by Ava Miles
The key in the cell he’d fashioned for her turned in the lock, and she felt an all-too-familiar powerlessness steal over her. “We’ll do it your way, Vince.”
“Good. Then I’ll look forward to seeing you at a few of the get-togethers Terrance usually attends in New York, assuming he brings you along. Make sure he does. I want to see you again. I like your hair, by the way. It suits you so much better than the dull brown hairdo you had at Harvard.”
Stars appeared at the edges of her vision, and she felt herself on the brink of collapse. “I need to go, Vince.” She had to get away from him. Hide. Find a safe place again.
“You’ll go when I say so.”
His words were hard like steel, and they cut through her flesh. No, this could not start again. She reached deep for any final strength, and like a life preserver in a vast ocean, she latched onto a thread.
“Terrance is here, Vince, and you don’t want him to overhear us, do you?”
She jerked her head around to make sure he wasn’t finished with his shower.
“You bitch. I don’t like thinking of you with him. You were supposed to be mine.” He was breathing hard now.
“You have a wife, Vince. I saw it in the news. You need to stop this.”
“Don’t talk about my wife. You don’t deserve to speak her name, you slut.”
Slut. Bitch. Whore. He’d called her all those things, not to mention how he’d slashed her tires and followed her, making her think she couldn’t escape him.
“I’m going to go, Vince, before Terrance comes out. I won’t say anything as long as you uphold your end. Don’t call me again.”
She punched the End button with a shaking finger. The phone dropped into her lap.
He’d found her. He’d finally found her. And it wasn’t over.
He was financing the dream of the man she loved and using that fact to threaten her all over again.
She wanted to weep, raise her fists to the sky. Scream. Life was so fucking unfair.
Shivering from the aftershocks of the call, she wrapped the Irish throw around her. She’d just made a deal with the devil.
To protect herself.
To protect Terrance.
Not just his financing and his primetime TV show, but his life. Who knew what Vince was capable of? He had enough money to hire people to hurt Terrance. She knew the violence he was capable of. Her mind flashed to the memory of him gripping her throat and threatening to kill her and any man who touched her.
Vince’s voice held the same menace and craziness as it had at Harvard. She’d hoped time would tame him, but she’d read enough about stalkers over the years to know their brand of violence and intimidation didn’t just disappear unless the person sought help.
Vince wasn’t the kind to seek help. He was deeply disturbed, and his family was always there in the wings to conceal his mistakes. Like they had with her, branding her a gold-digging liar in court when she fought back.
“Elizabeth,” Terrance called out.
She jumped in place, pressing a hand to her pounding heart. Get control of yourself. He can’t see that you’re upset or he’ll ask why.
“I’m in here,” she replied, hiding her hands under the blanket.
If he saw them…
“What do you feel like? French toast? Waffles? Oh, I know, how about eggs Benedict? You always loved… What’s wrong?” He strode across the room and put his steaming blue mug on the coffee table.
The lie was bitter on her tongue as she spoke it. “I shouldn’t have read some of the tweets.”
His mouth turned grim. “Dammit! I don’t like seeing you like this.” He rubbed her arms like he knew she was cold. “Forget them. Haters have to be the unhappiest people on the planet.”
“People are going to say things,” she responded, keeping her voice as even as possible.
“How about I tweet this? Leave my girlfriend alone and fuck off.”
Girlfriend. Any other time it would have been sweet, but she was too scared and cold for it to warm her now. “I think you’re losing a fortune to the Cuss Fund.”
“It’s going to a good cause. The Children’s Aid Society in New York is going to love me. I owe about two grand after yesterday.” He inhaled deeply like he was trying to regain control of himself. “Seems I haven’t started off any better today.”
Hearing he was helping troubled kids—New York City kids who were struggling like he once had—undid her. He was such a good man, and he didn’t deserve this mess she’d dragged him into. She leaned her head into his neck, inhaling the clean scent of him from his shower.
