by Alexa Davis
“You wouldn’t understand.” He shook his head, dismissing me completely. “I have to go.”
With that, he stormed past me, and I felt myself fall backward. He didn’t even touch me, it was just shock that caused me to tumble, but as my back hit the wall, I felt the tears welling up in my eyes. This wasn’t how this night was supposed to go. It was supposed to be romantic. I was supposed to be working out whether we could have a future together.
Well, I supposed that question had been answered with a big fat no.
It was the opposite of what I wanted, and it made my heart shatter painfully in my chest, but then again, maybe it was the best thing. It was better for me to find out now, before I got in too deep, before I fell apart. It hurt like hell and made me feel sick, but it could have been a whole lot worse. He was gone now, taking any chance with him. Now it was time for me to start moving on.
I pulled the door open to see his car actually pulling away, confirming what I already knew.
I glanced back into the cabin, wondering if I should start cleaning it to get rid of any evidence of him ever being there, but my eyes were already wet. If I stayed another second longer, the tears would start to fall. For now, I just needed to go home, fix myself a big drink, and try and get rid of this empty sensation in my chest.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Milo – Saturday
Millions… fucking millions.
When I spoke to Bill on the phone, before I’d made the long, very frustrating journey back to Vegas, he’d checked everywhere but the safe for missing money. That place was like Fort Fucking Knox, so no one had even thought to check it, especially as there was no evidence that it’d been broken into. But at some point, Bill had gone in there and noticed five fucking million dollars gone.
This was serious now – this was much more than things that could be replaced. All of a sudden, this felt much more personal.
“How did it all go so wrong?” Bill whined, looking like he was falling apart himself. I wasn’t going to fire him, this was far more my fault than his, but I couldn’t seem to convince him however hard I tried. He looked terrible, like the stress was etched into his features, and if I wasn’t so damn pissed off, I might have wanted to help him recover from that. “Shit, I feel so awful.”
It didn’t help that my temper was running high and that I couldn’t control it, but it wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t fired anyone; he hadn’t exacted a revenge plot against my casino. This was all on me. I couldn’t have yelled at him even if I did feel like it. The only person to be mad at was me, and I was fucking furious at myself.
“And the cameras being shut down, too. I don’t know what to think.” He was making me dizzy, pacing up and down the room, so I grabbed onto his arm and forced him to stop.
“Just calm down, Bill.” I patted him on the back. “I’ll get this figured out.”
“Are you going to the police? They have the full report?”
I shrugged, unsure what to do next. I just wasn’t sure that the police could help me. The cameras had been switched off during the crime, no faces had been recorded, and they’d found no fingerprints, either. Plus, the vault had been seemingly opened with a fucking key – what evidence did they have?
They couldn’t prove who it was, but I already knew. They couldn’t act without evidence, but that didn’t apply to me…
Maybe this was something that I needed to do myself.
“I’ll be back soon, okay? You just keep things running here, and I’ll be back before long.”
I couldn’t deal with Bill right now. I couldn’t make him anything more than a gibbering wreck; he needed to sort that shit out on his own. I needed my fucking millions back. I couldn’t do anything about the smashed-up machine, and the other money, the decoy money – they could fucking keep it if they were that hard up – but there wasn’t a chance in hell I was letting anything else go.
I could have driven to the Wealdon Security office, but I decided to walk instead, to allow myself to stew further. Yes, things had ended on a shitty note, but I still couldn’t believe these assholes had gone that far with things.
Hadn’t I been good to them over the years they were working for me? Didn’t they have a professional reputation to uphold? This was the sort of shit that happened in movies, not in real life, and certainly not to me!
I pushed past people on the sidewalk without even looking. I didn’t care about any of them or their lovely time in Vegas; I was fucking mad, and that was all there was to it. No one else mattered.
I felt myself reverting back to the older version of myself, the man who got far by stomping over people without even thinking. Some people called out behind me, pissed off by my bulldozing attitude, but I didn’t even give enough of a shit to turn back to look at them.
They hadn’t just lost millions. They didn’t even know what problems were.
By the time I arrived outside the security firm’s office, my anger was in full force. I had to grip onto my fists tightly just to stop myself from punching my way through the fake glass doors. This was all set up to look good: clean, white, and professional, and it was all utter bullshit.
I’d been sucked in by it, but now I knew the cold, hard truth. These guys were the lowest of the low. Scum of the fucking Earth. I had to make them pay.
I certainly hadn’t gotten this far by being walked all over, and just because I’d been sick didn’t mean I was about to back down now. I might have taken a break, had a timeout, but now I was back with a damn vengeance.
I sucked in a few breaths of air, none of which calmed me down, and I pushed my way inside.
“Hello, welcome to Wealdon…” the pretty-faced receptionist called out to me, but there was no chance of me stopping to talk to her. I wasn’t in the mood for niceties, and I didn’t want to take my temper out on her. Just because she worked for these fuckers didn’t mean she knew anything, and it definitely didn’t mean that she’d had any part of it.
