“Megan, one of my guys will take you to your sister’s. You can’t stay here and aren’t permitted to return until we get some things figured out. You will stay at your sister’s until you hear from Rick that it is safe for you to return to work. I’m sure it won’t be more than a few days, a week at most.”
He looked at her stunned face.
“What?”
“I have to go, now. Rick will keep you informed and be your contact until we get this resolved.” He turned to leave.
Confused, she reached for him and placed her hand on his forearm, halting his progress. “Tony, why can’t I just get all this information from you?”
He looked into her beautiful, blue eyes and saw the tears gathering on her lashes. She was seeking some kind of comfort and reassurance from the first man she had given herself to in a very long time. Bastard that he was, he wasn’t going to give it to her. He steeled himself to deliver her walking papers.
Tony told her in a cool, even tone. “This isn’t working for me, Megan. This is goodbye for us.”
“What do you mean? I don’t understand, this morning you said...” Her voice trembled and finally broke and he saw the deep hurt cross her very expressive face. He’d tried to find a way to break it to her gently but there was just no easy way. Better to have her think he was a lying bastard. Better to rip the wound open rather than prolong the agony. He lightly pulled her hand from his arm and squeezed it briefly before releasing her.
“Sorry, babe, but you know I am not a committing type of man. In fifteen years, have you ever seen me with a woman for more than a few days? You were great, but it’s done.”
Megan’s jaw dropped. “So what was all that last night? I was just a party pickup and a quick fuck?”
“Megan!” He visibly flinched at hearing her use the harsh word.
“No. No. I need to be clear on this. All that crap about a first date and wanting me was just a line? What was that you said? ‘Mine’?”
“Men will say just about anything when we’re buried deep in a woman or trying to get laid, babe. It’s shitty, but true.” Tony’s face flushed as he recognized the words made him sound like a huge prick.
Megan backed away from him, stunned. Anger and hurt consumed her. “Wow! You really had me fooled. I thought after fifteen years I knew you just a little better than that. I thought you were just a bossy jerk. But no, you’re really just a huge asshole and a player.” She shook her head and closed her eyes, “I can’t believe I let you fuck me.”
“Megan. Stop swearing!”
“No!” Her eyes flew open. “Hell no!” She took several steps toward him until she came up against him, chest to face. She took a finger and poked him in the chest to emphasize her next statement. “You don’t get to cut me loose and still boss me around.” Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. What she wouldn’t give to slap him hard across his lying face. She reined that impulse in. Her anger gave her courage, but she wasn’t stupid.
He stared at her for a moment. His face was expressionless, his eyes cold. Without another word, he turned to leave. As the door opened, he heard Megan try to choke back a sob. He couldn’t resist turning back to check on her. Tears raced down her pale cheeks and her lower lip quivered as she tried to stem the flow of emotions. Finally, in the battle between fight and flight, fight won out. Oh, Hell. Unbelievably livid, she told him off using language that he never would have allowed passing from his Angel’s sweet lips five minutes ago.
Although filled with police personnel and at least half of Tony’s security team, the spacious condo was unusually quiet. Amazingly, her voice hadn’t risen in volume although it carried easily through the open bedroom door and down the stairs to the men working below. Her usually sweet tone was uncharacteristically cold and dismissive as she remarked, “I guess I have no one to blame but myself. I was warned you were a player. I saw proof of it for myself for years. You’ve really missed your calling. You should give up security and give a career in Hollywood a try. You’re portrayal of someone that actually gave a fuck was Oscar-worthy.”
She moved toward him again, her trembling hand rose to grab the doorknob. Her other hand rose and she gave him a little push as her palm pressed flat against his chest. She knew she couldn’t have moved him unless he wanted to. He acquiesced, taking another step back. Tony listened to her voice harden as she continued to berate him.
