by Vi Keeland
“You do?”
“Yes.”
Then he sighed and his forehead dropped back to mine.
I couldn’t leave, not even if I wanted to, but I stopped thinking there. I couldn’t think about the possibility that I was starting to not want to leave. I distracted myself and asked, “What about Mallory?”
He frowned. “What about her?”
“What do they know about her?”
He tensed again. “I have someone on the inside. He said they don’t know much about her, but they know Jeremy had a girlfriend and they’re looking for her.”
“What if he had lots of girlfriends?”
“He did, but they know there was a girl he saw on a regular basis.”
A lightbulb turned on. “Do they know her name?”
“Not yet.”
My chest tightened as he held something back, and then I knew. My heart grew heavy. “But they will, won’t they?”
He nodded. “I’m sorry, Emma.”
“How long do you think?”
He gave me a sad smile. “I don’t know. I don’t think it’ll be too much longer before they find Mallory.”
A sob hitched in my throat. “Are they going to hurt her?”
He didn’t respond.
I knew my answer.
Then he lifted me into his arms again, but this time his embrace was for comfort. He brushed some hair from my forehead. “They might let her live if she gives you up.”
I couldn’t speak. The pain was too much. For the first time, I couldn’t believe that I hoped for my roommate and best friend to stab me in the back. Then she would be safe. Jeremy wouldn’t be able to continue to hurt her anymore. I nodded. I was okay with that, if it meant she would be safe.
“Carter.”
His arms tightened around me. “Yeah?”
“Would you sleep with me?”
“Of course.” But as he carried me from the room, he didn’t go to my room. He took me to his. The sun had started to rise so his room had some light inside, but I didn’t look around. I kept my eyes closed as he placed me under the covers and slid behind me. He curled me back into his arms. “When do you have to wake up?”
“Eight o’clock.” But it didn’t matter. I never fell asleep, neither did he.
When his alarm went off an hour later, I rose from the bed and got ready for work. Carter handed me coffee and then we went to the car. He rode with me to work and squeezed my hand when we arrived. Mike, or a look-alike, opened the door for me, but I didn’t get out. I stayed in the car for another minute. No one said a word. The door was held open, waiting for me, and then as my heart sank, I started to go.
Carter pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth before I went. A tear fell from my eye, but he brushed it away. As I left, I knew that my entire life had changed and this was the first time that I accepted it.
TWELVE
The rest of my week turned into a routine. I barely saw Mr. Hudson, which was fine with me, and worked almost solely with Theresa on the new project. We took our breaks and lunches together. By the end of the week she was quickly becoming a friend, which seemed like a good thing when I stopped receiving text messages from Amanda. Theresa and I went to the café for bagels one morning and Amanda was working. She never made eye contact with me and, as I watched her, I saw there were bags underneath her eyes. I wondered if something had happened to Mallory, but I couldn’t ignore Carter’s warning. There was no going back. It was best for everyone that I stepped away from my old friends, best for them and for myself.
I missed Mallory. I missed Amanda. I even missed Ben, just a little bit. There had been some good times with the four of us on the weekends, so when Theresa suggested pizza, wine, and movies at her place I was excited to go. Carter had left town for the weekend. He hadn’t told me where he was going, only that he would be back Sunday night so I wasn’t looking forward to spending it alone. I called him and relayed where I would be. He only said to make sure the men knew my plans for the evening. He had another guard added to my team. I started to realize the same men didn’t work 24 hours of the day. They switched at regular eight hour shifts, but they all looked the same. I had been calling three different guys the name of Mike. The real one had a scar on the inside of his left hand and his eyes were darker brown than the rest.
When we stopped at Amanda’s building, the real Mike sat next to me.
I let out a shaky breath, trying to calm my nerves. He gave me a reassuring smile before he got out of the car.
I waited inside.
This was their routine for me. The car would stop at the back and one of the guards would get out. He would start a sweep around the building and when he cleared it, the car would pull to where I would get out. Then the guard who rode beside me would walk around to my side of the car while he did another visual sweep of the surroundings. He remained at my door while he waited for the third guard to get into place inside the building and then he would open the door for me. Once that happened, I went inside and forgot about the men.
They were always around. I never knew where they were, but they were close. Carter told me one night over dinner that he trained his men to be ghosts. They were supposed to adapt and blend into any environment; otherwise, he wouldn’t hire them for his security team. He never used them himself. When he left, he only had one man with him, named Gene. I never saw Gene, but I heard his voice a few times when he would call for Carter.
Gene was an enigma to me, but everything about Carter’s life was a mystery to me.
When Mike opened my door, I gave him a small nod in thanks and walked inside. Theresa’s doorman gave the guards a scared look, but he opened the door for me without a word. His hand trembled as he did so, and he flushed when he saw that I noticed it. I wanted to murmur my understanding, but I didn’t. I ducked my head down and followed him to the elevator. He pushed the button for Theresa’s floor and bid me a goodnight. He said that he would be announcing my arrival to her over an intercom from the front desk.
As with Mike, I gave him a nod in thanks as well, then stepped back and waited until the elevator stopped at her floor.
