My eyes narrowed. “Don’t call her that.”
“I’m perfect, but you’d rather be with that?”
“You aren’t perfect, Valerie. No one is perfect.”
“Even so, I still can’t believe it. I’m glad she’s gone.”
I didn’t know Valerie knew we’d stopped seeing each other, but she was nosy, so she’d probably figured it out somehow. “She’s not a bad person, Valerie. And you’re one to talk. You cheated on me how many times?”
“But I never lied about it. I said it to your face.”
“She didn’t know he was married, alright?”
“And you believe that?” she asked incredulously.
I didn’t need to think about it. “Yes.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I admit what she did was wrong, but no, I don’t believe she’s lying. She didn’t steal from her clients or kill anybody, so your response is harsh. She’s a person, Valerie. A human being.” I knew I should take my own advice because I was so aggressive with Cleo, but her crimes against me were different from everyone else.
“Whatever,” she said. “I never have to see her again, so it doesn’t matter.”
My eyes narrowed. “I don’t know about never…”
“Well, not in this building, at least.”
Now, I was even more confused. “What do you mean by that?”
Her eyes searched mine, as if she was just as perplexed by my question as I was by her comment. “You don’t know? Well, I guess I know you aren’t seeing her anymore…which is nice.”
“Know what?”
“She was fired almost a month ago.”
I stared at her blankly, needing time to break down the simple sentence. A new kind of pain entered my body, a pain that wasn’t caused by my own misfortune…but someone else’s. “What?” She’d been let go, and she didn’t tell me?
“The owner got rid of her.”
“Why?” I demanded. “I asked you not to say anything.”
“And I didn’t,” she snapped.
“Then what the fuck happened?” Now, I didn’t even care about Derek being here. I didn’t care if he overheard me.
“Jake did.”
My eyes widened, and the anger quickly followed. “Why?” Why the fuck would he throw her under the bus like that? She risked her job to have a relationship with him, and that was his response? What kind of integrity was that?
She shrugged. “I told him the two of you were seeing each other, and then he decided to tell the owner.”
Now my heart raced, knowing this was entirely my fault.
My fucking fault.
I shouldn’t have told Valerie the truth. But if I hadn’t, this would have happened anyway.
I remembered the heated conversation between Cleo and Jake in the lobby, the way she kept asking him to leave. She left him when she knew he was married, and he chased her. So, he probably got jealous and spiteful when he realized she was with me.
And that made me want to bash his face in.
He was just like Valerie—but with a dick. “Your boyfriend is a real piece of shit. I guess you’re perfect together.”
Her mouth dropped. “Excuse me?”
“She lost her job because of the two of you. You’re made for each other.” I turned around and left the condo.
“Where the hell are you going?”
“To fix this.”
Boris Kline lived outside the city, owning an estate in the Hamptons, a mansion that overlooked the water.
I pulled through the private gate, parked the car, and went to the front door.
His butler let me in, and Boris met me in the entryway. “Hello, Dr. Hamilton. It’s nice to see you again.” He shook my hand.
I shook his.
“It’s been a while. How are you?”
It didn’t seem like he knew Cleo had a relationship with me because he didn’t behave differently at all. “I’m…fine. Can we go somewhere and talk privately?”
“Uh, sure.” He led the way into his study. “Have some exciting research to share with me?”
“No.” I followed him into his grand office, the window overlooking the water.
Boris sat behind his desk. “Alright…is this about the change of staff in the Trinity Building? I know things haven’t been as smooth as before, but I assure you, we’ll get back up to speed. It’s just very difficult to replace Cleo. She had a lot of experience, and it’ll take time to train the new person…once I find them.”
I took a seat with the papers in my hand. “It is about that.”
“Not that I’m not happy to see you, Dr. Hamilton, but a phone call would have sufficed. And preferably, complaints can be left with Matt. I don’t usually entertain my clients so intimately, but because of our history, I granted this meeting.”
“And I appreciate that, Boris.”
“And I’ll always be indebted to you for saving my wife’s life.”
“How is she?” I asked, still considering her a patient even though it’d been years since I’d seen her.
“Great. Still cancer free—thanks to you.”
She was one of the earliest patients in my trials years ago. She had been in stage four but made a full recovery. “I’m very happy to hear that, Boris.” I just wished my father had been so lucky, when he had been such a good person.
“So?” he asked.
I looked at the papers in my hand. “I want you to give Cleo her job back.”
He immediately looked dumbfounded. “You came all the way here to ask me that?”
I nodded.
“I guess she had an intimate relationship with more than one resident…”
I didn’t deny it. Seemed pointless. “She’s the best at her job, and we both know you won’t find anyone else to replace her.”
“That may be true, but I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because my female residents won’t feel comfortable knowing the director of the building had an adulterous relationship with her client. That means she could sleep with their husbands or boyfriends. You get what I’m saying?”
