Bound by Tears (Cauld Ane Book 6)

by Tracey Jane Jackson

  “Hi. You’re here early.”

  “Yeah, no choice. You missed the drama Friday night.”

  “Night?”

  “Yeah, got pulled into the conference room after you left.”

  “Oh, really?”

  She nodded. “Yep, Tim’s on the warpath. He fired a butt-load of people.”

  “Shut up. Seriously? Why?”

  “Orders came down from corporate. Major cuts, I guess.” Kim frowned. “I can’t believe I’m still here, to be honest.”

  “You’re the only one who does what you do, Kim. I can’t imagine them ever getting rid of you.”

  “Jess,” Tim said from his office door. “Can I speak with you for a bit?”

  “Sure.” Jesska stepped into Tim’s office and sat in the chair facing his desk. She was surprised when Paula from HR arrived a few minutes later.

  “We’re going to have to let you go, Jesska,” Tim said.

  “I’m sorry? Did you just say you’re firing me?”

  Tim frowned and nodded.

  “What? Why?”

  “Budget cuts,” he said, evasively. “I’m sorry, Jess. It’s over my head.”

  “But I just had a glowing review. You said you couldn’t live without me.”

  Tim sighed. “I know. I’m so sorry. You’re amazing. I don’t know what I’m going to do without you, but it’s out of my control. I’ve spent the better part of a week trying to figure out how to keep you, but like I said, it’s over my head.”

  Jesska forced back a laugh. Of course this was what her life had come to. Her fiancé was murdered, she gave up college because she couldn’t hack it emotionally, she was threatened by the murderer of the love of her life, and now she was jobless. Just freakin’ perfect.

  She stood. “I’ll pack up my office.”

  “You can come back and do that next week, if that helps,” Tim offered. “We’ve paid you through the end of the month and given you an extra month of benefits.”

  Paula handed Jesska a file with her severance package.

  “I’d rather just pack up my things and go now,” Jesska said. “I’m not really interested in coming back again.”

  “Fair enough,” Tim said, and stood. “Let me know if you need me to carry anything down.”

  “I’ll grab you a box,” Paula offered.

  Jesska went back to her desk. A few of her coworkers came over to hug her good-bye once the word got out, and without any fanfare, she packed up her desk. She realized into her second box of crap that she didn’t have her car and she’d have to call someone to pick her up, so she grabbed her phone and dialed her brother and then her sister. No one answered.

  She really didn’t want to call Austri so soon after him dropping her off, but didn’t know what else to do, so she made the call. Austri was sympathetic to her plight.

  “I’ll call his majesty.”

  Jesska frowned. “No, Austri, please don’t call him.”

  “I must, m’lady.”

  “Never mind. I’ll just call my brother again. He can drop me at my car. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Wait, m’lady.” A moment of silence. “I’ll be there in five minutes.”

  “Thanks, Austri,” she said, and hung up.

  Her phone rang and she answered it without looking at her screen. “Hello?”

  “What’s wrong?” Kaspar demanded.

  “What do you mean?” She bit her lip. “Nothing.”

  “Don’t lie to me, elskan. Tell me.”

  “Kaz, seriously. I’m okay.”

  “But you’re upset. I can feel it.”

  Jesska took a deep breath. “I lost my job,” she whispered.

  “Oh, baby, I’m sorry. I’ll be right there.”

  She shivered when he said ‘baby.’ She liked it far more than she was willing to admit.

  “Kaz, it’s okay,” she said. “Really. I’ve already called Austri.”

  “I’d like to collect you.”

  “There’s no point.” She dumped a photo frame into the box. “You have stuff to do and I need to figure out a few things.”

  He sighed. “All right. I’ll be at the hotel when you get back.”

  “I thought you were supposed to be in meetings all day.”

  “Já. But I’ll be there when you get there.”

  “Kaz,” she said.

  “No arguments, sweetheart. I’ll see you when you arrive.”

  She couldn’t help a smile. “Bossy.”

