“It was nice Nicholas; I’ve never been to that museum before so it was a new experience.”
“I’ll see you on Saturday?”
“Yes, I’ve confirmed my schedule with Bridget.”
Nicholas leans over, kissing me gently on the cheek, letting his lips linger a few seconds longer than they have before. He squeezes my hand just before Carter opens the door but he looks as if he wants to say something. Instead he simply shakes his head and lets go of my hand. Carter escorts me to the awaiting car, introduces me to the driver and then closes the door behind me. We drive out of the parking garage a few minutes later and like that, I’m quickly lost in my thoughts about tonight and this arrangement with Nicholas.
I’ve enjoyed the couple of dates that we have had so far, which surprises me because I guess I expected them to be boring and for me to feel uncomfortable like I did with him. I’ve enjoyed my private life, so the thought of the press learning more about me is unnerving. I knew this was something that would likely happen when I took the job with Bridget. In the back of my head I can’t help but worry a little if he will find me now that my picture is going to be all over the place. He only contacted me once after I left, having somehow tracked down where I was working. He made it clear he wanted nothing more to do with me. Assuming nothing has changed, I don’t expect him to try to get a hold of me because I’m pictured with Nicholas but it’s still something in the back of my mind. I wish I could just move on with my life and never have to worry about him again, but even if the media weren’t a concern, he never fails to make an appearance in my nightmares when I least expect it.
”Ma’am,” the driver quickly pulls me from my thoughts to alert me that we’ve arrived at my apartment building.
“Thank you.”
I quickly get out of the car and into the building, ignoring the whistles and remarks from the usual crowd gathered on the front stoop. I want to look for a better place to live but with this arrangement still being so new with Nicholas, I’m worried about what will happen if I sign a lease on a new apartment that costs much more than this one does… only for Nicholas to decide he doesn’t need me any longer and then I’m left with rent I can’t pay. I go to put my key in the lock but the door suddenly eases open without being unlocked.
“What the hell?”
Chapter 14
Nicholas
Tonight was another success on the PR image transformation plan that I developed: Kenzie and I were photographed together for the third time in a couple of weeks. I expect our picture to be on several gossip sites by morning if not already. I find myself actually eager to see what the press says about me now. For the first time in two years they have pictures of me with the same woman attending different events. I could not have planned the business dinner better if I wanted to. I had no idea that someone there would recognize me and sell the picture to the media but I’m grateful they did. I have another date with Kenzie on Saturday, although I’m still trying to determine what we are going to do. I want Saturday to be something not business related, just to ensure that no one suspects that she is only accompanying me to business or PFS events.
“Yes… no I understand… completely off the record… call me tomorrow morning and Mr. Parker will be more than happy to make the donation to the fund… of course… ETA less than 10 minutes.”
The one sided conversation Carter is having catches my attention when he mentions my name and more so when he promises I will make a donation to a fund. It’s very rare for Carter to promise donations and typically only when the stakes are high which immediately has me concerned.
“What’s going on Carter?”
“Sir, that was the New York police department, there has been a reported break in at Ms. Rose’s apartment—“
“What?!?! When? Is she hurt?”
“The call was received less than two minutes ago. Ms. Rose called the report in herself. No requests for medical attention were made so my contact doesn’t believe she is hurt.”
“Get me there now, Carter!”
“Yes sir, we should be there in less than 10 minutes.”
“How did they know to call you?”
“I alerted the captain of Ms. Rose’s association with you when you first… when this arrangement began. I’ve had some concerns about the area she lives in so I requested he alert me to any police activity in or immediately around her building.”
“I assume the donation I am making tomorrow will ensure that this is kept out of the press?”
“Yes sir, everything tonight is off the record. Officers responding will not make an official report unless Ms. Rose insists on it—“
“I’ll ensure she doesn’t.”
Damn it! Just as my plan was going perfectly, some fucker has to go and screw things up! I can’t have Kenzie living in an unsafe place; once the media find out who she is, it will only be a matter of time until they figure out where she lives. What will they think if they learn that I’m dating someone who lives in that type of neighborhood? How can I possibly protect her if it’s as bad as Carter says it is? She needs to move out of that building tonight! I can’t have her at risk of being injured or becoming a victim of a crime especially not because of me. This may be a business arrangement but I would never forgive myself if she were harmed because of our arrangement.
“Carter?”
“Two minutes sir.”
Looking out the window of the SUV, I can see the evidence of the crime intensity as we drive past many abandoned buildings. Cars are on the road sitting on cinder blocks, windows of buildings are broken or boarded up, graffiti nearly covers every building and I can’t help but worry that we haven’t even reached the area where Kenzie lives. How is it I let her go home to this neighborhood after our dates? Why didn’t I insist that Carter have someone follow her? Why didn’t I insist that she move into a safer area when we began our arrangement?
