“You don’t need an excuse to come home, you know. If it doesn’t feel right, tell Jeremy you made a mistake. You’re entitled to make a mistake, girl. You are human.”
“I’m not entitled to make a mistake of this magnitude,” she said, feeling the weight of despair. “I’ve worked so hard to get where I am. I had a good relationship with Jeremy prior to this. He could have helped me, opened doors for me, but if I walk away before I’ve even given it a chance, I’ll be blacklisted in this town. How can I risk that? I have people counting on me, Carly. I have employees who-”
“Stop,” Carly said, softly. “There’s no need to go there just yet. You don’t know that’s how Jeremy would react. Talk to him. Maybe he’s feeling the same way you are. He’s a busy guy. I’m sure he’s not interested in wasting his time on a venture that will be more of a headache than it’s worth.” Carly sucked in a sharp breath. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that the way it came out.”
“It’s okay,” Sophie said, with a half-smile. “I know what you meant. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’ll try to get a sense of what he’s thinking, how he’s feeling.”
“I really think you should.”
“Maybe I’ll ask him out for dinner tomorrow night. It might be better to have this conversation in neutral territory, away from the office. Don’t you think?”
“Definitely. Well, I gotta go meet your brother. Let me know how it goes with Jeremy, okay?”
“You know I will.”
“Good luck and don’t worry so much. I know it’ll all work out the way it’s supposed to.”
Sophie hoped her friend was right because she didn’t know how much longer she could go on like this. “Thanks. Love you.”
“Love you too, sweetie.”
Chapter Five
Dalton was trying to focus on work, but his mind kept drifting to Sophie. It had been two weeks since they made love and he was climbing the walls. Back in the day, he wouldn’t have thought twice about hooking up with some random girl, but the thought of being with someone else now turned his stomach.
“Hey,” Sabrina said, poking her head in the door. “You got a minute?”
“Sure, come on in.” He gestured to the chair on the opposite side of his desk. “What’s up?”
“I don’t know how to…” Sabrina curled her fist around an object in her hand. “I’m just going to ask.” She held up a prescription bottle with his name printed on the label. “How long have you been taking these, Dalton?”
He leaned over, swiping the bottle from her hand. “Where the hell did you get these?”
“They must have fallen out of your jacket pocket when we were in the board room just now.”
He’d slung his jacket over the back of the chair, heedless of the contents. He usually kept the pills locked up in his desk or briefcase, away from prying eyes, but he’d been distracted lately and hadn’t taken the necessary precautions.
“I asked you a question.” Sabrina paled as she stared at him, waiting for a response. “How long have you been taking those things?”
“I don’t know,” he said, shoving the offending bottle in his desk drawer. “A while. You know the pain’s a son of a bitch, Sabrina.”
“Yeah, but OxyContin is highly addictive. I can’t believe any doctor would go on prescribing them indefinitely.”
Most doctors wouldn’t, but he had a strong relationship with a medical team who’d been trained to look the other way and give their players whatever they needed so they could get back out on the field. “I only take them when I need them.” Which is every day.
“You need to have the knee replacement surgery, Dalton.”
“Like hell I will.” His doctor told him the same thing, that he couldn’t put it off any longer, but he had no intention of forcing his sister to come back to work full-time when she had two babies at home depending on her.
“Are you addicted to these things?” she asked, her voice breaking.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” He felt a tightening in his chest. He knew this day would come eventually. Someone would find him out and demand he stop taking the pills. Then he’d have to admit the truth, to his family and himself. He couldn’t stop. He’d tried, but he hadn’t been able to make it through a full day without the pain relievers in more than two years. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Just focus on your family.”
“You are my family.” Sabrina leaned forward, her eyes filling with tears. “Why didn’t you tell me about this? You must have known we’d have done anything we could to help you.”
“I don’t need your help,” he snapped. Given the stress of trying to live without Sophie, this was the last thing he needed right now. “I just need you to leave me the hell alone.”
“I love you,” she whispered, shrinking back into the chair. “You’re my big brother. I hate to think of you going through this alone.”
Dalton barely suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Motherhood had turned his tough sister into a big softie and it was times like this he wanted the old Sabrina back. “I’m not going through anything. When the time is right, I’ll have the surgery.”
“You have to make time,” she said, reaching for his hand. “I know Kiara would be more than happy to pick up the slack while you’re off work. So would I.”
“No way.” He shook his head emphatically. “Your kids need you and Kiara and Blaise are busy planning their wedding. No way am I going to tear her away from that. She’s been waiting forever for a guy like Blaise and now that she’s finally found him I know she can’t wait to marry him.”
Kiara and Blaise were his friends, and in his mind, the perfect couple. Blaise would kill him if they were forced to postpone their wedding because he couldn’t man up and deal with a little pain.
“Working a few more hours won’t-”
“Stop!” He held his hand up, gritting his teeth. “I’d need to have both knees done, Sabrina. The recovery is 3-6 months at best, maybe longer, if there are complications. I’m not going to ask you guys to put your lives on hold to accommodate that.”