“You’re not doing so bad, and as you said, the money is going to a good place. We just need to let these tweets roll off our backs.”
“How are you supposed to do that when you’re Rhett’s publicist? I know you can’t go radio silent on Twitter.”
She’d loved handling Rhett’s social media accounts. Now, she wanted to delete herself, and every sign of her, from the digital world. But that was impossible. “You’re right. It’s my job. I’ll just need to grow a thicker skin.”
And develop a better poker face with Terrance.
“Come here.”
His arms wrapped around her, and she wanted to weep. She loved this man. There was no way she was going to let Vince hurt him and everything he’d worked so hard to accomplish.
“I love you, Terrance.” The words burned her throat, laced with fear and desperation.
“Hey, I love you too. We’re going to get through this, I promise. I’m going to have my publicist tweet about our relationship today and talk to my network boss. We just need to help everyone see the new you and not Vixen. Can we tweet about me going out with a Harvard grad? And then there’s the whole thing about you having a higher IQ than me. I can joke about how you’re slumming with me.”
Hearing the undercurrent of shame in his voice, she pressed back. When she took his face in her hands and looked into his eyes, she could see the vulnerability from the street-smart kid he’d once been.
“Stop. No one is slumming here. We both have our pasts, but we both have value.”
A part of her heart burst open as she realized it was true. Liz Parenti hadn’t believed it, but she’d grown wiser as Elizabeth Saunders.
“You have value,” she whispered. And so do I, regardless of what Vince says.
His eyes lowered, and for a moment, she could see him fighting his own demons. “How about we say we’re a match made in heaven? I’m a food genius, and you’re a poker genius?”
She traced his cheek, never wanting to leave this house. If they could stay here forever, they would be safe. “That’s much better.”
His nod told her his demons had been vanquished.
Now she only needed to vanquish hers with Vince.
Chapter 31
When Terrance left her with a long, sweet kiss, Elizabeth broke down and cried, releasing all of the pent-up emotion crushing her chest.
Over a cup of chamomile tea, she told herself she’d done her best against Vince. Elizabeth was stronger than Liz. She would need that strength to keep this secret from Terrance.
But she couldn’t keep it from Jane.
Twenty minutes later, she knocked on her best friend’s door. Matt answered, which threw her for a loop. If he’d come home for “lunch,” they were finished. He was dressed in tan dress slacks and a white shirt.
“Elizabeth! Hi! Come in. Jane and I have been thinking about you.”
Jane and I. It was still weird, adjusting to the new tagline they used, but it was nice to have someone else who cared about her.
He gave her an impromptu hug. “You look like you needed that. Come on in. Jane’s in the kitchen. I was just heading back to work.”
Annie trotted up to her, and because Elizabeth needed the comfort of that sweet dog, she stooped to pick her up. Henry, who’d followed his smaller friend, immediately whined.
“He’s still a little jealous when other people don’t pet
him first,” Matt said. “We’re working on that. Right, Henry?”
Matt held his hand out for a shake and the dog lifted his paw. Given how rambunctious Henry had been when Jane and Matt first met, the progress was remarkable. Rufus looked on like a proud papa from the corner where he lay sprawled.
Sure enough, her BFF was washing up a dishpan when Elizabeth walked into the kitchen.
“Look who’s here, hon,” Matt said, following her into the room. “I’ll leave you two to your girl talk. This guy’s gotta get back to work.”
Walking over to her friend, he planted his hands on her waist. She leaned back and gave him a soft kiss. “Mayoral candidates can’t be slackers—even if they sometimes eat lunch at home.”
“I’ll text you when I can meet you at the park to walk the dogs. I love you.” He gave her another smacker and then turned away. “Bye, Elizabeth.”
Stroking Annie’s tuft of hair on her head above her yellow sweater with blue flowers, Elizabeth managed a smile. Barely.
