Killing June

by May Bridges

  Monday morning felt normal as always. Apparently, while I spent the weekend dealing with Cade’s frequent intrusions on my life, Marcy was busy working on that promotion. Rumor had it that by Saturday it was Markus’s turn on the Marcy-go-round.

  “It’s not fair, Alex. She can’t just get on her knees and get a promotion.” Jasmine’s thin gold bracelets clanked together as she smacked her hand down on my desk.

  “She can. Good head will—”

  A few quick taps cut me off. I snapped my eyes up to see Robert standing inside my office. He looked like he fit in better than I did, in his tailored business suit. His blue eyes were set on me and the intense irritated look on his face made me sink down into my chair.

  Jasmine was twisted around in her chair, eyes locked on Robert. Seeming to notice, Robert smiled easily at her. “I need to speak with Ms. Ryan,” he said, walking further into the space.

  “Of course.” Jasmine popped out of her seat and held her hands out, offering it to him. “Can I get either of you anything?” she asked, backing toward the door.

  “We’re fine. Thank you. Can you please close the door?” Robert said, turning his attention back to me.

  My office door closed with a soft click and the space shrunk. His face was still hard and I could see him thinking out his words.

  “I told you to come to my house yesterday. I waited for you.”

  “I never said I was coming. That’s your fault for waiting, not mine. Why are you at my office? You can’t be here.”

  “I wouldn’t be if you’d done what I told you and come over.”

  Every time he opened his mouth it got easier to be mad at him. I always tried so hard to see the good in Robert, but I wasn’t a doll he could play with and manipulate.

  “You don’t own me, Robert. You can’t tell me what to do. What the hell is up with men thinking they can control my life? First you, now Cade. I swear.”

  Robert’s back went stiff. “What about Cade?” His blue eyes bored into mine, daring me to lie to him.

  Crap. I didn’t mean to say that.

  I froze, not sure what to say. I watched as Robert’s jaw clenched and relaxed, clenched and relaxed, waiting for my answer. The silence drew out for several tense moments.

  “He had my cuffs, from Christian. He brought them back to me. That’s all.”

  “I know a lie when I see one. Don’t play me like I’m stupid, Alex.” Robert stood and rounded my desk. I pushed back in my chair but there wasn’t much room. Robert bent over me, one hand on either armrest, caging me in.

  “I’m not lying. He brought me my cuffs.”

  “And what else? How is he trying to control you?” His face was inches from mine.

  My heart rate was rapid fire. I’d never really been frightened by Robert, but there was rage flowing off him in thick waves.

  “I—I didn’t mean that he was. There’s been so much going on and I was surprised to see him. I’m just stressed out, Robert.” I averted my eyes, turning my head and looking down, unseeing, at papers on my desk.

  Robert wrapped his long fingers around my jaw and pulled my head back up to look at him. His nails bit into my cheeks with angered force. “If I find out you’re lying, if I find out that piece of shit is messing with my girl, that he is the reason you don’t come over when I tell you to, life is going to get real fucked up for both of you.”

  I flinched away when he pulled my face into his. He squeezed my jaw so hard I feared there’d be bruises. He whispered in my ear. “You’re my girl. I know I can’t keep you always, but I’m not giving you up for lowlife shit like Cade. Find someone better, or no one at all.”

  He stepped away, leaving me motionless with fear in my office chair. At the door he paused. “You will be at my house Wednesday night. We still have business to discuss.” The door clicked shut behind him.

  I sagged forward, folding my arms on my desk, and dropped my head onto them. I fought to hold in tears. Robert had never been cruel to me. Our past had its ups and downs, but he had never hurt me or threatened to.

  I knew I needed to get my head off my desk, straighten myself up, and look composed when Jasmine walked through the door at any moment. I needed to keep up those perfect businesswoman appearances. But the stress of how quickly my life was falling apart felt like a weight on my head.

  And what was I going to tell Cade?