“Are you afraid?” Sabrina asked gently. “I know you’re not afraid of the surgery, but…” She clearly didn’t want to ask, but eventually said, “Are you afraid you won’t be able to give up the pills?”
Yeah, I’m terrified the world will find out I’m an addict. “I’m not afraid of anything.” He hated lying to his sister, but she had enough on her plate without having to worry about him. “You’re making too much of this. Just let it go and trust that I can look after myself, okay?”
“Does Sophie know about this?”
“No, and you’re not going to tell her, are you?” He could tell by her pained expression she was torn between her concern for him and the loyalty that has always been the foundation of their relationship. “You have to swear to me you won’t say anything about this to her.”
“Then you two are still seeing each other?” Sabrina asked. “Dylan told me she’d left for L.A.?”
“Yeah, she left a couple of weeks ago.” He wasn’t thrilled about the prospect of talking to his sister about his feelings for Sophie, but anything would be better than admitting aloud his more pressing weakness. The one that could ruin not only his life, but their family business. “She’s partnering with some fashion dude there.”
“That must have been difficult.”
He knew Sabrina was waiting for confirmation that he was hurting emotionally as well as physically, but he couldn’t stand the thought of people thinking of him as vulnerable. Even if it was true. “Soph and I were friends, first and foremost. We have a lot of history. I think we both knew this relationship wasn’t going to last forever.”
“You’re lying.” Sabrina locked eyes with Dalton, daring him to contradict her. “I’ve seen you two together, the way you look at her. I’ve known you my whole life and I’ve never seen you look at another woman the way you look at her.”
Dalton shrugged, trying to play it off. “Sure, I was into her. But it’
s over now. She’s gone and it’s time for me to move on.”
“Is that why you’ve been so miserable lately?” Sabrina asked. “Because you’re so thrilled with the prospect of moving on?”
“Sarcasm doesn’t suit you, sis.” Dalton sighed when Sabrina glared at him, clearly not willing to relent. “Fine, I’ll admit it hasn’t been easy. But I’m working it out.”
“How?” Sabrina asked, crossing her arms. “Have you started seeing other women? Kiara said you were at Brett’s house the other night with someone else.”
“I wasn’t there with her.” Dalton cleared his throat when he realized how defensive he sounded. “She’s Carly’s assistant. They invited both of us over for dinner, along with a few other friends. I’m surprised you guys weren’t there.”
“Ellie had a fever. We couldn’t make it.”
“Is she okay?” Dalton asked, leaning forward. “Why didn’t you tell me my niece wasn’t feeling well? You know I would’ve stopped by with a new teddy bear or something.”
Sabrina smiled. “That’s sweet, but if you’re trying to change the subject and it’s not going to work. Were you into this girl, Carly’s assistant?”
“No, definitely not.” She was sweet and pretty and beyond attentive, but no one could replace Sophie. “I’m not interested in dating anyone else right now.”
“Then you are still seeing Sophie?”
“It’s complicated.”
Sabrina frowned. “What does that mean? Either you are or you aren’t.”
“When she left she told me to move on, but we’ve spoken every day since. I’m not ready to move on and I don’t think she is either.”
“You don’t think?” Sabrina shook her head. “Shouldn’t you should ask her?”
“It’s not the kind of thing you can talk about over the phone.” Though he’d been tempted a time or two. “She’ll be back in town soon, for Carly’s bachelorette party. I’ll talk to her then.”
“I thought you and the boys were taking Brett out of town for the weekend.”
“Just overnight.”
“Are you sure about that?” Sabrina asked. “Dylan said Blaise was making the arrangements and he’d booked the hotel for Friday and Saturday night. He told me not to expect him home until late Sunday. Sophie may be headed home by then.”
Damn it. Dalton knew he shouldn’t have left Blaise in charge of the arrangements. He assumed they would be out of town one night, which would still give him plenty of time to spend with Sabrina before she had to leave town.
“You didn’t know?”
“No. Blaise sent me an email when I was in the meeting, but I haven’t had a chance to read it yet.” He covered his face with his hands, wishing his sister would leave so he could pop another pill to take the edge off. “That’s not gonna work for me. I can only do one night. I need to spend some time with Sophie while she’s here.”
“Or you could fly out to see her tonight?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Bartholomew’s been making all kinds of noise about finding another agency. He says he doesn’t get enough ‘hands on’ from us,” Sabrina said, making air quotes around the words as she rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you head out there and smooth things over with His Highness and pay Sophie a surprise visit while you’re at it?”
Dalton’s spirits soared at the thought of seeing Sophie. By tonight he could be holding her in his arms, sharing her bed… making up for lost time. “You don’t have to ask me twice.”
“You have Sophie’s address?”
“Yeah, I asked for it on her first day of work. I wanted to send her flowers to wish her luck.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet.”
Dalton wasted no time packing his briefcase, including the prescription bottle his sister now had her eyes trained on. “Yeah, that’s me. Sweet and-”
“Why are you taking those with you?”
“Because I need them.” Poor choice of words. “Uh, that is I might need them. It’s best to have them, you know, just in case.”