“FUCK!” I’m so frustrated and angry with myself for not preventing this from happening. I should have thought this through better. I’m normally on top of all these small details during business negotiations but this transformation plan was like nothing I’ve ever done before. It never occurred to me that a woman I contracted with through Bridget would live in such a horrible area.
“We’ll park here sir, her building is just ahead,” Carter announces a few minutes later.
We see a police cruiser in front of a graffiti covered building. The building is suspiciously quiet which I’m sure has something to do with the police presence. We walk up the front steps, I look for a doorbell to ring for Kenzie but Carter stops me and pushes the door open; it hadn’t been locked to begin with. Knowing that anyone can just walk into the building infuriates me. Without a locked front door anyone can get into the building, hide out and attack a resident. The thought of someone harming Kenzie upsets me more than I expected it to and I’m not sure why. I don’t know that her break-in was necessarily caused by her association with me but yet I can’t help but feel responsible.
“If you think of anything, please give us a call,” I hear a police officer say as he steps out of a doorway just down the hall.
“I’ll speak to him and make sure that he has spoken with his captain about how to handle this situation sir,” Carter says.
“I’ll check on Kenzie and convince her that she can’t stay here.”
“Yes, sir.”
After a brief introduction to the police officer, I find myself standing outside Kenzie’s door waiting for her to open it. A few seconds after I knock, the door opens a crack to reveal a very surprised Kenzie.
“Nicholas? What… what are you doing here?” she asks.
“Kenzie, can I come in for a moment please?”
“Ummmm…”
“Please Kenzie…”
“Okay.”
Thankfully she slowly opens the door to let me enter her apartment; it hadn’t occurred to me on our way here that she wouldn’t want to see me. I had completely forgotten that pe
r our arrangement I’m not supposed to know where she lives but none of that matters right now. All that matters right now is that I find a way to fix what has happened.
I close the door behind me and walk into her “apartment,” if it can be called that. Essentially it’s two rooms from what I can see, one of which I assume is a bathroom. Her main room holds a day bed, a dresser with a small television on top and there appears to be some sort of a “kitchen” along the wall which consists of a dorm size fridge, microwave and coffee pot. The room has obviously been completely torn apart, there are clothes everywhere, her mattress has been flipped over and sliced down the middle, her fridge door is open and the contents are now on the floor, her television now has a hole through it.
“How did you know?” she asks.
“The police captain called Carter as soon as the call came in. We turned around and headed here as soon as he called.”
“You didn’t need to come; Nicholas everything is taken care of. The police officer gave me the name of a locksmith that can come tonight to fix the lock. I was just about to call him when you knocked… ”
“Kenzie, you can’t stay here, it isn’t safe.”
“It’s fine, I’ve lived here for over a year now and no one has ever bothered me before. I’m sure this was just random—“
“I don’t think it was random.”
“Why would someone target me? I don’t have anything here with stealing Nicholas.”
“They may not think that. Someone who lives here could have recognized you from our pictures in the press, they may assume because we’re dating that you have money.”
“You think?” her voice is barely above a whisper as the reality hits her that someone may be targeting her specifically.
“It’s very likely.”
“Shit,” she sighs, leaning against a small end table for support. I walk over to her, wanting to comfort her but I’m not sure what I should do.
“I can’t stay here. I’ll wait for the locksmith and then… there’s a motel a couple blocks away I think. They probably have a room I can get for a few nights. I can starting looking for a new place in the morning—“
“Kenzie…” I try to interrupt but it’s obvious she is more talking to herself than to me as she tries to figure out her next step.
“I’ll lose my security deposit here… but I should have enough to cover a new one if I can find something quickly.”
“Kenzie,” I grab her hand to get her attention and she finally stops talking and looks at me with these sad, lost eyes that I’ve never seen on her before now. “You can come to my place tonight, we’ll figure out something—“
“No!” she quickly exclaims. “I… look, that’s very generous of you, but I’m sure I can find a place to stay tonight.”
“Really, it’s not an issue. I have several guest bedrooms that you could stay in—“
“Nicholas, please… I would rather not.”
“Okay…”
I swear I’ve never met anyone like her. Any other woman would jump at the chance to be invited into my apartment even if nothing else but to get their hands on something valuable that I own. Yet, here is Kenzie, with no place but a crummy motel to stay in, refusing to sleep in one of my spare bedrooms. The woman completely baffles me and that’s not something that happens often. Suddenly an idea dawns on me, one that might be the perfect answer to our situation.
“I’ll figure something out, Nicholas, it’s really nothing for you to worry about.”
“PFS owns several condos in the city that we use for employees who relocate to New York from out of state to work for us. Alex and Ella just moved out of one they had been staying in when they were waiting to close on their new place. It’s completely vacant and no one is scheduled to use it any time soon. Why don’t you stay there?”
“I can’t... ”
“The condo isn’t being used anyway—it’s fully furnished and within walking distance of the bakery for you.”