I wanted to see Leon, the guy who had betrayed me. It was his face that my hands were itching to hit. I wasn’t sure I was even capable of having any kind of conversation right now, not even an argument – my anger was too much.
I stomped through the hallways until I found the one office that I was looking for, and as I spotted his smug face sitting behind the desk, everything bubbled over. I couldn’t even control myself any longer; the red mist had descended, and I was no longer in control of my body. All the anger about everything came spilling out.
It wasn’t fair that Veronica had torn me to shreds, wrecking my trust in anyone. It was more than unlucky that I’d gotten so sick. And it totally sucked that I’d had to leave the one woman who made me feel good about myself and my life.
Then, to top it off, I was embroiled in a war over money I didn’t even know about. These assholes hadn’t fought fair, and that seriously sucked. Well, I wasn’t going to take it lying down anymore. I was coming back swinging.
“Oh.” Leon glanced up to see me as I slammed the door loudly open. “I wasn’t expecting you.” He didn’t look quite as shocked as he was making out, though, totally confirming my theory. I’d known it was him – but now he’d just proven that.
“The hell you weren’t,” I growled. “You think you’re fooling me? I know you broke into my casino. I know you stole money, broke my machines, and got into my vault. You might think that you’re able to fool the cops, but I’m a different story.”
I was squaring up without even thinking about it, and that seemed to affect him quickly as he stood up to meet me with his hands held out in front of him in a surrendering gesture. “It isn’t what you think,” he pleaded quickly. “I didn’t do it to piss you off.”
“Well, that fucking backfired.” There were no words that would cool me down right now. “I’m about ready to smash your fucking face in.”
“I just did it to show you how much you need us. Look, the cash is right there.” He pointed to a bag on the floor, as if that made everything
all right. “I didn’t steal it to spend it; this was nothing to do with that. I knew you would instantly know that I was to blame.
“I just wanted you to understand that another security company isn’t the answer. We can help you; we know your casino. We’re the only ones who have the right tools to keep your assets safe. Just look at how easily we took this from you.”
I stepped closer, rubbing my chin as if I was thinking it through. “Oh, I see. So this was all a test? This was all for me to understand how much you guys are worth? You wanted me to hire you back, with the extra money you were demanding?”
“Yeah, that’s right.” He didn’t sound totally sure about the whole thing. He knew that I was far too pissed off to see things from his point of view.
“So, what about your other job? I thought another casino was paying you what you wanted? Why the fuck do you care so much about me when you have what you want?”
“I… I…” He was lying about all of that, obviously. I’d suspected as much. He just said that to scare me, to make me feel like I needed him. It was another dirty trick to make me pay him more… just another one that had backfired.
I moved backward toward the door while he stammered, glaring at him intimidatingly the whole time. He cowered under my gaze, seemingly finally recognizing his mistakes. He was a big guy, big enough to be a natural fit for a security guard, but it was obvious that I was bigger, stronger, and I had my intense rage behind me. This was about to result in violence, and there was no denying that I had the upper hand.
Then I clicked the lock on the door shut, and his eyes widened in utter terror. He was finally seeing that I meant fucking business. This was no threat – he was about to pay. I wanted to make him regret the day he ever met me. “What are you…”
I moved closer, slowly, scarily holding my fists back until the very last second. I wasn’t about to be fucked around with, whatever this guy’s excuse, and he was about to find out the truth of that. I was going to make him pay, so much so that he never did it again.
I wouldn’t kill him, none of this was worth someone’s life, but I would ensure that he never fucked with me again.
***
I had blood on my knuckles, a tear in my shirt, and a graze growing on my cheek, but I felt good as I left the building. I had a huge bag of cash in my hands, my cash, and all of it, too, plus I’d gotten the money back for the cost of the broken machine. I was pretty sure it was all over for good.
I’d left Leon bloody, with a broken nose – and a very sore ego – but he’d promised to keep away from me forever. From the fear in his eyes, I couldn’t see him going back on that. I’d scared the life out of him; at one point I got the impression that he assumed his life was over, which luckily had caused him to agree to all of my demands.
Of course, I was still pissed off about the loss of earnings. I didn’t like the fact that any of it had happened, and I would have to stick around to make sure that everything got back on track. I had to organize the repairs, sort out a much better security system, all the keys needed changing, and I was going to have to counsel Bill for a while, too. This would hit him hard, and I needed him back in top form. I had to get him back up to scratch!
My life in Vegas needed me, it probably always had, and now I was back to get things organized once and for all. There was no point in me looking around for other business opportunities when the company I already had was falling apart. Unfortunately, Landon and everyone in Florence would have to wait. I hated to do it, but I needed to sort my real life out first.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Eliza – Saturday
The rest of the week had been a bust. I even called Laynee on Friday and told her that I was too sick to come into work, just because I couldn’t face anyone. Luckily, I already knew that there were hardly any names written in that damn book anyway, so it didn’t matter.
I just felt so sick, tired, and totally worn out by the whole thing. Ever since that moment, standing there in the doorway of my grandmother’s cabin and watching him pull his car away, I hadn’t been the same. It was as if the emotional turmoil of losing Milo in such a brutal fashion had taken it out of me.
