by Hadley Knox
When the doorbell rang, my heart practically leapt out of my chest. I wasn’t expecting anyone, especially not on a Saturday morning. When I pulled the front door open, I was relieved to see Adam standing there.
“Can I come in?” he asked flatly.
I could tell by his tone and his body language that something was definitely not right.
“Sure,” I said, stepping back so that he could enter.
“Let’s go out back and talk,” he said.
He didn’t kiss me, hug me, or even look at me. He just headed straight for the back patio. I closed the front door and followed him out there.
“What’s going on?” I asked him as I shut the back sliding door.
He just dove right in headfirst. “You went to see Lucas?” he asked.
I had to be honest. He probably already knew, so there was no point in lying. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“To find out more about this whole Hugh business.”
“Why didn’t you just ask me?”
“Because you’re not telling me anything.”
“What do you want to know?” Adam asked.
“What the hell happened to Hugh? I can’t exactly go to the police, and nobody else seems to know anything. You are cagey, so what am I supposed to do?”
“Why do you care?”
“Because he worked for me.”
“So.”
“Somehow I feel like this is my responsibility.”
“Why?”
“I told you already. He worked for me. I can’t help but feel responsible for all the guys.”
“I don’t know why you are so worried about this. You got your phone back, so this doesn’t really involve you anymore.”
“Just because I got my phone back doesn’t mean anything. I still want to know.”
“You’re being ridiculous, Lana.”
“Is that really what you think? An employee of mine is murdered, and his cell phone is mailed to me, and I’m being ridiculous.”
“I’m not saying that you don’t have a reason to be upset.”
It had been a long time since I had been that angry. My prince had morphed into something unrecognizable. I wanted to punch him in his face. “But I shouldn’t care who did it? I shouldn’t be curious about who mailed me the cell phone?” I asked him.
“It doesn’t concern you anymore,” Adam answered.
“I don’t agree with you. It does concern me and you are trying to discount my feelings and push me to the side.”
“You don’t need to get messed up in this.”
“I don’t need advice from you on this.”
“I’m not giving you advice.”
“I’m not going to let this go.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Excuse me?” I asked him. “Who are you to tell me what I am going to do? I am a grown woman and can make decisions for myself.”
“Lana, I’m – ”
“No,” I cut him off. “I’ve heard quite enough from you. You are acting like an asshole. It’s almost like I don’t even know you anymore. You come into my house and give me orders.”
“I’m not trying to give you orders.”
“Of course you are. You might not think of it that way, but that’s what you’re doing.” I took a deep breath before I said the next sentence. “I need for you to leave.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Lana, don’t do this.”
“Then tell me what you know about Hugh’s murder.”
“Lana, why are you obsessed with this?”
“We’ve just made a full circle,” I said. “And I’m not going to go around again. I asked you to leave.”
“Let’s just talk this through.” He tried to reach out for me, but I flinched away. I could see the wounded look in his eyes when my movement registered.
“I’m asking you to leave right now.”
“You’re being irrational.”
I threw my hands up in the air and walked over to the back door. I slid it open and stood there waiting for him to heed my earlier words.
“Please, Lana, don’t do this.”
“You’re the one doing this, Adam. You refuse to say anything to me about Hugh’s murder and seek to put me in the background, but I’m not just going to shut up like you want me to.”
“I’m not asking you do shut up.”
“No, but I’m asking you to leave.”
Chapter Eighteen
Adam’s shoulders dropped and his head fell down. He was defeated and knew that no matter what he said, I would come back with something else. I rarely lost my temper, except when someone continually tried to trivialize my feelings.
I stayed in the kitchen and waited until I heard the front door close. Once I heard his car door, I walked into the foyer and locked the deadbolt.
When I returned to the living room, Pearl poked her head out.
“Was that Adam?”
“Yes.”
“Is everything okay?”
I was about to answer when the Madam phone rang. Pearl held up a finger and withdrew back into the office to take care of business. On one hand, I was delighted to see that our incoming calls were picking up so fast. The guys would be booked up solid, and that was great for all of our bank accounts. But I needed someone to talk to.
Tears beat at the edge of my eyes, and I knew that I was about to break. I couldn’t cry. I wouldn’t cry. Giving in like that would only be admitting defeat.
I found my cell on the kitchen counter and tried calling Betsy’s number. It went straight to voicemail. Her phone was probably off, which was typical of her for Saturday mornings. That was her one morning that she liked to sleep in.
What was I going to do? I needed someone to talk to.
Pearl poked her head back through the door.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
The Madam phone rang again. Pearl looked back into the office and then at me.
“Go ahead and get that,” I said. “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, positive.”