“She didn’t know Jake Patterson was married.”
He shrugged. “Really doesn’t matter if she did or didn’t. She knew the rules when I hired her. And obviously, she slept with you, which has led you to come here…which is another thing I don’t want. Personal relationships make things complicated. I had to let her go.”
“Well, I want you to make an exception.”
He sighed. “Come on, don’t put me in this position—”
“Boris.”
He was quiet for a long time, clearly annoyed that I was using my leverage against him. His wife had tried all other treatments, without any decreasing the size of her tumor. If it weren’t for me, she’d be gone right now. It was wrong to use that against him, but I had to. “Look… I’ll do it,” he said finally. “But she can’t break the rules again.”
“No. I want you to change her contract. Though, she still can’t have adulterous relationships with her clients.”
He shook his head. “That’s dangerous territory, nonetheless.”
“Well, I went to every resident in the building and asked them to sign this petition.” I put it on his desk. “Saying they’ll sell their properties and leave if she’s not rehired—and they don’t have a problem with the change in her contract.” I set each paper in front of him so he could read the printed names of his residents and see their signatures. “Only two people didn’t sign it.” I didn’t even bother with Valerie and Jake. If I came face-to-face with Jake, I’d probably beat him to death in the elevator.
He pulled the papers close to him and examined all of them, as if he could check the authenticity of every signature.
“At the end of the day, your residents want Cleo to make their lives easier. They don’t care what she does in her private time. They don’t care about her individual relationship with each client and what that relationship entails. They want the bes
t person running their lives—and that’s Cleo.”
He lifted his gaze and looked at me, visibly annoyed that I’d twisted his arm like this. “Alright, Dr. Hamilton…you win.”
Sixteen
Cleo
I was already a thin person, but the past month had made me lose additional pounds that I needed to keep. But the depression masked my appetite, so my clothes fit a little loose, even though I hardly left the house.
I’d given up on the job hunt.
It was time for me to move back to Washington.
Deacon clearly wasn’t going to take me back, so there was nothing here for me anyway.
My phone rang, and Mr. Kline’s name was on the screen.
I had to stare at it for a few seconds before my brain accepted the truth that my eyes witnessed. I hadn’t expected to hear from him again. But then my hope deflated when I realized he probably needed help with something, maybe Matt and Ana had lost something, and he was just desperate enough to call me.
I’d help him. Not because I owed him anything and not because I was obligated.
I just cared about my old clients.
I answered. “Hey, Mr. Kline. Is there something you needed?” I didn’t want to have a long conversation about it. It would make me cry again, when I finally made it several days without needing to have a breakdown. Hearing about the details of day-to-day operations would only make me miss the job to which I’d given my blood, sweat, and tears.
“You can have your old job back, Cleo.” He came right out and was blunt about it.
But I couldn’t accept that answer without explanation. “What? What do you mean?”
“It means what it means. If you’re interested, the job is yours. I’m not sure if you’ve found another job or even want to come back, but we’d love to have you if you still want us.”
I sat up on the couch, unable to believe what I’d just heard. “You couldn’t find someone else?”
“No. We promoted Matt and hired someone to replace him.”
“Then I don’t understand?” Why did he have such a change of heart? Did one of my clients demand for me to be reinstated? Was the place falling apart without me, and they realized how much they needed me?
“You can thank your friend Deacon Hamilton. He collected signatures from all the residents in the building, threatening to sell their residences and move out if I didn’t hire you back. And he demanded changes to the terms of your contract too, so your personal relationship would no longer be a violation of your contract. But no more married residents, Cleo. It’s still inappropriate.”
I sat motionless on the couch, at a complete loss of words. Deacon did that for me? He was responsible for all of this? Why didn’t he call? Why didn’t he text? It was a stupid thing to ask, but I just couldn’t think clearly. “How does he know you?” The clients didn’t even who the owner was, and we were prohibited from sharing his identity if anyone asked. Deacon seemed to be the only person who had a personal relationship with him.
“A few years ago, my wife was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer…” He immediately turned emotional as he recounted the story. “And he saved her life.”
I took the subway into Manhattan because cab fare would cost a fortune I didn’t have, and I made my way to the Trinity Building and the elevator. I rode it to his floor and walked up to his door. I had to knock because I didn’t have a key anymore.
And I waited.
His footsteps were audible.
Then there was a long pause.
It took him a while to open the door. When he did, he immediately walked away, moving farther into his living room with just his sweatpants low on his hips.
I welcomed myself inside and shut the door behind me.
He kept his back to me, like he didn’t want to look at me.
I’d expected him to hold me and kiss me, but that affection wasn’t there.
He was just as cold as ever.
“Deacon?” Why would he go to all that trouble if he didn’t want me? Why would he bend over backward to help me if he still didn’t love me?