  * * *

  Nothing. It had been two days and I had told Cade nothing. He sent me a daily text or phone call, checking in. I assured him that everything was fine. I wanted to feel out the situation with Robert first. I wanted to handle it on my own. In some way I didn’t want to scare Cade off. I hadn’t seen Cade since we parted ways on Sunday night. Three days and I was having full-blown withdrawals. My body was aching for him. The daily contact only made it worse.

  By the end of Wednesday I was exhausted. I’d spent the morning in Pittsburg, Texas, with the owner of the failing business we were taking over. That week I was as dedicated as I’d ever been to my work; a small distraction from the rest of life. The payoff for those efforts was everyone’s signatures on the dotted line, and Star Industries, Inc. was the proud new owner of a prime commercial property.

  My boss, Oliver, was thrilled when I sent him copies of the finalized docs. He dropped a line about the VP spot, which told me that he was one of the VPs who hadn’t received one of the blow jobs Marcy was passing out.

  I went back to the office to work on the Ovechkin file when I got back from Pittsburg, but it was far past time to go home now. The office was quiet and I decided to head out too. I’d started to gather my things when the sound of my door clicking closed brought my head around.

  Christopher Arnold, the president of Star Industries, leaned back against my closed door. A wave of nausea rolled through me and I fought the bile burning my throat. My shoulders tensed, sending a sharp pain down my arms and through my neck.

  “You’re here late tonight,” he said, raising his brow at me.

  “Heading out now.” I tried for calm, but I couldn’t hide the strain in my voice. “Is there something I can do for you before I go?”

  I wished I hadn’t asked when the corners of his mouth curled up. It was a smirk that said I knew exactly what I could do for him.

  Mr. Arnold moved toward me and rounded to the other side of my desk, making me feel closed in. “Do you have some free time tonight?” he asked.

  I answered as I threw my gym bag over my arm and scooped up my purse. “I wish I did, Mr. Arnold. Perhaps if I had known you were free, I would have opened my schedule.” Or not come back in when I got back from Pittsburg, but you know, whatever.

  “I see. Well, I expect that you have freed up your schedule for the twenty-sixth,” he said, eyeing me.

  “Of course. Ten o’clock, right?”

  “Yeah. I reviewed your application for the VP spot.”

  I smiled up at him, but didn’t respond. He knew I didn’t want his help with promotions. Hell, I didn’t want his help with anything. I didn’t want him to be the reason I lost my job.

  “I hear Brian and Markus are pulling for Marcy. I expect Oliver to vote for you. I could be persuaded to talk Angela into voting your way. With a split decision, it would fall to me.” He propped himself against my desk. The button on his too-tight blazer pulled around his belly when he slouched. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you around the executive suite every day.”

  “Thanks for the offer, but you don’t need to talk to Angela.” I stepped to move past him and he caught me at the wrist.

  “Either way, you’ll be there on the twenty-sixth, yes?”

  “You know I don’t miss appointments, Mr. Arnold.”

  He let me go and followed me out to the elevator, and hovered behind me while I waited for it to come up. The thought of him touching me made my skin crawl. I watched the numbers light up as the elevator moved closer to the forty-sixth floor, certain it was moving slower than it ever had. When the brushed silver doors slid open,
I hurried inside. Relief flooded my veins when he didn’t follow me in.

  “One more thing,” Mr. Arnold said, catching the doors as they started to close, “wear the blue one, June.”

  The moment I felt the elevator descending, I gave in to the weight of the world and sagged against the wall. I could stop taking clients for BDSM sessions, but killing June would be hard as long as Christopher Arnold had the title of President/CEO. It was one more way in which the opposing planes of my life had crossed, and they were mixed like salt and sand; no way to separate them now.

  Mr. Heart waited patiently for me in my living room window when I pulled up to my apartment. He stretched along the back of the couch, digging his claws into the tweed fabric when he saw me approaching, and greeted me at the door, rubbing against my legs and purring. What more could a woman ask for?