“Maybe Dad could fill in for you, if you need to take a leave to recover from the surgery.”
“Come on, you can’t be serious.” Although their father started the business, he hadn’t dealt with clients in almost ten years.
“You need that surgery, Dalton. You can’t keep taking those pills.”
He kissed her forehead as he walked past. “You’re right. I’ll figure something out. Don’t worry.”
“You better or I’m going to figure it out for you.”
Dalton paused with his hand curled around the door knob, a sense of dread washing over him. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“I’m not going to let you keep doing this.”
“Doing what?”
“Living with this unbearable pain, taking pills you know aren’t good for you.”
“I’m dealing with it in my own way, sis. You need to back off.”
“No.” She stood, turning to face him. “We’re partners in this business now,” she said, waving a finger between them. “That means I can’t let you do anything that might put our company in jeopardy.”
“How the hell am I putting this agency in jeopardy? I’ve been working my tail off since I got here. You, of all people, should know that.”
“I do know that and I’m grateful that you stepped up when I needed you most.” She reached for his free hand. “But when I found these pills I did a quick Internet search and what I read scared the hell out of me, Dalton.”
He knew Oxy had a bad rap, but it’s not like he was an addict, buying it off the streets to feed his addiction. He had legitimate pain and a doctor willing to write his prescriptions. He was taking it responsibly, most of the time. “Relax, you have nothing to worry about. Plenty of guys on the team were taking it to manage pain.”
“Do you know how dangerous it is to mix that stuff with alcohol?”
He knew his kid sister was only trying to help, but he didn’t appreciate being made to feel like he couldn’t take care of himself. “I know what I’m doing. I rarely have more than a few drinks. If I do, I lay off the stuff for the night.” Usually.
“Just how often are you taking it?” she asked, crossing her arms.
“It’s not the kind of thing you take on an as needed basis,” he said, sighing. “It’s just part of an ongoing pain management program. You’re making way too much of this.”
“I don’t think I am.” She closed her eyes, pinching her lips together as though she was trying to hold back tears. “I know you would never lie to me, Dalton. So look me in the eye and tell me you’re not addicted to this stuff.”
He tried to form the words, but knowing how much she trusted him to be honest with her, forced them back down his throat. He’d told her the occasional little white lie over the years, but he knew this wasn’t like that. This was big.
“You can’t, can you?” A tear slid down her cheek as she reached for her forearm. “I read this medication can seriously impair your judgement. How can I trust you to represent our company if you’re using?”
Using. He hated that word. It made him sound like a drug addict, which he most definitely was not. He was a former professional football player. A Hall of Famer. He had the Superbowl rings to prove his legendary status. Of course his body was going to be beaten and battered. It went with the territory for guys like him. His sister just didn’t understand.
“You can’t trust me?” He clenched his jaw, the rage finding an outlet when he leaned in and whispered, “Then fire me.”
***
Sophie was beginning to regret her decision to invite Jeremy back to her place after dinner so they could discuss the future of their partnership over a glass of wine. Every time she tried to talk business, he inched a little closer to her on the sofa and reminded her how beautiful she looked tonight.
He’d had a few glasses of wine and she was beginning to fear she would have to drive him home. But before she could
suggest they call it a night, someone pounded on her door.
“Were you expecting company?” Jeremy asked, glaring at the offending door.
“Uh no.” But she was grateful for the interruption. It was probably her landlady, delivering the mail that had landed in her box again, but given Jeremy’s intimate murmurings about the length of her legs, she’d welcome any reason to get rid of him. “Why don’t you put your jacket on and I’ll take you home, or call you a cab, if you prefer?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said, loosening the top buttons on his shirt after casting his tie aside. “We’re not finished here. Just get rid of your guest and we can get back to business.”
Sophie was so busy plotting how to get rid of him without being rude, she didn’t think to check the peep-hole before opening the door so she was stunned to be standing face to face, or make that face to chest with Dalton. “Oh my God. What are you doing here?”
She could tell by his crestfallen expression that wasn’t the reception he’d been expecting.
“I was in town on business and thought I’d surprise you.” He looked past her, glaring at Jeremy who was sprawled out on her couch, sipping a glass of wine. “But I’m guessing this isn’t a good time?” His eyes raked over her, taking in her bare legs and short black dress. Her eyes finally landed on her painted toes, making her resist the urge to squirm.
It’s not that she’d been doing anything wrong, or that she felt she owed Dalton an explanation, since they weren’t really dating anymore, but remembering her own reaction to the news Dalton had been spending time with Carly’s assistant, she curled her hand around his forearm and whispered, “Your timing is perfect. Please come in.”
Jeremy rose slowly, obviously trying to get his bearings. “Hey, I know who you are.” He snapped his fingers. “The football player, right? I can’t say I’m a fan, but I saw your picture in the paper a couple of times last year when you were going up against the Chargers. I was in San Diego on business and-”
Dalton raised an eyebrow at Sophie when Jeremy stumbled as he moved toward Dalton with his hand outstretched. “How much has he had to drink tonight?”
Possession (Texas Titans #8) Page 6