He eventually turned around and looked at me, his dark eyes still cold, still unforgiving.
I hadn’t seen him in so long. His features were different, more rugged. His body was in the same pristine shape, but he had a darkness to him, a constant anger carved into his countenance. Now I didn’t know what to say since this hadn’t gone as I’d imagined. “Mr. Kline called me an hour ago and gave me my job back…because of you.”
Silence.
“So…thank you.”
His hands stayed on his hips, keeping ten feet between us like he didn’t want me any closer. “I would have done something sooner, but I didn’t know until yesterday.”
That explained his distance. I’d thought he didn’t care, but now I knew he just didn’t know. That made me feel better, but his cold body language made me feel like shit again. “I…really appreciate it.” I was about to be on the street if it weren’t for him.
He gave a slight nod.
I continued to stare at him, hoping he would say something more, that this would go somewhere. “I really miss you…” It was hard to try not to cry as I looked at him. I missed him every single day, but I hadn’t missed him as much as I did now…when he was ten feet away.
He held my gaze but said nothing.
Now I realized nothing had changed. He still didn’t want me. He just didn’t want me to lose my job.
He crossed his arms over his chest.
It was devastating all over again. Now I wasn’t sure if I even wanted the job anymore. I’d have to go to work every day and seem him from time to time, maybe with a woman on his arm, maybe holding Derek’s hand as he walked him to the car outside. I’d have to watch him move on from me…little glimpses at a time.
Unless he still intended to move.
I felt sick all over again.
Had he already been with someone else? Had he already moved on? Had he told Dr. Hawthorne he was single, and she tried again? “Deacon, I’m really sorry about everything that happened. I know I messed up. I know I hurt you. But…I can be as patient as you need me to be. I can take this slow, let you learn to trust me again. I’m willing to do this however you want to do this, because I’m just as in love with you as I was a month ago. I haven’t seen anyone. I don’t want to see anyone. I want you…and no one else.”
He turned his chin slightly and dropped his gaze.
I waited for him to say something.
But he never did.
The tears started in the backs of my eyes, growing slowly, two drops turning into puddles. But I hid them from view as long as I could. “I really needed my job back, so thank you. But I’ve still lost everything…because I lost you.”
Seventeen
Deacon
“Dad?” Derek pushed his food around with his fork, trying to get the carrots to one side of the plate so they wouldn’t touch the rest of his food.
“Yeah?”
“I really miss Cleo…”
I kept my eyes on my plate, ignoring what he said.
Derek turned to me, watching me.
I ignored him.
“What happened to her?”
“You’ll see her around, Derek. She’s usually downstairs in the lobby.”
“But why don’t I see her with you?” he whispered, sensing my mood.
I knew Derek wouldn’t let this go. He asked about her a lot, and every time I made an excuse, it only prolonged the inevitable. This conversation had to happen. “She and I…aren’t seeing each other anymore.”
“But why?”
“It’s complicated, Derek.”
“But you’re sad.”
Of course, I was sad. I was fucking devastated.
“And she makes you happy, so stop being sad…and be happy.”
Hearing my son describe it that way almost brought tears to my eyes. “It’s not that simple…”
“You’re smart, Dad. You have a sol
ution to everything. Find the solution to this.”
I sighed painfully. “She hurt me…”
“She did?” he whispered.
I nodded.
“How?”
“She…lied to me.”
“Well, I’m sure Cleo didn’t mean to hurt you, Dad.”
I sighed again, feeling the tears become more difficult to fight. It’d been a long time since we’d been together, but the breakup was still raw…like it had just happened. I missed her. I missed the way she was with my son. I hated seeing the way he missed her, the way he wouldn’t forget about her. “I know she didn’t.”
“Then work it out with her. You love her, right?”
I thought her betrayal would change that fact, but it didn’t. I nodded.
“Does she still love you?”
I nodded again.
“And I love her, so…”
I dragged my hand down my face, taking a second to swallow the emotion so the tears wouldn’t come out. “I know you do.”
“And she makes you so happy. I miss seeing you happy.”
“Derek, let’s talk about something else.”
“Why?” he whispered. “You’re different…and I don’t like it.”
I filled the tubes and put them in the distiller before I shut the fume hood. It would take forty-five minutes for the process to complete, so I ripped off my gloves, washed my hands, and then removed my mask. I pulled up the stool to the table and looked at my paperwork, the timer set on my phone.
The door opened, and Dr. Hawthorne walked inside. “How much time do you have left?”
“I just started it.”
She sat on the stool beside mine and set down her paperwork. Then she discussed her data and asked for my input. It led to a twenty-minute conversation, going over the spreadsheets.
I marked up some of her columns and returned the paper to her. “These numbers seem too good to be true. Let’s repeat it.”
“Alright.” She took her papers back.
I returned to my work.
The Man Who Has No Love (Soulless Book 3) Page 16