The Unblocked Collection

by Marni Mann

  I stared at the blank screen while I tried to get my breathing under control. It was a good thing I wasn’t driving, not with the anger that was boiling inside me. He wanted an admission, for me to tell him I’d been snooping around to find the evidence I needed to take him down. Confessing that wouldn’t help. But telling him nothing had gotten people I cared about involved.

  This had to end.

  I pulled up Hayden’s name and started a new text:

  Me: We need to talk.

  Hayden: What’s going on?

  Me: He sent Frankie flowers. Now he’s threatening her.

  Hayden: Oh shit. Tonight, my place, 6:00.

  Me: I’ll see you then.

  EIGHT.

  FRANKIE

  I ADJUSTED MY PURSE as I scanned the bar, looking for his face. I’d intentionally arrived a few minutes late so he would be here before me. I didn’t want to wait for him…and I didn’t want to stay long.

  Our eyes connected. He was sitting at a high top in the corner of the room. He looked relieved to see me, which told me he was worried I wouldn’t show up. And I almost hadn’t. Halfway there, I considered calling him and doing this over the phone. But I knew it wouldn’t end if I did. I had to see him. I had to be sure he knew how serious I was.

  “It’s nice to see you,” he said as I approached the table. He stood, his arms reaching out to hug me. His smell was wrong; his clothes were too formal. He must have thought it was his place to comfort me.

  It most definitely wasn’t.

  I turned my body away from him and shook his hand. It was the only contact he would be getting. “Let’s get right into it.” Then I continued moving into the seat across from his, holding my purse in my lap.

  “Can I start by saying how sorry I am about Anna?”

  “No, Reed,” I said firmly. “You cannot. You’re going to let me start so I can say what I need to say. Then you can speak.”

  He nodded and that’s when I noticed the glass of wine on the table. There was a tumbler of scotch in front of him. I wasn’t here to drink, and I didn’t need a crutch. I just needed to speak the truth. “As much as I hate to admit it, even though we’ve been apart for quite some time, I haven’t been ready to say good-bye to you. I was holding on to the idea of what we had, and what we lost. What we were when our baby was growing inside me…or what I thought we were at the time.” He remained silent, surprisingly. “But things were volatile, unhealthy, we weren’t right for each other and I was too close, too deep to see that.” I pushed the wine to the middle of the table. I didn’t even have the smallest desire to drink it. I hadn’t realized opening up would feel this good. “A child could never have fixed what was broken between us. Maybe it could have saved me—from work, from myself. But it wouldn’t have saved you. And it wouldn’t have saved us.”

  “Frankie—”

  “Let me finish, please.” His mouth closed again as I continued. “I’ve carried around so much anger toward you. I couldn’t understand why you would cheat on me, why you would risk ruining our relationship. And then I realized you didn’t ruin anything. You just confirmed that it was gone. What we had was irreparable. It wasn’t a relationship, it wasn’t even a friendship; it was a partnership, at best.”

  “No.” He leaned over the table, his hands reaching for me. I hugged my purse, keeping mine away from him. “I don’t agree. That’s not true at all.”

  “Reed, please.”

  “I can’t let you think our relationship wasn’t real, Frankie. I’ve never loved anyone like I loved you.” He gripped the edge of the table near me. “I still love you.”

  He loved me? I didn’t want to hear that, nor did I believe it. My stomach turned queasy, the sickness spreading to the rest of my body. This was the first time I was actually feeling something honest and non-sexual since Anna’s death.

  “I was committed to you, Frankie,” he continued. “I was ready to marry you.”

  “If that were true, you wouldn’t have slept with Hayden.”

  He let go of the table and grabbed his scotch. “I know you’re not going to understand this, but she meant nothing to me. There were no feelings involved, no need beyond what was happening in that moment. I was drunk. It happened. It was you I loved. The whole time.”

