“Tonight?” Jack asked, stopping from walking all together so he could look Andie in the eyes for a moment.
“Yes, tonight,” Andie said, nodding once. “I told him it wasn’t necessary for him to take me to Dorsia’s. Anyplace to discuss the shelter is fine by me, but he was insistent about that particular restaurant. So I’m going to meet him there in a couple of hours.” She paused, noticing the strain in his face. “Why?”
“What about your little get-together with your old high school teacher?” Jack asked, cocking his head to the side. “I thought that was tonight.”
“Well, it was,” Andie told him. “But I rescheduled with Simon for Thursday, so I could go out with Burr tonight.” She hesitated for a moment before chancing a glance at him. “Are you still able to come tonight, or…?” She let her voice trail off, trying to read the answer in his eyes.
“No,” he told her, shaking his hand. His fingers tried to lose themselves in his hair, but due to his cut, they were only to run over the chopped locks. “No, I can’t. Vanessa called me this morning and wanted to get together over dinner to talk about the cost of the party.”
“You guys seems to be eating dinner a lot,” Andie observed, trying to keep her voice innocent. She turned and started heading back to the manor, trying not to let the disturbing feeling inside of her take control of her better judgment.
But it was true, wasn’t it? For business associates, they seemed to frequent dining at night together. Couldn’t they go out to lunch like regular business people did? Or better yet, couldn’t they arrange a meeting during the proper time, between the hours of nine to five? She knew that at that moment, Andie was being slightly hypocritical. Lucas Burr was taking her out to dinner, but for goodness’ sake! Dinner consistently seemed too… intimate. And Andie hated anyone getting too intimate with her boyfriend, especially that redheaded wench.
The walk was silent, but without any tension. When they reached the house, Andie immediately showered and then dried off. It took nearly forty-five minutes to blow-dry her hair due to the length and the thickness, but when it was completed, she took the long strands that littered her face and pulled them back with bobby pins so while her face was free of any stray locks, it still was worn long. After she stepped out of the towel that had been wrapped around her body, she slipped on a matching pair of bra and panties before walking over to where a little black dress hung. She eyed it for a moment, hoping it wasn’t too inappropriate for a business meeting, while at the same time, appropriate for the restaurant she was going to.
Jack was already dressed in a suit by the time Andie stepped out of the bathroom, but when his eyes caught sight of her, he clenched his jaw. She looked amazingly gorgeous in something as simple as a tasteful black dress, and he didn’t like the fact that she would be out with somebody he absolutely detested looking like that. The dress hugged every curve, showing off her assets while hiding what needed to be hidden. The cut was wide, but not low, coming to rest just below her graceful collarbone. The sleeves were thicker than a tank top’s, but slimmer than actual t-shirt sleeves, and the hemline ended just above her knees. On her feet were simple black heels, causing her derriere to push out one way, while pushing her chest out in another.
God, she looked…
“Do you think you’re too dressed up for a business meeting?” Jack asked after a moment, noticing the light makeup that enhanced her eyes, her cheeks, and her lips.
“I take it that means I look good,” she teased, her lips curling up into a grin. “And to answer your question, no I don’t think I’m too formal for a dinner restaurant at night. Maybe if I was going to the Ivy in the early evening, I might be too formal, especially if it was just a business meeting, but-”
“All right, all right,” Jack said, and though he didn’t want to find her amusing, he did. He took her wrist in his hand and pulled her close to him before tilting his head downwards so the tip of his nose was caressing the bridge of hers. “Just be careful, okay?” he told her seriously. “You know I would go with you if things hadn’t gotten switched around, right?”
Andie smiled at him, placing both hands on his cheeks as she looked at him levelly. “Of course I know that,” she murmured with obvious sincerity. “And I promise to be careful. You be careful too. I’ll see you later tonight, okay?”
Jack nodded but chose to remain silent. Andie placed a chaste kiss on his lips, before releasing her hold on his face and slipping out of his grasp. With one last smile sent his way, she turned and headed down the stairs and out to the garage, hoping the evening wouldn’t last too long.