“You could be a really big star, you know, although your exit lines really need work.” She paused and her angry blue eyes rose to meet his. She wanted to make sure she had his full attention. “Hey, I’ve got an idea. Try these three words on for size, Cap! Go. Fuck. Yourself!” The loud bang of the slamming door followed by the soft snick of the door locking reverberated throughout the condo.
Trapped in her misery in her room, she didn’t know it, but the men downstairs stood frozen in place, their tasks temporarily forgotten. They were amazed that this little bit of fluff had the nerve to go toe to toe against the intimidating Tony Rossi - a man that scared the crap out of men twice her size. Where lesser men had literally pissed themselves from a mere glare from his steel cold eyes, this little girl stood before him and told him where he could go. Holy Shit!
The sound of a soft noise behind her startled Megan back to the present and she realized someone was knocking at her door. Probably her sister. She unlocked the door. The knob turned and Regan poked her head in. “Meg, sweetie? May I come in?”
Megan moved from the bed and went to stand by the window, staring out at the darkness. “I really don’t want to talk right now, Reg.”
Regan stepped in anyway and closed the door, moving to pull her sister into her arms. She rocked her gently as Megan’s emotions bubbled over and all the hurt, pain and fear that had been building throughout the day came pouring out in gut wrenching sobs.
“Oh, honey,” Regan soothed.
“He’s an ass, Reg,” she sobbed. “He’s not any different from any of those other assholes. He fucked me, and then dumped me.”
“What? Why?”
“You tell me and we’ll both know. Something happened here that changed my life and I have no earthly idea what.” Megan had a mix of emotions initially, anger, disbelief, despair, fear, rejection. Now she just felt numb and confused.
Regan fumed as she fantasized about castrating Cap Rossi. “I’m so sorry, honey. I never would have imagined that he would treat you this way. I can’t believe he would do this to my sister, to Rick’s sister-in-law. What is that bastard thinking? You are the best thing that could ever happen to that asshole.”
Megan started crying then. She sobbed, soul-wrenching pain-filled waves from deep within. Her tears soaked her sister’s shirt. She went on for a long time and was shuddering and her breath was hitching when they heard a soft knock at the door.
“Regan?”
“That’s Rick,” Regan said. “I’ll let him in.”
“No! I don’t want him to see me this way. He’ll tell, Cap.” Megan rushed to the bathroom and locked herself in. She grabbed a washcloth and wet it with cool water. As she pressed it against her tear-streaked cheeks and reddened eyes, she heard Regan and Rick talking in the next room.
“He treated her like all the other tramps he’s had over the years. Like she was some kind of easy lay, Rick. You know she’s not like that. Who the hell does he think he is?”
Rick was at a loss himself. “Tone down the language, babe.” Always the Dom, he corrected his wife before scratching his head in confusion. “I don’t know what’s going on, honey. I can’t believe it myself. He’s always considered Megan family. I can’t believe he would risk our friendship for a one night stand.”
“Well, you better tell him his ass is not welcome here again,” she declared furiously. “If I get my hands on him, he’ll never be of use to a woman again. I swear it, Rick. He’ll be lucky if I don’t kill him.”
Megan opened the door then. “No, Reg.” Her voice was scratchy, her throat dry from crying. “It’s m
y fault. I knew he was a player and a womanizer. I watched him parade different women before us for over a decade. I was the idiot who thought somehow it would be different with me. I don’t know how I could be so stupid to have believed him. Now I know how all those other poor women felt when he fucked and dumped them.”
“Meg.” Rick started toward her, but she stopped him short, putting up a hand defensively.
“Don’t! If you’re nice to me, I’ll start crying again. And I hate to say it, Rick, but your asshole boss is not worthy of another tear from me.”
Rick was torn between comforting his sister-in-law who was so special to him and defending his longtime friend, commander and boss. For the life of him, he couldn’t launch that defense, so he stood mutely staring at Megan.
“Please, let’s just drop it for tonight. I have to be up in about four hours for work.” She remembered suddenly that her car was still at the bakery, plus she had no car keys. “I guess I’ll need a ride again.”