  The sickness in my stomach began to settle as I started to laugh. “You’re right. I don’t understand, because I don’t give my body to men I don’t care about.”

  “Frankie…” He ran his hand through his hair. “Please—”

  “I’m not angry with you, Reed. And I don’t hate you.” I released my bag, not needing to hug it anymore. “I’ve let you go. It’s time for you to let me go, too.”

  “No. That’s not what I want. I want to be with you.”

  “It’s what you think you want, what you think you should have because it’s something you can’t control.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  I knew what I was about to say was going to hurt him. Maybe that was the point. “In the end, I’m actually grateful for you. Had I not been with you, not learned how to recognize an unhealthy relationship or that I should be made a priority, I wouldn’t be able to appreciate the relationship I have now.”

  He slammed down his glass.

  “Derek is in my life now, Reed. He’s who I want to be with.” My voice remained calm.

  “Fuck him.”

  I do, I thought. And fucking him is so much more enjoyable and sensual than fucking you.

  “Do you love him?”

  He knew how hard it was for me to say those words, how long it had taken me to say it to him. Maybe he didn’t deserve an answer, but I was going to give him one. There was no reason to hide it anymore.

  “Yes, I love him.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest, sitting taller in the chair. “You have no idea who you’ve gotten in bed with. You didn’t even know his real name until I told you. That motherfucker could be—”

  I raised my hand to cut him off. “I don’t want to hear it. Who I get into bed with, who I give my heart to, is no longer your concern.”

  “I’m not letting you go, Frankie.”

  “You don’t have a choice, Reed.” I slid my bag over my arm, holding the strap to my shoulder. “I’m already gone.”

  “No.” He stood and started moving toward me.

  I stood as well, making sure the chair stayed between us. “I think it’s best if we don’t partner on any more deals. I’m going to introduce you to an agent who I think you’d work well with. If you’d rather partner with a different agency, I understand. Either way, you and I will no longer be working together.”

  He gripped the back of the chair. “You don’t have to do this.”

  “I should have done it a long time ago.”

  “He’s going to break your heart, you know. Once he doesn’t need you for business anymore, he’s not going to want you for pleasure, either.”

  “That’s a risk I’m willing to take.” I stood directly before him. “Once I walk out of this bar, we’re finished. And so are you and Derek. No more texts, no more phone calls—to either of us. Please respect my wishes, Reed.”

  He was trying to hide the emotion in his face. Because I knew him so well, I could see it. I could almost feel it. At one time, it would have crippled me. It didn’t have that effect anymore.

  “I’m going to miss you,” he said.

  I couldn’t say the same.

  He’d hurt me enough. It was time to move on. I felt that even more when we locked eyes. There was nothing left. “Good-bye, Reed.”

  NINE.

  DEREK

  “IT’S DONE,” SHE SAID, her lips meeting mine as her body fell into my hands, “Reed won’t be bothering us again.” She didn’t taste like wine or tears. She tasted like coconut and amber and desire. She reached beneath my shirt and clutched my skin. If there had been more room in our booth at The Hole, I had a feeling she would have tried to do more.

  My cock hardened at the though
t of it.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “I’m fine.” She paused, smiling as she rubbed her ass over my lap. “And it went as well as expected.”

  She’d texted me on her way to meet him. I didn’t like the idea of it any more than I had when I was in her office. But I hadn’t stopped her, or even tried to. It was her closure, and she needed it. I was just glad she’d gotten it over with and had returned safely.

  I searched her eyes. There was something she wasn’t telling me. By not giving me any details, it made me wonder what the motherfucker had said to her. “He tried to get you back, didn’t he?”

  “He said he wanted me back, but he didn’t act on it.”

  I couldn’t stop my teeth from grinding. “What else do I need to know?”

  She got up from my lap and moved to the other side of the booth. “He might have told me he loved me.”

  “Frankie—”

  “Don’t. Please don’t.” She took a drink from the wine I’d ordered her. “It’s over with. He won’t be bothering us anymore. I really don’t want to keep thinking about it.”