My cell vibrated, indicating that I just received a text message. I looked down and saw Greg’s name across the top of the message. Are you okay?
Why was he asking me that? Did he already here about me asking Adam to leave? Wait a minute, I thought. When I asked Adam to leave, did that mean that we had broken up? Even though it felt a lot like a break up, I didn’t think that it meant we were finished. My idea of commitment to another person was a lot stronger than one fight, even if that fight was over something as serious as the one we experienced.
I’m fine, I typed back.
His reply was almost instantaneous. Are you sure? Do you want me to come over?
Did I really want to deal with Greg at a time like that? I still hadn’t resolved my feelings towards him, and even though I desperately wanted someone to talk to, he was quite possibly the last person that I should have over.
Sure, I typed back. Punching each of the four letters in my phone was difficult, and my fingers felt heavy as I typed the message and pushed send. But while my fingers were having difficulty doing it, my mind told me that it was the right thing to do.
From the moment my fingers hit the keys, I knew that I was playing with fire. In a state of vulnerability, I had opened myself up to the emotional baggage that Greg and I had created over the past few weeks. My feelings for him might not be as strong with Adam in the picture, but in a moment of weakness and turmoil, I had gone back to that first man.
I was surprised at how fast Greg arrived. There had been barely enough time for me to take a lightning quick shower and to throw on a modest, but cute, outfit.
When I opened the door, he stared back at me. His face was somewhere between genuine, sympathetic concern, but I also saw just a hint of I-told-you-so.
“Hey,” he said. He stepped over the threshold and hugged my tightly as I closed the front door.
“Greg,” I said softly. The tears that I had pushed back earlier were fighting their way to the surface.
He held me without saying a word for a moment, and then finally let me go. I grabbed his hand and led him into the living room. We sat down next to each other on separate cushions. I wanted him close, but not too close.
“How did you know I’d need someone?” I asked.
“I heard that you went to the Steel Hammer last night,” Greg said.
“How’d you find out?”
“I talked to Jed last night,” he said.
That took me by surprise. I didn’t know the two of them talked on a regular basis. That was the only thing that made sense, because why would Jed have randomly called Greg of all people to say that I had been to the club?
“So you assumed that Adam would find out?”
“Of course,” Greg said. “I’m sure that Lucas reported back to him the first moment that he had.”
“Why would he have thrown me under the bus like that?”
Greg grimaced. “Jed thinks that he has a theory on that. You won’t like it.”
“Just tell me.”
“He thinks that Lucas would do anything to sabotage your relationship with Adam because he has a thing for you himself.”
“What?” At first, the thought of the grimy club owner having a thing for me repulsed me. He was smarmy and quite frankly, disgusting. I could never picture myself with him in that way.
“Yeah, but I don’t know if that’s true.”
“Why does Jed think that?”
“He said that he bases it off of conversations that he’s overheard. I would take it with a grain of salt, but honestly, it makes a lot of sense and would explain why he ran back to Adam to report you coming there.”
“Yeah, Adam is really pissed.”
“Why did you go there?”
“I needed to talk to Lucas.”
“No, you need to stay away from him.”
“Do you think he killed Hugh?”
“I don’t know who it was,” Greg said. “But he would fit the profile. If he does have a thing for you, then that would be motive enough to send you the cell phone.”
“True,” I agreed.
“But there’s something else, isn’t there?” he asked suspiciously.
“I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t Adam.”
“You think Adam might have killed Hugh?” Greg asked.
“I don’t know what to think anymore. Adam won’t tell me anything, and the more I push him, the more upset he gets. He knows something, of that I’m certain, but he just won’t talk to me.”
“I’m sorry, Lana,” Greg said softly.
I looked into his eyes and wondered if this was exactly what he wanted. Greg had always been clear that he wanted to continue our physical relationship, despite my many protests that I wouldn’t be with an escort romantically. This whole situation made me wonder if this was going down just as he wanted it to.
“It’s fine,” I said. “I told him to leave this morning. He begged me to talk it out, but I couldn’t stand the way he was trivializing my worries. In his mind, I should just ignore this whole Hugh business because of the simple fact that the phone was returned to me.”
“Why are you so obsessed with this?”
“Because he worked for me.”
“Is that the only reason?”
“The fact that he was murdered and there was even a small chance that it was somehow related to the fact that he was considering coming to work for me full time saddens me. But I think my curiosity has more to do with the fact that there is someone in my life who has committed a murder.”
“That’s a scary thought,” Greg said.
“Very,” I nodded.
“Do you need anything from me?” Greg asked. “Since Adam is gone, I can stick around here.”
“No, I’m okay,” I said. “I don’t think anyone is going to try and hurt me. In fact, that’s what scares me more than anything. Whoever it is behind the murder actually wants to protect me.”