Andie arrived at the restaurant a few minutes late. She had decided to take her beloved Nissan, and traffic was always horrible during Onyx’s usual rush hour. She had a fashionable brown trench coat wrapped around her body, ending at just above her knee. Besides a purse, she had a couple of brochures that explained the donation process, and where his money would go to if he decided to donate in the first place. She sighed as she pushed open the door to Dorsia’s. It was a quaint little restaurant located in Upper Onyx, and it was almost impossible to make reservations. Unless, of course, your name was Jack Phillip. Andie smiled at the thought, rolling her green eyes. He could get anything he wanted.
Once Andie spoke to the host, he informed her that Mister Burr had yet to arrive, but her table was ready if she wanted to sit down. Andie took the opportunity, and she followed the host to the back of the restaurant where there were three seats waiting.
“Oh,” Andie said before the host could leave. “You know what? My boyfriend won’t be joining us this evening. You can take away the third setting.”
“Of course,” the host replied with a curt nod. He handed Andie the wine menu along with the dinner menu before picking up the third place setting and then disappearing among the slight crowd that had formed up front.
As her eyes skimmed the menu, Andie’s lips turned down into a frown. She always hated coming to fancy restaurants when she didn’t know what half of the food was and she didn’t like any food from the other half. Couldn’t a fancy restaurant serve one hell of a cheeseburger? Was that too much to ask? If Jack were here, he would know exactly what she would want. If Jack were here, she knew she would be guaranteed a good time. Her frown deepened. She missed him. But this time, his reason for not showing up wasn’t exactly his fault. Burr had rescheduled last minute, and Jack had originally thought this dinner would be Thursday… But she wished he was here nonetheless. He always seemed to know exactly what to do to make her relax.
What do you think they’re doing? a voice asked her.
Nothing they shouldn’t be, Andie murmured to herself through her mind. Of that she was certain, at least on Jack’s part.
Although… Why hadn’t he told her more of this woman yet? He had to know how curious she was about it. Was he toying with her, waiting for the exact opportunity for him to spring it on her, or did he plan on not telling her at all? Her fingertip gently caressed the side of the empty wine glass in front of her, and wondered if she really wanted to know about this woman. A year, in Jack’s world, was a long time. Did she really want to know every detail of their courtship?
“Of course not,” she murmured to herself, deciding to slip off her trench coat onto the back of her chair. She furrowed her brow when she realized she was talking to herself so she continued the rest of her thoughts in her mind. All that mattered was that he ended things with Vanessa. And if she could choose two things she wanted to know about their courtship, it would be why they got together in the first place and why Jack decided to break up with her. That’s it. I find that to be quite reasonable.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” a voice murmured, quite close to her, in fact, because she could feel his warm breath on her throat. Andie turned, only to have her nose brush Burr’s due to how close he was to her. Surprised, Andie leaned back in hopes to create some sort of distance between the two before Burr gave her a bouquet of flowers. “Traffic…” he continued, r
olling his eyes before taking a seat across from her. “You know how that is.” He glanced at the empty seat, and quirked a puzzled brow. “I thought Phillip was going to be joining us.”
“Yes, well,” Andie said, staring at the bouquet of flowers with her mouth slightly agape. She blinked once before looking over at Burr. “He had a business meeting tonight that he couldn’t reschedule.”
“Of course,” Burr said, nodding once before he grabbed the menu. “I’m sorry I had to reschedule our meeting to tonight.”
“Where did you get these flowers?” Andie asked, ignoring his apology. Her eyes couldn’t quite focus on anything else. The bouquet consisted of all her favorite flowers – purple heathers, red roses, and bright sunflowers, eerily familiar to the ones being sent to her anonymously. She could have sworn they were from Jack. No one else knew her favorite flowers.
“Why?” Burr asked, clearly avoiding the question. “Do you like them?”
Maybe it was a coincidence…?
Like you believe in coincidences, Andie thought to herself, refraining from rolling her eyes. But she picked the menu up, deciding to give the guy the benefit of the doubt.