  If he contacted her again, then this wouldn’t be over. Until that happened, I’d respect her wishes and I wouldn’t bring him up. I knew dealing with Reed so soon after Anna couldn’t have been easy.

  “But you’re okay?” I confirmed.

  “Yes, Derek, I’m okay. I actually feel a lot better.” She grabbed my hand. “How’d things go with Hayden?”

  “She says they’re close to pressing charges, but they still have a few more victims to interview. They want to build the case as solid as they can in hopes that the judge will deny bail. They’re also hoping to have enough evidence to prove financial fraud, which could possibly get his passport revoked in case bail is granted.”

  “Wow. How much longer, then?”

  “Not much. That’s the only answer I got…and I’m not fucking happy about it.” I brushed my thumb over her wrist. She was wearing the bracelet I loved. I wanted to flick my tongue across it, then run my teeth over the softest, most sensitive part of her flesh. “You look delicious right now.”

  “Then why are we here and not home where you could be tasting me?”

  So goddamn insatiable. My cock twitched inside my jeans, pressing so hard against my zipper it was starting to ache.

  “We can go, but I have to tell you something first.”

  She drained the rest of her wine and called the waitress over.

  “Can I get you anything else?” the waitress asked.

  “Just the bill,” Frankie said.

  “How about one more round?” I suggested.

  Frankie looked at me. My eyes told her it’s what we both needed, and she didn’t argue.

  “One more round, coming up,” the waitress said.

  Frankie waited for her to leave our table before she spoke. “Something tells me I’m not going to like what you’re about to say.”

  I had talked to Hayden about my idea just to get a second opinion. After everything that had happened, she agreed it was necessary. I had no idea how Frankie was going to react.

  “Until Randy is behind bars and I know he can’t hurt you, you’re going to have a bodyguard.”

  She tilted her head back and laughed. “You’re funny.”

  “I’m not joking.”

  Her eyes widened and she shook her head. “No way. Not going to happen. That’s completely crazy talk.”

  “It is going to happen, Frankie. You won’t be going anywhere without him. His name is Dale, and he’ll be at your condo tomorrow morning to escort you to work.”

  “Derek, what the hell is going on?”

  My teeth were grinding again. “I don’t trust the motherfucker.” I checked to make sure no one was listening; I was speaking louder than I’d intended. “I can’t predict what he’s going to do, and I can’t protect you when I’m not with you. Randy isn’t going to touch you. I’m going to make sure of that.”

  “There’s something you’re not telling me.”

  She was right. But there was no way I was going to tell her what Randy had said on the phone. It would scare her and I didn’t need that. I just needed her safe and protected and I was ensuring both.

  “Promise me you’ll play nice with Dale? You’ll follow his instructions and you won’t go anywhere without him?”

  “Is he coming to California with us?”

  “No. I’ll be in California. You won’t need him then.”

  “So you’ve talked to Randy?”

  “We talked, yes.”

  The waitress delivered our second round and I gripped the cold beer between both hands.

  “What does he want from you?”

  “An answer.”

  “So give him one.”

  I stared at the amber liquid that swirled around the top of the glass. “Tell him I’m trying to take him down? That my sister is building a case against him?”

  “Tell him anything you want. Lie if you have to. Just get him to stop.”

  She was so sweet, so naïve when it came to this kind of life. She’d seen dark, but she hadn’t seen criminal. Lying wouldn’t make him go away. It would only make him dig harder. “Nothing will stop him, Frankie—not even an answer from me—because he doesn’t know what he’s looking for. He just knows he’ll keep searching until he’s satisfied and that probably won’t happen until he takes me down.”

  “Block Development, you mean?”

  “That…and me.”

  “Oh my God.”