Theresa opened her door down the hall and stuck her head out. She waved at me. “Hey there! I’ve got a pizza on the way and two bottles of wine being chilled. I hope you like wine. I like the sweet stuff. I’m not a dry girl.”
The ball of nerves inside loosened at her easygoing laugh. As I stepped into her apartment, I was taken aback by the warmth. It was a three bedroom apartment with a simple layout.
“You want a tour?”
I flashed a grin. “I’d love one.”
“Here’s the kitchen.” She waved to the room we were standing in, with an island counter in the middle. “There’s the living room.” She had a white plush sectional sofa that curved around one corner of the room with a loveseat next to it. The wall was covered with a large flat-screen. She led the way through the living room and opened her glass doors that led onto a large patio. “Here’s my balcony. Nothing special, but I like the view.” It was over a courtyard that was in the middle of the surrounding buildings. A pool glistened up at us.
“And here’s my bedroom.” She took two steps and opened another set of glass doors. We stepped inside to a large bedroom. She had matched her white comforter with the white couches in the living room. As she showed me her bedroom and the other two rooms used as an office and an exercise room, I noticed there were no guest bedrooms. The last stop was her public bathroom. She opened the door. “I’ve got a private bath off my room, but you can use this one. I never have guests so it’ll be like your own bathroom whenever you come over.”
A twinge of pleasure spread through me. She was already planning for the next time we hung out.
Her buzzer went off and she went over to it. “Yeah?”
The man on the other side spoke, “Your pizza is here.”
“Okay. Let him up. I’ll be waiting.”
“Yes, Miss Webber.”
Sh
e grinned and shook her head as she turned to me. “He always calls me Miss Webber. I’ve been living in this building since I was three. You’d think Jarvis would start calling me by my first name, but he never does.”
“You’ve lived here your whole life?”
She nodded as she collected her wallet from her purse. “Yep. My parents moved in when my dad got a new architect job. Then after they died, I didn’t want to leave the building. I did downgrade to this apartment, but I like this building. It’s home. Known all the neighbors all my life. There’s not much turnover here.”
My eyes went wide. She downgraded? I could never afford a place like this, not with the salary I earned as Mr. Hudson’s assistant. Then I comprehended the rest of what she had said. “Oh, I’m so sorry about your parents.”
She shrugged as she opened the door. “It’s fine. It was a car accident. I was told that they didn’t feel any pain. A truck blindsided them.”
I heard the hitch in her throat.
The elevator sounded its arrival and she stepped out to pay for the pizza. When he left, she closed the door behind her with a large steaming pizza box in her hand. I wasn’t sure what to say. I understood grief and death, but I didn’t understand her lifestyle. For the most part, I grew up in a one-bedroom with AJ. Mallory and Ben grew up with their parents, but they lived in poverty. All three of us had fought our way out of it. I’d been the most successful, but I would never feel comfortable in a home like this. Carter’s was different. That was Carter’s place, not mine.
“What about you and your folks?”
“Oh.” What did I say? “Um, my parents have been dead since I was nine. I grew up with my brother.”
“I’m sorry about your folks too. You must be close with your brother?”
I was. “Yeah.” I forced a wide smile and changed the topic. “The pizza smells delicious.”
She chuckled as she pulled out two plates. “Gotta love Sammy’s Pizza, right? I grew up on it. My mom always ordered delivery. I think she had a crush on the delivery guy back then, but my dad never minded. It was the only time he could eat junk food. My mom was a stickler for healthy food back then. Not me. I indulge when I can. When the pounds start sticking, I’ll have to stop.”
I had to agree. She was stick-thin and after spending so many breaks and meals with her during the week, I knew she had a hearty appetite. I wasn’t as blessed, but I never had a problem with my weight. My problem was not having an appetite like Theresa, something she had started to notice over the past week. I was determined to match her with pizza tonight, but as I made that decision she already gobbled a slice down as she searched for two glasses for our wine. I didn’t think I stood a chance. However, I slid a piece onto a plate and took the glass of wine she offered.
That was normal, to indulge after a hard week at work and laugh with your friends over a glass of wine. This was all normal. I could be normal.
Carter wasn’t normal, but I couldn’t only have him in my life now.
“So what do you want to watch?” She indicated to the couches and soon we were both situated with blankets, the pizza on the table, and the second bottle of wine beside it. As I watched her gather everything, she flushed and murmured, “I get lazy once I’m on that couch. I don’t like to get up. Don’t judge me.”
“Never.” I couldn’t contain the smile that stretched from ear to ear. Theresa was exactly the friend that I needed.
It was after the second movie and the second bottle of wine when someone knocked on her door. I fell off the couch, my heart pounding, but Theresa scowled at the door. There was no fear, there wasn’t even surprise. She sighed as she stood from the couch, a little clumsier than normal. “Excuse me while I deal with this.”
With this?
I slunk down on the couch so they couldn’t see me, but I tried to peek over the edge. As she opened the door wider and I heard a masculine voice, my mouth fell open. Did Theresa have a boyfriend and not tell me? Well. I rolled my eyes. I hadn’t been forthcoming about my life at all. I couldn’t blame her for not sharing her personal life. Then I heard her snap, “Noah, you never told me!”