I just couldn’t understand it. One minute we were connecting, making love, having fun, and the next it was all just… over. I had to assume that it wasn’t just because of me, that I didn’t necessarily do anything wrong, but the way he spoke about what we’d shared still hurt.
When a knock sounded at my door, I couldn’t help myself. My heart leaped up into my throat and my mind instantly went to him. I wanted him to just turn up, apologize, and sweep me off my feet like a scene from a damn movie, but of course, that was never going to happen.
Before I even made my way to the front door, I forced those thoughts away from my mind so I wasn’t disappointed. He’d gone back to his real life, and it seemed that I was never going to be a part of it. I needed to accept he was gone forever so that I could get on with my own life. It wasn’t fair for me to lose anything for him if he had no intention of doing the same for me.
Damn Mrs. Edwards and her crazy advice. Her love story was obviously a one in a million thing. I’d gotten sucked in by the magic of it all and now I was paying the price for that.
I tugged the door open a crack, just to see a familiar shock of blond hair. “Hey, how are you today?” Laynee called inside, using her kindly tone of voice. “Feeling any better?” Of course, it was my best friend, she was such a good person, coming to see me when I was sick. I didn’t know what I’d do without her most of the time.
“Not really.” I didn’t want to turn her away when she’d made the effort to come and see me, so despite the fact that I wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone, I stepped aside to let her in. “Come in; I’ll make us coffee.”
“You look terrible,” Laynee mused, pushing past me to take over the kitchen herself. “But not sick. More drained.”
God, there is no hiding anything from her! Luckily, I loved her or she would have felt like a real busybody.
“Yeah, I guess that’s the best way to describe it.” I took a seat at my tiny dining room table, feeling it all. In a weird way, this was where it all began. Walking into this kitchen on that fateful morning when I was due to meet Milo, discovering the pipes broken. How different things could have been had that not happened.
“So, what happened? Are you going to make me wait forever?”
“It’s Milo,” I announced, and judging by her expression, that was exactly what she was expecting. Was I going on about him that much? Is this just like the time I moaned a lot about Josh? Maybe it’s time to take a step back and start dealing with my problems by myself…
But then she sat down in front of me, handed me a drink, and nodded at me to carry on. I could barely keep it inside any longer, and now that I’d had some encouragement I just needed to talk. “He’s gone. He just… left.”
“But I thought things were going well between you two? I thought you had an amazing Valentine’s Day?”
Ugh, just the memory of that amazing night was enough to have that sharp pain returning to my chest. I’d loved that time, I wanted to treasure it, but now the memory was tainted with what came afterward: the argument, the harsh words, him leaving me alone and heartbroken.
“We did, but then when I went back to see him, he was packing up his stuff.” I didn’t want to mention that I was going to try and work out if we could somehow make a future for ourselves because it seemed sad to think about now. I knew Laynee wouldn’t judge me for putting too much of my heart into this thing, but I would. It was ridiculous. I’d known it couldn’t ever go anywhere. I only had myself to blame.
“Did he explain why?” Laynee didn’t get it, which at least meant it wasn’t obvious. It would have been very difficult to learn that everyone was expecting it but me. If I’d been a blatant fool, it might have damn near killed me.
“No, he just said something like, ‘My life isn’t here, I’ve been wasting time hiding away in
the middle of nowhere while everything else falls apart.’” No need to mention that I remembered it pretty much word for word. “Then when I asked him what was going on, he told me I wouldn’t understand. As if I am too stupid to get it or something. As if I’ve never been through anything myself.”
My heart sank at the memory, leaving me sad and hollow. Why had he yelled those words at me? What the hell had put him in such a temper? And why did he have to be so damn closed off? Why couldn’t he just sit with me and talk about things? Okay, so I wasn’t his girlfriend or anything, but we’d developed a closeness. I deserved that at least, didn’t I?
“What was it? His health, maybe? That woman? It could have even been his company.” She leaned forward and rested her hands over mine. “I wouldn’t take it personally, and I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Men don’t like to talk about issues; he’ll come back around.”
I’d considered all those options, but without anything to go on, it was impossible to know what was going on. He hadn’t given me any clue, which made it even more difficult. What if it was his health? I didn’t like to think of him lying in a hospital alone…
Then again, he didn’t look sick. It was much more likely that he just wanted to get away from me. It seemed more plausible that the other woman, the married one, had come back for him and he’d chosen her over me.
“But what if he doesn’t?” I asked her hopelessly. “He was just leaving; he wasn’t even going to tell me that he was going. He hasn’t called or anything since. Now he’s at home, in another state entirely. What if I never hear from him again?”
That was the crux of the issue, really. I was scared that I’d lost him forever, that the man who’d had such an impact on me would barely recall my name.
“I can’t guarantee that he’ll call,” Laynee told me, maybe a little too honestly. “You know how disastrous my love life is, after all. But you have survived worse, and you’ll get through this, too.”