“You need to stay here where you’re safe, Megan.” Rick turned to Regan for support. “We need to find out who’s behind this attack and break-in.”
Megan huffed in frustration. “I won’t let some two-bit criminal keep me from my business, Rick. I have to earn a living and I have employees that depend on me. Regular customers and vendors that count on me, too.”
Regan turned to Rick. “Can’t you provide her some security until this is figured out?”
“Yeah, Lil T will be with her and Cap ordered beefed up security at the bakery but...”
“I don’t want anything from Cap, Rick. No way!”
“It’s my business, too, honey. They’re my friends and the best security experts around. If you don’t want Cap involved, I’ll take lead on the case.”
Megan thought about that for a while. She knew Rick would follow through and keep her safe. “Okay. I guess that’s all right then, but I don’t want anything to do with that asshole! I mean it, Rick. Not that he wants to have anything to do with me anyway, but I don’t want him in on any conference calls or meetings with your team. I don’t want to see him. I don’t want to talk to him. No contact. Ever!”
“Okay, honey,” he said sadly. Turning toward the door, he nodded at Regan. “We’ll let you get some sleep, then.”
Regan gave her a last hug before leaving. “Meg, I’m so sorry. I feel responsible. I thought for sure you guys were perfect for each other and meant to be together. You looked so happy together this morning. I’d have never pushed it if I thought he’d act this way.”
“I think we need to have another discussion about the risks involved with your matchmaking schemes, Regan,” Rick added. “ Goodnight, Megan.”
Uh-oh! That didn’t bode well for Regan’s butt. Not the least bit worried that Rick would do anything to harm his petite wife and feeling as if her sister probably deserved a little of what she had coming, Megan crawled into bed and pulled one of the pillows tightly against her chest.
Although exhausted, she couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t relax and close her eyes. Scenes from the past day played over and over in her mind. Tony had seemed so sincere. At times so gentle, even loving. All the promises of making them something long term weren’t just her imagination, were they? If he had just come out and asked, she probably would have slept with him. She didn’t understand why he felt the need to feed her his lies and tell her all that bullshit about being his, and promising forever. She really didn’t put up much of a resistance. Humiliation swept through her.
“I’m such a slut,” she said to herself. A great smile, broad shoulders and a panty drenching voice was all it took. Confused. Crushed. Devastated. She stared at the wall as tears silently slid down her cheek soaking her pillow. She wondered if she would have given it up so easily for another man like Cap. She gave out a sarcastic huff of a laugh. Who was she fooling; there wasn’t another man like Cap. Without closing her eyes at all, the alarm went off at five am and she realized it was going to be another long day.
Chapter Seven
Rick stormed into Rossi Security’s conference room and lit into his boss, calling him out in front of the team that had already assembled. He got right into Cap’s face.
“What the fuck, Cap! You messed with my sister-in-law and fuckin’ dumped her after treating her like a fuckin’ whore? What the fuck!”
Cap calmly looked at his friend’s advancing form. “It’s not what you think, buddy.”
Rick grabbed Cap by the shirt and pushed him back against the wall. “Don’t fuckin’ ‘buddy’ me, Asshole. You didn’t just hurt her; you crushed her and broke her! I’ve never seen her look so defeated.”
Cap smoothly grasped the angry man’s wrist and in an instant had his arm twisted up behind his back. Tony’s strong forearm pressed into the back of his best friend’s neck immobilizing his upper body as he quickly had Rick tasting the paint on the conference room wall. The team around them rose to their feet in anticipation of having to intercede between these two powerful men if necessary. They also watched in fascination because Cap was one of the few capable of taking Rick and containing him. Although Cap had two inches and about twenty pounds on Rick, Rick was one badass motherfucker.
Cap leaned into Rick’s back and softly spoke into his ear. “I really can explain, Rick. I think this is about me and they may be using Megan to get to me. Give me a minute to lay it out for you before you kick my ass.” He felt the man’s tense muscles relax and he released him and stepped back.