“True,” he agreed, although I could detect a slight hint of defeat in the way his face relaxed.
“What about Chloe?” I asked.
“What about her?”
“Is she okay with you coming over here?”
Greg grimaced and then his face went back to normal. It was such a quick movement that I would have missed it if I had blinked.
“She’s okay,” he said. “She understands that there’s a crisis.”
“Okay,” I said. “Make sure to tell her thank you for be so understanding and letting you come over.”
“She didn’t let me,” Greg said quickly. “I still make my own decisions.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“No, it’s okay. I know you didn’t mean it. But I don’t want to be one of those people that have to ask for permission to do anything.”
“So you and Chloe seem to be getting serious,” I noted.
He made a noise that said he wouldn’t commit to an answer. I wanted to know what that meant, but my curiosity might be interpreted in the wrong way.
“So what’s going to happen with you and Adam?” Greg asked.
“I don’t know. Right now, I don’t even want to talk to him.”
“Do you want to break up with him?”
“At this point, I don’t think so. If he will just talk to me, we could probably salvage this.”
“But what if he doesn’t?”
“Why are you asking me all these questions?” I asked.
Greg sighed. “Because I still care about you. No matter what happens to us, no matter who we date, I will always care about you.”
I looked down and noticed that I was ringing my hands. I could feel my body sweating.
“I don’t know what to say,” I said quietly.
My brain was sending me two different messages at once. My better half was saying that I should send Greg on his way and try to call Adam. Putting temptation in front of myself like this would lead to nothing good.
The carnal, less controlled part of me wanted to close the two-foot gap between us and start tearing off his clothes. It would only take five seconds top and we would be making love with more passion than we had ever shared. His scent hit my nose, and I could see the hardness of his exposed chest at the top his shirt. His lips had never looked more kissable.
He must have felt the spark between us as well, because his body started moving towards me, so slight that I almost missed it. A lifetime went by and the two of us were just inches apart.
Greg was right there in front of me. My heart was pounding out of my chest, and I was certain he could hear it beating against the fabric of my shirt. My arms started shaking and my legs twitched. Oh, how I wanted him.
I don’t know what brought me to my senses. Something like an invisible knife stabbed through my brain, throwing me out of my lustful daze and back to the present.
“I can’t,” I said, backing up on my own cushion.
“Lana,” Greg said desperately.
“Adam and Chloe,” I said.
“You’re right,” Greg nodded.
“We can’t do this. It would hurt them so much, and it’s not right.”
“I agree. But you can’t deny that there is something between us.”
“Maybe there always will be,” I said.
I stared at his emerald green eyes, and I could feel myself being drawn back into his seductive web.
“I should probably be going,” he said.
“Yeah, that might be best,” I said.
“Lana,” he said before standing up. “I’m here if you need me.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I said, almost in a whisper.
“Do you still have feelings for me?”
“I don’t like talking about that,” I said.
“Do you?”
“Yes. I can’t help but have feelings for you. But I’m with Adam now, and except for the past few days, I
’m very happy with him. He’s a great guy and what we have is special.”
“Really?” Greg cut his eyes at me. “How special is it that he would treat you this way?”
“I won’t defend him, but I’m also not going to bash him. And even if Adam weren’t in the picture, there’s still Chloe.”
“And what if Chloe were not in the picture?”
“Greg, we’ve gone over this more times than I can count. Nothing has changed on my position about your occupation.”
Greg smiled. “Just checking.” He stood to his feet.
“Checking what?”
“Just making sure that my occupation is the only thing that keeps us apart.”
“That’s not what I meant,” I said.
Greg laughed. “I’m just trying to joke and ease the tension in this room.”
“Not funny,” I said as he grabbed my hands and pulled me up from the couch.
The force of him pulling me to my feet did the trick and then some. My body pushed against his, and the electric sparks returned in full force. Instead of relishing in the feeling, I backed up suddenly. He smiled at me, kissed me on the cheek, and then turned and left.
Chapter Nineteen
The front door shut, and I immediately felt alone. I wanted to run outside, call to him, and tell him to come back. I wanted to be in the presence of someone, anyone.
The door to the office opened suddenly.
“Girl, you are playing with fire,” Pearl said.
“Were you eavesdropping?” I asked.
“How could I not?” she asked. “The temperature in this house just went up by twenty degrees. I’m sweating just standing in this living room.”
“Nothing happened.”
“Good, because you’re not that kind of girl.”
“I would never cheat on Adam.”
“I know you wouldn’t, but it doesn’t help that you put temptation in front of yourself. You’re going to have to watch it around that boy.”
“It was good to have someone to talk to.”