  He chuckled. “You haven’t begun to see bossy, sweetheart.”

  “You don’t scare me.”

  “I have to go.” She still heard his smile in his answer. “But I’ll see you when you get there.”

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  “Ég elska þig, fallega stúlka.”

  “What does that mean?” Jesska opened a drawer and grabbed a few personal files, laying them flat into the box.

  “I’ll tell you when you get here,” he promised.

  “Okay.”

  “Are you really all right?”

  “Yes. I’m fine. Go back to your meeting,” she said.

  “Austri should be there now.”

  “He told you?”

  “Já, elskan. He told me, but not until just now when he said he was at your building.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t want him to worry you.”

  “We can talk about it when you get here.”

  Jesska sighed. “Fine.”

  “Can I let you go?”

  “Yes,” she said. “’Bye.”

  She hung up and glanced around her cube. Empty. Just as she opened a drawer for one last check, her office phone rang and she answered it. “Jesska Shane.”

  “Hey, Jess,” Tiffany, the receptionist said.

  “Hi, Tiff.”

  “There’s a really hot guy in the lobby for you. He said his name is Austri.”

  “Right. He’s here to pick me up.”

  “Are you dating him?” she whispered.

  “No. He’s…um…a friend, I guess you could say.”

  “Cool. Is he taking you to lunch at nine o’clock in the morning?” Tiffany was bubbly, cute, and incredibly nosy.

  “I just got fired, Tiff.”

  “Shut the front door. You?” she exclaimed.

  “Yep. Me.” Jesska glanced around and realized she needed an extra pair of hands to carry it all down. “Can you send him up, please? I need some help getting this stuff down to the car.”

  “Of course I can. Hey, if you guys aren’t dating, give him my number, okay?”

  “Sure, Tiffany.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll do that.”

  “Thanks, lady. Okay, he’s on his way up.”

  “Thanks.” Jesska hung up and went to the elevator bank to await Austri.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  THE DOORS OPENED and Austri walked out, his face blank, but his eyes concerned. “Hi, Austri.”

  “M’lady.”

  “Thanks for telling Kaspar,” she droned sarcastically.

  “That’s out of my control, m’lady. In my defense, I only told him I was picking you up.”

  Jesska shook her head. “I’m not really mad, Austri. I’m just a little out of sorts this morning.”

  He looked grim.

  “It’s not the end of the world,” she said, and forced a smile. “People lose their jobs all the time. Especially in this economy.”

  He nodded, his face now devoid of expression. “What can I carry down for you, m’lady?”

  “I’ll show you.” She led him to her cube, and he picked up both boxes as though they weighed nothing. “I can take one,” she protested.

  “I have them, m’lady. Anything else?”

  She shook her head and grabbed her purse.

  “Jess?” Tim called.

  “Sorry, Austri, just a sec,” she said, and stepped into her boss…no, ex-boss’s office. “I’m out of here.”

  “I’m really sorry, Jesska. Truly. I tried to keep you
.” He stood and reached out his hand.

  She shook it, but didn’t know what to say. She went with the higher road. “Good luck with everything, Tim.”

  Pulling her hand away, she turned and, noticing a hovering Austri, led the driver out of the building, finding the car at the curb, Jóvin inside. Austri popped open the trunk…how he did it, she wasn’t sure…set her boxes inside, and then opened the door for her. She slid into the car and secured her seatbelt, dropping her head on the headrest and sighing. What the hell was she going to do now?

  Her phone buzzed and she saw her brother’s number pop up. “Hey, Cam.”

  “Hey. You called?”

  “Yeah. But I’m good now. I just needed a ride.”

  “How come?” he asked.

  “Got fired.”

  “Right,” he said with a chuckle.

  “No, I’m serious. I got laid off this morning.” She stared at the roof of the car. “You know, I think this is why Monday’s get a bad name.”

  “Don’t companies usually fire folks on Fridays?” he countered.

  Jesska glanced out the window. “Never been fired before, so I have no idea.”