“Are you okay?” Jane came over and hugged her immediately, dog and all. “I was so worried when Rhett told me about those tweets. You know me. I’m not on Twitter, despite all your prodding.”
Since Jane was a rising poker star, the exposure would do her good, but that was the last thing she wanted to talk about.
“Jane.”
Her friend must have heard the quiver in her voice because she pressed back instantly. “What is it? What’s happened?”
Setting Annie on the floor, Elizabeth took Jane’s hands and squeezed them tight. “You have to promise me something. I won’t ask you not to tell Matt, but you can’t tell Rhett or anyone else what I have to tell you. Especially Terrance.”
Only last month, she and Jane had finally blown the lid off their secret because of Jane’s love for Matt. Now she was asking her friend to put it back on because of her love for Terrance.
“Okay,” she said after a long moment. “What happened, Liz?”
She felt herself dissolve, the muscles in her face toppling like bricks in an earthquake. “Vince found me, and he’s Terrance’s banker.”
Jane’s face paled. “No.”
“Yes,” she responded, nodding her head erratically, the shock rolling through her again.
Her friend’s arms came around her and squeezed her tight, just like they had when she came home from her first run-in with Vince. “Tell me.”
Through tears and a few sobs, she told Jane everything. By the time she finished, she was shivering again, and the dogs were whining, sensing her distress, nudging at her legs in comfort.
Jane finally stepped back, her hands on Elizabeth’s shoulders. “You’re safe. He can’t touch you. I promise you, Liz. He’s not getting to you this time.”
The worry that Vince might come for her in Dare Valley had crossed her mind, but she’d told herself he had too much to lose. “I’m afraid for Terrance. Jane, he all but threatened to destroy him. I can’t let that happen.”
“So you’re going to keep quiet and not tell him? Liz, Terrance has a right to know he’s doing business with the man who hurt you, who’s still hurting you.”
She should have guessed her friend would feel that way. “You don’t know how much Terrance wants to be Wolfgang Puck with his kitchen items and gourmet food products, not to mention the primetime TV show. Everything he’s worked for is just starting to come together.”
“Not at the expense of you and your safety. That wouldn’t be worth it to him. Dammit, he came to me to ask me what he could do after your run-in with Ryan on the street. He loves you, Liz.”
She remembered the tender way he’d looked at her in bed a few hours ago. “I know it, and I love him, which is why I have to protect him from Vince.”
“Let someone else finance Terrance. He’s a hot enough commodity. I know it would be difficult from a business perspective since his products are just launching, but he’d do it for you.”
“Vince already anticipated that.” And she told her about the full threat concerning Terrance’s business venture.
“Damn Vince!” Jane reached down to stroke Henry when he whined again. “It’s okay, boy. I don’t care what Vince is threatening. Liz, Terrance wouldn’t want you to protect him, not like this. Tell him and let him decide what to do.”
“Enough! Even without Vince’s threats, you didn’t see how close Terrance was to hitting Ryan yesterday. He’ll tear Vince apart with both hands, and that will give Vince plenty of ammunition to do what he wants. He’ll ruin him.”
“You don’t know for sure Terrance will react that way. He restrained himself yesterday.”
She did know. She’d felt the caged tension in his body last night, which was his reaction to simply hearing about Vince. “This is totally different and you know it.”
“I disagree. You need to give Terrance the choice. Just like I did when Matt was running for mayor.”
“Mayor? I’m sorry, but Terrance is a celebrity, a national figure. That’s nothing like running for mayor in a small town.”
There was a stunned silence as Jane turned away.
Elizabeth reached for her. “I’m not saying this to hurt you or impugn Matt in any way. I’m only trying to explain why it needs to be this way, Jane. I don’t want to deal with Vince ever again, and if this is the price, I’m willing to bear it.”
“And what about those parties Vince mentioned Terrance bringing you to?” Jane asked, her voice rising now. “This isn’t over. He wants to see you again, Liz. He’s still obsessed with you. What are you going to do then?”