  I checked my phone, kicked my black heels off, and plopped down on the couch. I had two missed calls: one from Rachel, and one from Cade. There was a text message and two voicemails.

  The text was from Mama:

  I wanted to see if you invited that nice man from church to dinner. I saw your car was still in the parking lot when we left church. Did you go somewhere with him? Call me okay?

  Perfect. Thank you, Cade, for creating this problem. I had half a mind to call him and tell him he needed to call my mother back. He made that monster, he could deal with it. I thought better of it, knowing he would only perpetuate the issue.

  I sighed and hit the voicemail:

  “Alex, it’s Rachel. Need to do some pre-planning for this weekend. I have a date on Saturday night, so are we good for tomorrow? Or we could get you a date and go doubles Saturday? I like that plan. Call me.”

  I wasn’t letting Rachel set me up on a date. We had done that before. It was like feeding baby rabbits to a hawk. I could either toy with them until it was no fun anymore, or devour them and spit out the bones. In either case, her picks were never a match for me.

  The next voicemail was from Cade:

  “Hey, Doll. Just checking in on you.”

  I loved his phone voice. It was somehow deeper, darker, and made me feel tingly. I decided to text him back.

  Got your message. I am fine, but you’re in trouble.

  It took less than a minute to get his response.

  What did I do?

  Had a message from my mom asking if I had taken that ‘nice boy’ to dinner yet. You have created a monster.

  I didn’t create that, just fed it. And when are you inviting me to dinner? Tonight?

  Can’t tonight. I have a dinner date already.

  My phone was ringing in my hand seconds after I hit send.

  “What, you don’t like text conversations?” I said, seeing it was Cade.

  “Who is your dinner date?” he asked.

  “Why, are you jealous?” A smile spread across my face, wide and slow. I liked the idea of him being jealous.

  “Not at all,” Cade said, casually. “Now answer me.”

  I wondered if his voice sounded like it had seductive qualities to everyone, or if I was imagining it.

  “A very handsome orange guy,” I told him.

  “Orange?”

  “Yes, and he must know I’m talking about him, because he jumped in my lap.”

  “Why is there an orange dude in your lap, Doll?”

  “Heart, my cat, and he’s not a dude. He is a little gentleman.” Mr. Heart purred and pushed toward me. I rubbed my fingers under his chin. “Ouch!”

  “What was that?”

  “Heart flexed his claws into my leg,” I said, and scooted Mr. Heart onto the couch next to me.

  “Sounds like quite the gentleman. So are you really going to use your cat as an excuse to not have me for dinner?”

  “I think you mean have you over for dinner?”

  “No, I said what I meant.”

  I squeezed my legs together without even realizing I was doing it. I was sure he’d be the best main course I’d ever had if I told him he could stop by.

  “You are tempting, but honestly, I’m beat. It was a pretty rotten day and I think I want a shower and my bed.” It wasn’t true. I wanted him, but I still wasn’t comfortable with the idea of him in my apartment, and I didn’t want to drive back to the loft.

  “Why was your day bad?” Cade asked.

  “My boss. Well, my boss’s boss actually. And I had to drive to Pittsburg and back today. Ready for this day to be over, is all.”

  “Do you need me to deal with your boss’s boss for you? I’m great at making problems disappear.” There was a new enthusiasm in his voice.

  “I wish, but no. I’ll deal with it on my own.”

  “Do you deal with everything on your own?”

  I had never really thought about it until he asked. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “We’ll have to work on that,” Cade said, more to himself than me. “Well, I’ll let you go enjoy your dinner with your orange date. Make sure you check in with me tomorrow.”

  “K. Good night, Cade.”

  “Night, Doll.”

  I kept the phone to my ear until I heard him disconnect. I hadn’t sat and talked on the phone with a boy since high school. There was something different, better, about hearing a voice on the other end. Something you didn’t get with a text message.

  Mr. Heart and I did enjoy our dinner together. He also kept me company in the bathroom while I showered. He stayed perched on the toilet seat giving himself a bath too. The shower helped melt away some of the long day’s stress, and I felt better when I got out. In my comfy yoga pants and an old yellow T-shirt, I spent some time on the couch, reading before bed.