  “Are you okay? Do you want me to come take you to lunch?”

  “No, I’m okay. Austri picked me up and we’re headed back to the hotel. I just want to eat a bag of Cheetos and drink a bottle of wine.”

  “Delicious.”

  Jesska chuckled. “Totes.”

  “Are you really okay?”

  “Ask me tomorrow. Right now, I’m in shock and I need to process.”

  “I’m sorry, Messka. This sucks.”

  “Totes.”

  Cameron chuckled. “You still have your warped sense of humor, I see.”

  She smiled. “Totes.”

  “Okay, thirteen-year-old girl. I’m going to let you go, but I’ll keep my phone on and close if you need me.”

  “Brother of year award, Cam.”

  “Aw, thanks, Messka. Love you too.”

  “’Bye.”

  “’Bye, sis.”

  She hung up and closed her eyes. A slight bump indicated they were heading into the garage, so Jesska sat up and set her phone in her purse. She was surprised to see Kaspar waiting for her as they drove in. Lordy, he was pretty. Austri pulled the car to a stop and Kaspar opened the door, holding his hand out to her. She took it and climbed out.

  “Austri will handle your personal items,” he said, reading her mind.

  Jesska nodded. “Thanks for everything, Austri.”

  The driver nodded and then drove off to find a parking spot. Kaspar wrapped an arm around her and kissed her temple. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded, giving him a gentle squeeze. “I think so. I’m a little numb right now, but I’m okay.”

  “Come upstairs and we’ll talk.”

  “Don’t you have meetings?”

  He smiled. “Nothing I can’t take a little time away from.”

  She sighed. “I think you’re too good to be true.”

  Kaspar chuckled. “We’ll see how long I can fool you.”

  They stepped into the elevator and Kaspar hit the button for the top floor, keeping his other arm firmly around her. Entering his suite, she laid her purse on the table and kicked off her shoes, flopping onto the sofa with a sigh. “What did you say earlier?”

  “I love you, beautiful girl.”

  She smiled. “Say it in Icelandic again.”

  “Ég elska þig, fallega stúlka.”

  “So pretty.”

  He leaned down and kissed her. “As are you. Are you hungry?”

  “Kaz, you fed me until I nearly burst this morning.”

  He frowned. “You had two bites of food.”

  “Three.”

  “Two,” he corrected.

  “You notice everything, don’t you?” She caught his amused expression. “What? I almost never eat breakfast. Plus, I was way too tired to eat. Someone kept me up far past my bedtime.”

  “Regardless. Are you hungry?” he repeated.

  She sighed. “Starved. But if you keep insisting I eat all the time, you can’t complain when I gain a hundred pounds.”

  Kaspar laughed as he picked up the phone and she heard him order food, all her favorites, of course, then he headed back to her and joined her on the sofa. “You should never skip breakfast, elskan.”

  “See?” She poked him with her foot. “Bossy.”

  He grabbed her foot, grinning as he massaged it. “Perhaps this new development is a relief, hmm?”

  Jesska sighed, and shifted to give him better access. “Well, yes, considering I didn’t really like my job.” She grimaced. “But I only have a few months of savings and a little money left over from my trust fund, so I’m going to have to look for something else pretty quick.”

  “Not if you don’t want to.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  He paused in his attention to her feet. “I will take care of you.”

  Jesska snorted. “I have never—and I mean, never—wanted anyone to take care of me. Hence the reason I moved out of my parents’ house the day I turned eighteen.”

  Kaspar cocked his head.

  “What?” she challenged.

  “Was that the real reason?”

  She stared at him. “No. The real reason was they had me committed to the psych ward two days before I turned eighteen.”

  “Is that why your relationship is strained?”

  Jesska frowned. “It’s a little early in the morning to psychoanalyze my relationship with my parents, Kaz.”

  “Do you think they might have wanted to take care of you?” he continued.

  She pulled her foot from his hands and sat up. “By putting me in the loony bin? I was restrained, Kaspar. Tied down. I wasn’t allowed to pee.”