“Do you know what is good here?” Andie asked him, after a moment of searching that appetizing food but coming up with… nothing. “I’ve never been here before.”
“Well, then you’re in for a treat,” Burr told her, folding his menu up just as a waiter approached them. “Yes, she would like the octopus ravioli in a lemon grass broth with goat cheese profiteroles and I would like the rare roasted partridge breast in strawberry coulis with a sorrel timbale. For wine, I would like your finest chardonnay.”
Andie made sure her face gave away no hint of a wince. She never really liked seafood and knowing that her pasta had squid in it… She didn’t even want to think of it. Instead, she forced a smile, and said, “You must come to this place a lot to know menu so well.”
Burr nodded once, curling his lips up but not smiling fully. “Yes,” he told her. “My colleagues and I enjoy this restaurant thoroughly.” He paused for a moment, merely looking at her. Though Andie couldn’t figure out why, she felt slightly uncomfortable underneath his gaze. “May I show you something?” he asked her.
Something in Andie’s stomach squeezed together tightly, and she assumed it was the thought of having to eat squid. “I suppose so,” she told him, and she stood after seeing Burr do so.
Without a word, he strode over to her and slid her arm through his before leading her outside the restaurant, promising the host they would be back in a few moments. Andie, for whatever reason, felt something clench again in her stomach, only this time, even more so than it had back in the restaurant.
“So,” she said, forcing her voice to appear calm and steady, “about your prospective donations” -
“Let’s cut the crap, Andie,” Burr said, interrupting her as he pulled her down an abandoned alley. “I have donated to your animal shelter anonymously.” Andie’s brow raised in surprise. He was the – “I’ve been sending you flowers for the past few weeks. I’ve been calling you just to hear you breathe.” He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her up against the cold brick wall. “You once asked me how you could ever pay me back. Well, now you can.” He took a step back. “She’s all yours, son.” Gabe suddenly emerged from the shadows, a cold smirk on his face. “Be back by curfew. You know your mom worries.”
And just like that, Burr was gone, leaving her alone with Gabe.
“Gabe, what–”
He lunged at her.
Though everything was over within ten minutes, it was still probably the scariest ten minutes of Andie’s life. Burr forced his lips onto Andie’s, as his hands began to travel over her body. She heard a car screech to a stop and hoped someone had come for her, that someone could see she clearly didn’t want this. Andie tried to struggle against him, which only angered the man. His hands reached up and cupped her upper arms tightly, and she winced knowing they were going to bruise. She thrust her knee up and managed to hit him where it hurts, catching Gabe off-guard. He growled, but was not deterred, and before she could run away from him, he grabbed a hold of her dress and pulled. A loud rip sounded in Andie’s ears, and she knew the sleeve of the dress was destroyed.
“Stop it,” she said between gritted teeth as he managed to catch her arm once again. He pulled her back so hard that the back of her head smacked the brick wall. She could swear he called out to somebody, but she couldn’t be sure.
Though she wasn’t knocked out, pain shot throughout her body. Her vision had blurred a bit, but she knew if she wanted to get out of this, she would have to focus. After curling her fingers into a tight fist, and punched him in the face with as much force as she possibly could.
“Not the face!” he exclaimed, grabbing his cheek. “You bitch! Not the fucking face!” He lunged at her, his long fingers coiling tightly around her throat.
Andie managed to breathe in sharply before his fingers closed around her. She still struggled, but she felt her body weaken against his strength, and before she could help herself, she felt herself slowly black out.
23
Reese had just finished zipping up her jumpsuit when her cell phone rang. She strode across the small bedroom and over to the nightstand, glancing at the number before deciding to answer. Her brow furrowed; it was a number she didn’t recognize, but one from the city.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Miss Reese Lespoir?” came the other, somewhat familiar voice on the line.
Reese still had her guard up. “May I ask who’s calling?” she said as politely as she could.
“Oh yes, I’m sorry,” the voice said, warm and friendly. Reese didn’t want to admit it, but she felt her shoulders slowly start to relax. “My name is Beverly Phillip. I’m Jack’s aunt.”