Visions of him finding her at a party and putting his hands on her again made her want to vomit. “I’ll make up an excuse not to go. It will be fine.”
It had to be.
Her friend remained cold and silent.
“Please, Jane! Support me in this.” Tears coursed down her cheek. “I need you. When he called…I was so scared.”
One tear trickled down Jane’s face, and then another. They reached across the room for each other, crying, each reliving those horrible months at Harvard that had changed their lives.
“I’m sorry,” Elizabeth cried. “This is the best I can do right now.”
“I know,” Jane whispered. “Just promise me you’ll be open to another way if Vince doesn’t keep this…I won’t call what that bastard offered a truce.”
The venom in her voice dried up Elizabeth’s tears. “Okay. We’ll see how it goes.”
“I don’t like keeping this from Rhett,” Jane said, clutching her tight. “He’ll be hurt if he finds out we didn’t trust him.”
Hadn’t she thought of that and hoped there would be a way to confide in him? “I know, but you know what he’ll do. He’ll join forces with Terrance to beat the shit out of Vince. It would hurt both of their careers.”
“Rhett wouldn’t care,” Jane responded, pulling back so she could grab some tissues from the counter.
But would Terrance? He would defend her. That she knew. But would he regret losing everything he’d worked for? How could he not? Cooking was everything to him, and they hadn’t been together for that long. Even their love was new.
“This is how I want it to be.”
After blowing her nose, Jane washed her hands and poured them two glasses of water. “Okay, but I don’t like it. Any of it. I’ll tell Matt, but only if he promises not to say anything. He won’t like it, but he’ll do it for me.”
No, Future Mayor Boy wouldn’t like it. The man was the All-American kind who kissed babies and shook hands with citizens because he liked it, because he wanted to better the community.
“Thank you.”
Jane handed her one of the glasses, and Elizabeth took a big drink to soothe her aching throat.
“That’s what best friends for life are for, right?” Jane had said the same thing to her when Vince first became a problem. Elizabeth had told her to find a new roommate and to avoid her until the danger passed.
Jane had refused.
“I love you, Jane,” she whispered.
“I love you too, dammit,” Jane said, picking up Annie and scratching her under the ears. “I don’t like this. I want to see Vince get what he deserves.”
“So do I, but perhaps that’s not in the cards.”
“We make our own luck,” her friend said, eyes troubled.
“This is life, Jane, not poker, and the stakes are much higher.”
You couldn’t get much higher than someone’s life. Their career.
“Promise me you’ll tell me everything. I don’t want you hiding things from me too because you’re afraid Vince might hurt me.”
Her mind went blank for a second. It hadn’t even occurred to her that her best friend was at risk too, but if Vince knew she was Vixen, he also knew Jane was Raven.
“Stop,” Jane said, reading her mind. “I don’t think he’ll do anything to me.”
But what if he did?
“If he does, we’ll find another way,” Elizabeth told her. “I won’t let him touch you.”
“Neither will I,” her friend said, putting Annie on the ground. “We found a way to handle Vince before. We’ll do it again.”
But last time had involved running for their lives and leaving everything they knew and wanted behind.
“If it comes to that, we’ll stand and fight this time,” Elizabeth said, and the vow coursed through her veins like a powerful elixir.
“Yes. We’re not the scared girls we were then. Vince better not mess with us.”
Elizabeth nodded.
If he did, he was going to see just how much older and wiser they were.
Chapter 32
Tuning out Chef T was impossible. He was eroding her “zone,” the one she needed to get into while catering the annual Raiders Spring Training dinner. Natalie finally walked the expanse of the kitchen, past yards of catering trays filled with prepared food, and stood her ground. Something she needed to do with her brother. She didn’t know how he’d managed it, but she had a brand new bumper sticker on her Nissan SUV. I LOVE SPAM! Matt was a dead man, mayoral candidate or not.