“That’s a very nice offer, but I could never afford something—“
“You don’t need to worry about money, the condo is paid for and all the bills are sent directly to PFS.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
“Kenzie, on the way over here I realized that once the press learns your identity they are going to figure out where you live very quickly. I don’t know why I didn’t realize it before, but you are going to need full time security—“
“What?”
“I’m sorry, but we need to assume that this break in was tied to our relationship becoming public knowledge. You’re going to need security to help you if the press becomes too much and we must make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again.”
“I… I…” She just looks around the room probably trying to make sense of everything. “I don’t have anything worth stealing, Nicholas. There’s nothing here… I don’t… ”
“They don’t know that, Kenzie. They probably see you as an easy target because as the press has pointed out, I am worth quite a bit of money. They probably assume you have jewelry, electronics and money laying around here.”
“I suppose.”
“Please, the condo is sitting empty and would be a safe place for you to live. The building has 24/7 security at all times plus the unit itself has a state of the art security system. You wouldn’t have to worry about someone breaking in.”
“I… I don’t know how I feel about this. I feel like I’m taking advantage of you.”
“Kenzie, it’s very likely you’re in this mess because of me. Please let me do this for you, let me protect you.”
I can’t remember the last time I said please so many times. I don’t beg for anything yet here I am begging Kenzie to let me keep her safe. Again, this is something most women wouldn’t even question: I am offering to put her up in a luxury condo, completely expense free and she is worried about taking advantage of me. This is the woman I first met on the sidewalk a few months ago who tried to refuse my offering to replace the clothes that I had ruined. It’s hard to reconcile this woman with the one who receives a paycheck for going on dates with me. Looking around her small apartment, I begin to see why she might have been tempted to agree to Bridget’s offer. If this is all she could afford working two jobs, what chance did she have to get out of here?
“Okay,” her voice is barely above a whisper but it’s there.
“Great, thank you. Please take only what you absolutely need; the apartment is fully furnished and I can replace anything you don’t want to bring. I’ll have Carter arrange for a member of my security team to wait here for the locksmith so that anything you don’t take tonight is safe. We’ll arrange for someone to get the rest of your items tomorrow.”
“Nicholas, I don’t have very much. They destroyed most of furniture, the jewelry is gone,” she looks sadly at her bed and television. “Just let me throw some things into a garbage bag.”
“Of course, whatever you want. I’m going to speak with Carter for a moment but I’ll be right outside the door.”
“Nicholas, he can come into the apartment, you know,” she chuckles before opening a drawer and pulling out a bag.
“I’ll let him know.”
I close the door as I leave the apartment, noting that it barely latches shut. It’s obvious someone kicked in the door to gain access. I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding, relieved that I was able to convince her to move out tonight. I don’t know what I would have done if she continued to refuse to leave or had insisted on staying in some flea bag motel tonight. Even though no woman I’ve ever dated has ever been in my condo since I bought it, I find myself oddly disappointed that she didn’t take me up on the offer to stay in one of my guest rooms. After she moved out and I sold that condo, I vowed to never let a woman get that close to me again yet here I was offering Kenzie to essentially move in with me.
“Sir?” Carter pulls me from my thoughts before I can figure out why it bothers me that Kenzie
said no.
“Kenzie has agreed to move into the vacated condo that Alex and Ella were in. Can you arrange for a locksmith to fix the door tonight and have Hunter wait here until they arrive?”
“I’ve already contacted someone and they will be here within the hour to fix the lock; Hunter should be here momentarily as well.”
“I would like Hunter assigned to Kenzie full time beginning, tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir.”
“She is bagging up a few things to take with us but if there’s anything left that should be saved, can you arrange for it to be delivered tomorrow? She didn’t think there would be anything as most of the furniture was destroyed by whoever broke in.”
“I’ll arrange for someone to dispose of anything left behind.”
“Did the police have any leads?”
“No, there were no prints and this building obviously doesn’t have any security cameras, so there was nothing to go on. They suspect it was someone who lived here though. A few of the residents apparently made comments about seeing Kenzie getting into a high end car a few times—“
“The car service?”
“That’s my guess. Bridget had a car service bring Kenzie to PFS for your last two... dates. I’m guessing a car like that probably stood out when it picked her up.”
“So it this was my fault…”
“Sir, I don’t think—“
“Kenzie told me to tell you to come inside rather than standing outside her door.”
“Yes sir.”
“Kenzie?” I call before opening the door all the way not wanting to startle her.
“Over here,” she’s bent over trying to pull the small fridge out from underneath a countertop.
“Ma’am, please allow me,” Carter quickly offers.
“Thank you Carter, if you can just pull it out a little, there’s something behind it I need to get,” she explains.
Carter pulls the small fridge out from under the counter, and as soon as it’s out a few inches, Kenzie indicates that he can stop. She reaches behind the fridge and after a few minutes of searching pulls out a beige envelope that must have been stuck to the back of the fridge.
On His Terms (The Arrangement Series Book 1) Page 15