“Ok, Cap. But, this better be good.”
Cap nodded, then addressing the room, moved to his laptop and pulled up some emails and displayed them on the screen for the team. “I received these threatening emails and this letter at my home address.” Cap scrolled through about a half dozen emails and froze on the last he had received just two nights ago.
“Prepare to pay and pay big.
Or the price, the pain and suffering will be paid by those closest to you.
Paybacks are hell, motherfucker.”
“Oh Hell!” Rick murmured.
“Exactly.”
Tony let the men process this information. He gave them time to let this sink in for a minute, then started issuing orders to the team. Jonas, their resident techie, was to research the origin of the emails. Rick was in charge of security for and communication with Megan with Lil T assigned as her bodyguard, his primary focus ensuring her safety. They were also going to install security at Decadence including video surveillance. Mick and Dex were going to work with Cap to identify threats from old cases and enemies to form a list of potentials.
He asked Rick to stay behind for a private word after the others were dismissed. He looked at Rick and said, “I can’t place her at risk, Rick. I had to make it look like she wasn’t important to me. I swear if I could do this without causing her pain, I would, but I have no fucking idea who is behind this.” His gaze seared into Rick’s. “I give you my word that I care about her and went into this with commitment in mind. Fuck! I’ve waited for her for fifteen years! Now this?” Unusually agitated, Tony closed his eyes. “I saw her face, buddy. I know I hurt her, humiliated her, and maybe even made her hate me a little. Her eyes are so expressive.”
Rick watched as his ordinarily calm and reserved boss raked his hands through his hair and begin to pace.
“Shit man! I know you want to keep her safe, but are you sure this is the right tactic? She was really upset. I have never heard Megan cuss before. She was dropping F bombs, man!”
“Yeah, I got some of those weapons hurled at me, too. When this is over, I’ll take her little ass to task for each and every one of ‘em, too!” He smiled slightly at the thought. “But what am I supposed to do? His words - ‘the ones closest to you’ - they haunt me. I can’t put her in harm’s way and get her involved in this shit, whatever it is.”
“I hope you can win her back when it’s done, Cap. You’ve dug a huge whole for yourself. I hope you’re able to climb out when it’s over.”
&n
bsp; “I know.” He paused and his face tightened painfully. “She called me Cap, you know. She has never called me anything but Tony. In fifteen years, I’ve always been Tony to her. I think this is her small way of putting up a wall between us. No one else but Mom calls me Tony.”
“Damn!” Rick muttered.
“Yeah man, damn!”
Chapter Eight
“Absolutely not. No way, T.”
“Sorry, Meg, but boss’s orders.”
“Fuck that shit! He’s your boss, not mine. Your boss can go fuck himself!”
“I’d watch that mouth, hon. Boss don’t like his women cussin’ and the cameras are rollin’ with audio.” Lil T smirked as he continued working on his laptop. Megan could see the screen over his shoulder and saw six different views of her bakery: front and back door, cashier’s station, her office, the dining area, and the back parking lot.
“Well, I guess it’s a damn good thing that I’m not his woman then.” She saw him wince at that declaration, but ignored it. “You know this is a complete invasion of my privacy and I didn’t give permission for any of this. It’s bad enough having you and Rick babysitting me. I’m a thirty-one-year-old woman who has been on her own for twelve years. But, now I have my every move captured on video.”
“Mm, hm.”
Megan glared at him. “Don’t patronize me, T.”
“Sorry, hon. We’re just trying to keep you safe.”
Rick came striding in from the storeroom, brushing his hands together. “All set, T. How’s it lookin’?” He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed when Lil T gave him the thumbs up.
“Yo, Cap. All set here. You satisfied with the imaging?”
“Oh my God, Rick! You lied to me! You told me you’d be running the show.”
Ignoring her, he turned and continued to discuss the security set up with Cap on the phone.
Captain, My Captain Page 6