I gave up on peeking and fell to the floor beside the couch. That was my boss.
He growled from irritation and snapped back, “I did too. I told you about the family dinner last week.”
“Yeah.” Theresa held her own. “You told me, you never invited me. I thought you were just being a selfish prick, like normal.”
“AAH! You make me crazy.”
She snorted. “You do that fine just by yourself. I don’t do a thing to make you crazy.” Her voice softened. “Your mother must be so angry with me.”
“Don’t worry. She blames me, said I must’ve done something to piss you off.”
“Look, come in. I’ll call your mom and square everything away. I have company so I can’t come anyway.”
“You have company?” Interest and alarm spiked in his tone. “Who?”
“A friend.”
He snorted this time, “You don’t have any friends.”
She growled. “I’d slam this door in your face if I didn’t have to call your mother.”
“Ookay,” he mocked her.
“Whatever. Come in. Be nice to my friend.” She turned around and grabbed her phone from the table beside me. As she bent, she flashed me an apology, but she spoke to the big guy who had followed her inside, “You might want to be professional. She works for you.” And then she flounced out of the room, lifting the phone to her ear as she went.
I sat up. So this was Noah Tomlinson. I never met the guy but had seen photographs of him. There’d been a few from when he had been an MMA fighter and plenty from when he won the national championship. He wore jeans and a sweater that stretched across his chest in an impressive manner. The guy was huge, and as I caught his gaze, I knew he was intelligent. A cloud of suspicion and leering was in his gaze as he raked me up and down.
I expected the owner of The Richmond to stick his hand out, smooth back his hair, and become the sleazy smooth-talker most of the guys at the top level were. He didn’t. His frown deepened and he leaned against the island counter in the kitchen. He folded his arms, making his chest seem even bigger, and scowled at me. “Who are you?”
He didn’t know—but he must’ve. “I’m Emma Martins.”
His eyebrows shot up and everything vanished. Shock and something close to panic came over him. He glanced to where Theresa had gone and, when he heard she was still on the phone, dropped his voice to a whisper. “What are you doing here?”
“I—huh? Theresa and I are friends. We’re working together. You put us together.”
He growled from the back of his throat. “I didn’t expect this. I knew you’d work together, but,” he glanced where Theresa was again, “she doesn’t know your relationship with Carter, does she?”
My relationship with Carter? Did he? What relationship? “No, no one does.” Well, he did. I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean you didn’t expect this?”
He frowned again. “That was my mistake. I’m sorry, but you really need to go. You should cut your friendship with Theresa too. She hates Carter.”
My eyes threatened to pop out. She knew Carter?
He amended, “I mean, she hates the idea of him. She’s never met him, don’t worry, but she knows he’s a friend of mine and connected to the mob. She doesn’t approve of our friendship, and if she knew your relationship with him,” he whistled and shook his head, “it would not be pretty. Trust me.”
“How do you two know each other?”
He shrugged. “Family friends. Her parents were friends with my parents. We took her in when they died.”
“Oh.”
His eyes narrowed again. “You’re not here trying to get her money, are you?”
WHAT?
But then I glanced around, she had money. I saw that from before, but I wondered how much she had. Then I remembered who I was living with and replied, “You think I’m scamm
ing her for money?”
“Oh, yeah.” He relaxed and flashed me a grin. It transformed his face. I saw why a lot of the females at work whispered about his deliciousness. He didn’t have the classic model-like looks that Carter had, but when his mouth turned into a smile, it lit his face up and he was handsome in a manly and rough looking away. I knew that appealed to a lot of women. “I forgot your connections. Maybe she’s scamming you?”
I could tell by how his mouth curved up in a crooked grin that he was kidding. I was a little insulted. I might’ve grown up with a scammer, but I never did cons. AJ never allowed it, and after he died, I was determined to be successful without resorting to low-level ways of making money.
“Look,” his jaw tightened and his voice grew rough, “I really am sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that, just that Theresa’s been targeted before because of her money. She doesn’t have a lot of friends because she’s too damn trusting. I tell her to steer clear of everyone, but she tries every now and then. They never end well. That’s what I thought before I knew who you were.”
That would explain Theresa’s lack of friends, but I couldn’t shake his suspicion. He was covering up for it, but it was there. I didn’t know if my relationship with Carter kept it there or made it worse? My gut told me that he would’ve been suspicious of me with Carter in my life or not.
“Okay!” Theresa returned with a smug smile on her face. She threw an arm around Noah’s shoulders and bumped her hip into his. “It’s all good with your mother.”
He studied her with a slight sneer. “Tell me you didn’t.”
Her smile stretched from ear to ear. “I did.”
I frowned.
He groaned. “Whatever deal you struck with my mother, I’m out. I have a date tonight.”
“No, you don’t,” she laughed and poked him in the chest. “Well, yes, you do. With me and Emma.” She continued, “Brianna got a job at Octave. I told your mother that we’d go and check on her.”
“Brianna did what?” Noah exploded. “You did what?”