pull up next to her car and park, not bothering to take anything with me. I yank one of the front doors and it’s locked before trying the other. It swings open and I run in.
“Ellie!” I yell, my voice rings through the drab and dark space.
She doesn’t answer and I yell again. There’s a light on at the end of the hall. The click, click, click of my heels bounce off the walls as I move through the space.
“Dammit. I know you’re mad at me. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Trig, but this silent treatment is ridiculous.”
When I get to the double doors that will be Studio A, I gasp. “Ellie!”
I run to her. She’s on the other side of the room, lying mostly on her stomach. Her hair is fanned across her face and her eyes barely flutter open at my voice.
Fuck, I left my phone in the car.
“What happened?” I brush the hair from her face and run my hand down her back to see where she’s hurt. “Shit, talk to me. Did you fall? Hit your head? Say something, please!”
Her hand barely lifts and it looks like it takes all her strength to reach for me.
“Jen,” she puffs and under those heavy lids, her eyes are wild.
“Let me go get my phone. I’ll call for help,” I shift to get up but she tries to grab at me one more time. Her effort is pathetic and weak compared to her normal strength and agility.
She mumbles but I can’t make out her words … until her distraught eyes widen. But they aren’t focused on me. She’s looking over my shoulder.
I turn.
I don’t have time to react.
The last thi
ng I remember is the stinging pain in my neck that reminds me of when I was little and I thought it would be fun to hit a wild beehive with a baseball bat because my best friend and I were stupid and bored. It wasn’t fun at all and we were both stung a dozen times.
That was nothing compared to this. When I fall next to my sister, I don’t even feel the pain of my head hitting the cold, hard floor of soon-to-be Studio A.
Chapter 30
I Fall
Jen
Lethargic.
I feel like I’ve been asleep for a hundred years. It doesn’t matter how much I want to move my limbs—they won’t cooperate. And my head—shit. The pounding, it echoes and whips through my brain with the ferocity of a tornado, leaving nothing in its wake but carnage.
“Jen.”
My whispered name cuts through the battering of my head and my body is coming to life just enough to feel her touch.
Ellie.
Oh, shit. Ellie.
“Wake up,” she hisses, not just touching, but shaking me. I moan because it hurts my head even more. She shushes me, pulling me in tight.
“Are you almost here? I had no choice.” A familiar voice breaks through my subconscious. “These two together… Fuck, I couldn’t take it anymore. She was going on and on about that other guy.”
“Jen, you have to wake up. Please, wake up,” Ellie panics in my ear. I try to open my eyes and it hurts even worse. What little light there is in the room prickles through the clockworks of my slow functioning brain. Ellie has me up and cradled against her chest, her lips against my ear. “You’re coming around. I know it’s hard, she drugged me too, but open your fucking eyes. I need you.”
Oh, shit. I remember.
I ignore the pain, the pounding, and my body that isn’t being a team player at the moment. It takes everything I have, but I do my best to pry my lids open.
“Oh, thank God.” Ellie’s tear-streaked face is pale—paler than normal—and she jostles me one more time. “I need you to wake up. Whatever she shot us up with wears off pretty fast—you need to try. Fight it because I need your help. She’s on the phone with someone.”