  He grabbed her hand, tugging her onto his lap. “I’m not saying that what they did was right, elskan, but I can sympathize with them. How frightened they must have been to find you passed out and losing blood.”

  She blinked back tears. “I was fine.”

  Kaspar linked his fingers with hers. “You were passed out in a pool of your own blood.”

  Jesska nodded. “So?”

  “So. That’s the very definition of not fine.”

  “Your point?” she snapped.

  “When I saw you bleeding, I nearly lost my mind, Jesska, and that was a small nick. What your parents must have thought when they found you nearly dead…”

  She slid her face into his neck. “You might be right.”

  “I will admit, I don’t agree with the severity of their actions, sweetheart, but I can sympathize with their predicament. And I wonder, if they hadn’t acted so rashly, would you be gone from this world?” He lifted her chin. “What then, hmm? I would have never found you.”

  “Perhaps I’ve been a bit too hard on them.”

  “I think you might have been, elskan. And I’d like to meet them before I take you home to Iceland. They must have done something right, because they made you.”

  She smiled through her tears. “You are ridiculously sweet sometimes.”

  “Just sometimes?”

  “Yes. That’s all I’m giving you. Otherwise your head won’t fit through the door.”

  Kaspar laughed. “Well, in the spirit of being sweet, will you let me take care of you until you find something else?”

  “Kaz,” she said slowly, pushing herself from his lap. “In all reality, I don’t know where this is going. I like where we’re at, and I’m liking the way we are together, but let’s be honest, we don’t know how long this is going to last. I’ve worked really hard to be independent, and as much as I like the idea of being taken care of in theory, the reality is, I would probably rather chew my own arm off than ever have a man take care of me.”

  A knock at the door cut off Kaspar’s response, and he rose to his feet to answer it. A young man from room service wheeled a cart in. Kaspar signed the check and then closed the door be
hind him. Jesska stood and rushed to the food, her stomach rumbling at the smell of deliciousness wafting from the covered trays. Before she could remove one of the lids, Kaspar took her hand and backed her up against the sofa.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, and laid her hands on his chest.

  He smiled, running his thumb along her pulse. “Although I am sympathetic to your quandary, sweetheart, and one of the things I love the most about you is your independence…”

  She bit her lip. He said “love.”

  “…I am not particularly interested in whether or not you want me to take care of you. It’s just going to happen.” He leaned down and kissed her neck. “And this, baby, is going to last a lifetime, so you better get used to me caring about you.” His lips moved to her jaw and then he smiled before covering her mouth with his.

  Jesska closed her eyes and slid her hands up his chest and into his hair. She loved the way he called her baby. This could become a problem for her. But right now, she loved his lips on hers and his body close, heating her in more ways than one. She whimpered when he broke the kiss, settling his forehead against hers and trying to catch his breath.

  “That backfired.”

  She giggled. “Now I’m hungry in a really different way.”

  “Me too.” He kissed her nose and stepped away from her, focusing on the food. “Come and eat elskan.”

  Jesska took time to pull herself together as she sat at the table and scooped eggs onto a plate. Once she felt she could speak without drooling, she asked, “How is it you speak English so well?”

  He shrugged. “I speak several languages fluently. I never really thought about the why or the how, it’s just something I do. My entire clan does as well.”

  “Well, I couldn’t even master pig-Latin as a kid, so I’m impressed. Languages are not really my thing.”

  He smiled. “Once we’re bound, you’ll speak and understand Icelandic.”

  “Shut up, really?”

  Kaspar nodded and pulled a dome off a plate, setting it aside. “Our minds become linked, and we’ll be able speak telepathically as well.”

  “Linked?” She gasped. “As in, we’ll be able to read each other’s thoughts?”

  He popped a grape into his mouth and nodded.

  “Um…” She shook her head. “Pass.”

  “What?”

  “There is no way in hell I’m going to let you into my head. You’re already taking up valuable real estate in there, and I’m not giving you anymore.”