  There was a loud knock at my door. Mr. Heart jumped from my lap and skirted into the bedroom. Cade. Of course he wasn’t willing to let me pass up on his offer to have him for dinner. I had eaten already, but there was room for dessert. I felt like a giddy little girl when I went to answer the door.

  Chapter Twelve

  Through the peephole I saw two men. They stood too close to the door for me to see their faces. I only got a glimpse of their stacked arms and chests, wrapped in muscle shirts. Maybe Cade had brought a friend with him? I couldn’t really tell. Well, that would certainly cancel my dessert plans. I might have been a freak, but I didn’t do exhibition shows.

  They pounded on the door again, harder, making it shake on the hinges. Startled, I jumped back from the peephole. Slow and quiet, I slid the deadbolt shut. Maybe it was Cade, but I was starting to think maybe it wasn’t.

  I tiptoed back to the couch and retrieved my phone. Thud, Thud, Thud. The sound of a fist on the door reverberated around the room. I dialed Cade’s number, crouched down against the wall, and listened to never-ending rings. I heard his voice on the other end, “Leave a message.” Shit. I hit end and redial. “Please answer. Please answer,” I whispered to myself. I went through that process three more times. Meanwhile the pounding on my door hadn’t stopped. It had gotten louder and faster.

  This was stupid. I had never hid in my own home. It could only either be Cade and a friend, or Robert’s boys. Oh crap. Robert’s boys. I’d forgotten about going to Robert’s after work.

  I was sick of letting him push me around. I slid back up the wall, grabbed my S&W from my purse, and started toward the front door. Before I got there my phone buzzed in my hand.

  “Hello,” I answered.

  “Areyouokay?” Cade said, rushing out everything into one long word. “I have a bunch of missed calls from you.”

  “You’re not outside my door, are you?”

  “No. Is someone there, Doll?”

  “Yeah, but I can’t see their faces. It’s two men. You know, the tatted up, muscly kind. I think it’s Robert’s boys. I’ll see what they want and—”

  “NO!” Cade barked through the phone. “Don’t you dare open that fucking door. Do you hear me?”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “No, say it. Say the words, Doll.”

  “I
won’t open the door,” I conceded.

  THUD. It sounded like a battering ram had hit my front door, the knock was so loud. “Open the door, Alex,” The muffled male voice yelled. “We aren’t leaving until we have you. Rob will get what he wants one way or another.”

  “Is your house locked up?” Cade asked.

  “The doors are. Some windows are open.”

  “Quietly walk around your house and lock everything. Go to a room with no windows and lock yourself in. Do you have a room without windows?”

  “My bathroom,” I said, getting up to lock my windows.

  “Good, go to your bathroom. Sean isn’t far from your house. He’ll be there really soon. Don’t leave the bathroom till he gets there.”

  “Okay. Cade, you’re kind of freaking me out. Is all this really necessary?”

  “I wish it wasn’t, brave girl. I’ll stay on the phone with you until Sean gets there, but you need to stay quiet.”

  I did what he had asked, with the THUD, THUD, THUD loud in the background. Before I got to my bedroom I heard the men outside testing the doorknob. Thank goodness for deadbolts.

  I pulled Mr. Heart out from under my bed, and I locked us both in the en suite bathroom. He curled up on the seafoam green bathmat. Sitting with my back to the cold porcelain tub, it occurred to me that I’d never told Cade where I lived.

  “Cade, is Sean going to the loft?” I asked in a whisper.

  “No. He’s not far from your place in Highland Park. You’re at your apartment, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah.” I answered, not bothering to ask how he knew where I lived. I had still been trying to sort out how he knew what line of work my dad was in. There was no point in being surprised that he knew my address too.

  A moment later I heard a few thuds against my bedroom window.

  “Is Sean here?” I asked, my heart rate picking up.