“Oh yes, of course!” Reese said, feeling her shoulders ease out of their death-like grip on her. It was only Jack’s aunt.
No wonder her voice sounded familiar. Reese had only met Beverly at one of Jack’s parties around the first time Reese woke up from her coma. She was beautiful, regardless of her older age, and captivated people simply by walking into a room. She had this uncanny ability to make people feel special, as if they were the only people in the room. Not much was known about Jack’s aunt Beverly except that she lived with him and served as a sort of housekeeper for him. Which was odd, since she came from the same wealth that he did. One wouldn’t expect a glamorous woman like Beverly Phillip to cook and clean and answer the door. Yet, she did it, and as far as Reese was concerned, didn’t seem like the type to complain about it.
Although, the more Reese thought about it, the more she wondered how Andie took Beverly’s presence at the mansion. Did Andie mind? Or was Jack just being a mama’s boy, but without his actual mom? If a woman cooked, cleaned, and did practically everything for him, and she was biologically related to him, was that different than if Jack had his own maid? Reese didn’t know, but it was something she definitely intended to talk to Andie about the next time she saw her friend. Reese, herself, couldn’t stand mama’s boys, and she wondered if Andie felt the same way – if Jack even counted as a mama’s boy in the first place.
“How can I help you?” Reese continued, her eyes going to her appearance in the mirror. All she needed to do was put on her mask, some makeup, and her shoes, and she’d be good to go. She especially wanted to highlight her lips since they were the only feature of hers that was actually visible. It would be especially wicked if the media picked up her presence as another one of Onyx’s vigilantes and gave her a cool nickname, like Lipstick or something relating to her hair color or something along those lines.
“I just wanted to call and let you know that Jack is still out,” Beverly informed her. “I know you guys were planning on meeting tonight. I’m afraid he will be late, if he’s out at all. Once I know something more definitive, I’d be happy to call you and let you know.”
“Oh.” Reese hoped her voice didn’t sound
flat. “Is he okay?”
“Oh yes, he’s perfectly fine.” Was it Reese’s imagination, or did it sound as though Jack’s aunt was annoyed with him, if only a little. “I guess he had a business meeting that’s running late or lost track of the time. He tends to do that every now and then. I highly doubt he thought to call you, even though he is more than aware that you meet every night at the same time. And if you can do it, and you still wake up early for high school, certainly he can do it too.” Reese imagined the woman shaking her head. “How do you keep up with everything, dear?”
“I nap,” Reese said, which was the truth. She lived off of five hours of sleep at night, and after coming home from school, managed to squeeze in another two–three, if she was lucky. Ollo would order a healthy dinner from Bacchus as she did any homework and studying she needed to do, and then she would let her stomach settle before getting ready for the night. It was difficult and demanding, but she found she enjoyed it.
“There’s a smart girl,” Beverly said, and Reese could tell the older woman was smiling. “Like I said, if I hear from him, I’ll be sure to give you a call. Do you still intend to go out there tonight?”
Reese looked down at her outfit. “Yeah, I need the experience,” she said. “Plus, I’m already dressed for it. I wouldn’t want to waste my makeup.”
“All right. You make sure you’re careful. If you need anything, anything at all, don’t hesitate to call me, you hear?”
Reese felt a warm feeling spread through her body. “Thank you, Ms. Phillip, I really appreciate that.”
“Please, call me Beverly, or Eve, if you like. Call me when you’re home so I know you’re safe, all right? Stay safe.”
When Reese hung up, she finished getting ready. She didn’t tell Ollo that Jack wasn’t going to be there tonight. She didn’t want to worry him even more. Was that considered a lie? Or just an omission? Or was it both? Was one worse than the other? She shook her head. Regardless of how bad it was, she had made her choice and she needed to focus on the night before her. She couldn’t be distracted, especially not after what happened the other night. It still hurt to breathe every now and then.
Sacrifice: Book 3 of The Dark Paradise Trilogy Page 17