  I grabbed her hand again. I’d gone too far; I realized that now. I had to make this better, and then I had to take her to California so she could get her mind off everything. “There’s nothing to worry about. Dale is going to keep you protected and I’m going to stay far away from Randy.”

  “You’re getting a bodyguard, too, aren’t you?”

  I smiled. Her mouth was so passionate, so full of worry. My tongue needed to be inside it. “Come kiss me.”

  “Derek, I don’t like this at all.”

  Neither did I. I hated that I couldn’t control Randy’s next move. The bastard needed a leash around his neck while I held the other end.

  “It’s going to be fine.” I pulled at her hand. “Kiss me. Now.” She walked over to my side of the table and I shifted my legs out of the booth so she could sit on my lap. “Let me do the worrying, okay? I don’t want you thinking about any of this.”

  “That’s impossible.”

  “It’s not. I’ve got it handled. Now fucking kiss me.”

  She was reluctant, but her mouth eventually found mine. I could feel in her kiss that I hadn’t even come close to persuading her. She was worried about me. I was worried about her. And I had no answer from Hayden about how long this was going to last.

  TEN.

  FRANKIE

  “WE’RE HERE,” Derek said, turning at the small wooden sign. The hotel wasn’t a name I recognized, and most of the chains I’d stayed at didn’t end with the word “Inn.” Leaving the wide street, we were now on a narrow, hilly path surrounded by olive trees. As we moved up the hill, the trees got denser, making it difficult to see the road below or what was ahead. After several minutes of climbing, he stopped at an old but well-maintained farm and shifted into park. “I’ll be right back.”

  Having hit thick city traffic as soon as we left the airport, it took us almost two hours to drive to Napa from San Francisco. I hadn’t checked my phone since we’d taxied to the gate. Now that I was alone, I pulled it out. A text from Brea filled the screen:

  Brea: It was a fantastic sales day. No, I’m not emailing you the closing numbers or the amount of units under contract. I’m telling you to go have fun. I know you landed already so I expect you to have a glass of wine in one hand and a dick in the other. Yes, I really did just type that.

  Me: The only thing in my hands is this phone.

  Brea: What the hell are you waiting for?

  Me: We’re parked outside a farm. He’s i
nside checking in, I think, and I’m outside texting you.

  Brea: A…farm? Oh God.

  Me: My thoughts exactly.

  Brea: This is Derek we’re talking about. Don’t doubt the man.

  Me: He is kind of perfect, isn’t he?

  Brea: Text me later—after the wine and in between rounds of dick.

  I laughed just as Derek walked past the front of the rented SUV.

  I stashed the phone in my purse and popped the door open for him. He held two glasses of red wine and handed me one as he slid into the driver’s seat. “Cheers.” He clinked his glass against mine.

  “Cheers,” I echoed. It was a rich pinot noir, full of blackberry and chocolate notes. “This is delicious.”

  “It’s their house wine. Award-winning, from what I’ve read.”

  “You’ve read about their wine?”

  He smiled as we meandered through the narrow street, the olive trees feeling even denser the higher we got. “I studied up on the property, yes.”

  I was impressed. I figured Will had booked this trip, and I still believed that. But Derek had taken the time to learn about the property and the wine they produced. He didn’t enjoy wine nearly as much as I did, so I knew he was doing this all for me. He had his flaws, his secrets, a past that was dark and painful, but he truly was perfect for me.

  I reached for his thigh and held it as he turned at the fork and parked in front of a small, private cottage at the end of the road. It had light-blue siding and a porch. There were chairs near the front door that faced the olive trees.

  I felt his eyes run over my face as I took in the details of the home. “Not what you were expecting?” he asked.

  “It’s quaint.” And extremely antique looking, quite the opposite of the contemporary high-rises I was used to staying in. Those generally featured electronic curtains and televisions in the bathroom. I wasn’t familiar with the accommodations in this town; my only other visit to Napa had been a day trip. This just didn’t seem like a place I would have chosen for us. I was surprised Derek had.