The Hardest Part

by London, Heather

  Reaching my hand over to my nightstand, I grabbed my phone and smiled when I saw Reed's face pop up on my screen.

  "Good morning." Just knowing I was going to hear his voice soon put me at ease.

  "Actually, it's good afternoon here," he said. "Did I wake you?"

  "No, I've been up for a while." I sat up and scooted back to lean against the headboard. "How's London?"

  He groaned. "I've been in more business meetings than I can count. I'm tired and ready to come home. I miss you."

  I smiled. I missed him, too. "Only a couple more days, right?" I rubbed my eyes and threw the covers off. Coffee. I needed coffee.

  "So what did you do last night?" he asked.

  I didn't miss how he ignored my question. Maybe he was going to have to stay for a few more extra days. That would be disappointing. I was really looking forward to seeing him. Before he had left for London, we had grown close. Our relationship had gotten better, stronger.

  "I went out with Christine." I leaned against the sink and filled the carafe full of water. "We just went out for dinner. I was home in bed by eleven." However, I don't think I slept for more than a couple of hours all night. I didn't tell him that, though.

  "And what are your plans for this evening?" he asked.

  Probably sulking because I’m missing you. Reed and I had made a habit of having sleepovers during the week. Mostly me over at his place. It was the only time I would sleep well through the night.

  "I'm not sure yet." I pressed start on the coffee pot and then walked over to the window to pull back the curtains. Blue skies and sunshine. "It's a beautiful day. I may go take a walk in Central Park later or something, but other than that, I’m not sure."

  "It's rainy and overcast here." He groaned loudly again. "I'm so ready to come home. I really wish I could see you tonight."

  "Well, that may be difficult since you're halfway across the world." I laughed, wishing more than anything I could be there with him or he here with me. I didn't want to wait one more day. I was already missing him like crazy.

  "That could easily be changed, you know. All you have to do is say yes when I invite you to come with me."

  I laughed again. "I have this thing called a job. I'm not sure Sharon would like it if I just took off on a week-long trip, especially when you didn't give me much notice." I closed my eyes, trying to picture his face—his lips, his eyes—and his arms around me. I wanted to be lying next to him more than he knew. Being with him made me feel safe—safer than I had felt in years.

  "I miss you," he said, his voice soft. "If I was able to come home early, would you do something for me?"

  I wedged my phone against my shoulder and tied back the curtains. His voice was teasing and deliciously cute.

  "And what would that be?"

  "Well, I could come up with a few things, but I have one in particular in mind."

  A huge smile spread across my face as I moved to sit on the couch behind me, staring out the window. My thoughts went from happy and thinking of Reed to pain-numbing fear when I noticed a dark car parked across the street. Reed was talking, but I didn't understand anything he said. I focused on the car, an eerie feeling crawling up my spine, causing a sharp pain in my chest. It's just a black car, Emily. Don't freak out. Even if it looked like a car that Jake usually took when he was on his business trips, it was New York City. There were a lot of black sedan town cars. I'd seen plenty of those cars around the city. Why was I worrying about it so much now? I knew why. I knew that it could be him inside of it right now.

  "Are you still there?" Reed's concerned voice snapped me out of my trance. Still unable to concentrate on what he just said or anything else for that matter, I moved toward the window and eyed the car more closely. "Emily, are you there?"

  "Yeah, sorry. I'm here." My eyes focused on the vehicle. I saw the back door open and a tall woman get out. My heart relaxed and I blew out a long, steady breath and then fell back to the couch.

  "Is everything okay with you?" Reed asked.

  "I'm so sorry. You have my full attention."

  "You know that navy-blue dress you have?"

  "Yeah." I smiled, remembering the dress that Reed had bought for me and then had delivered to my office.

  "Will you wear it tonight?"

  My heart fluttered. "Tonight? Are you coming back?" I should have been embarrassed with how hopeful my voice sounded, but I didn't care. I was desperate to see him.

  He laughed at my eagerness. "A pretty big investor called and wants an appointment with me this afternoon in New York. He’s interested in one of my new projects and I don't want to miss it. I'm leaving London in a couple of hours. I'll head straight from the airport to the office and then come home. I'll set us some dinner reservations for around seven. Will that work for you?"

  "Yes." I bit my lip and smiled again.

  "Will you stay with me this weekend?"

  "Yes." My smile grew wider.

  "I'll let Sebastian at the security desk know you're coming and have him give you a key. It would be nice to see you when I got home."

  "I'll be there."

  "I really have to go now. I've got a ton of stuff to do before my flight and I don't want to miss it. I have a really hot date with a beautiful woman that I don't want to be late for."

  Even after I hung up the phone, I still wasn’t able to wash the smile off my face. I had never been to Reed's place alone. I got up from the couch and glanced out the window again. Even though I knew it was nothing to worry about and the black car was now gone, the strange feeling in my gut was still there. I tried to shake the negative thoughts from my head. Reed was coming home early and we were spending the weekend together. There was only room for happy thoughts right now.

  After getting ready, I grabbed a banana, eager to get started with the day before heading over to Reed's place. I now had a new itinerary. Instead of walking in Central Park, I wanted to get my nails and toes done.

  Pulling on my wool coat, I headed out the door with a little more of a bounce in my step and a smile I was sure would be on my face all day.

  JAKE

  I BLINKED a few times, trying to force my eyes to focus. Force them to make sure I was seeing the truth. Each time I opened them, there she was. My love. My girl. My Emily.

  My breath caught. My chest ached. My fists clenched into tight balls as I tried to fight my anger and get control of my emotions. It took everything inside of me not to jump out of the car right now, drag her inside with me, and take her back to Vegas. However, I knew I couldn't do that. Not here. Not like this. No, I wanted our reunion to be special.

  "What's the plan?" Rico asked, looking at me in the rearview mirror.

  I couldn't answer him. I couldn't think straight. These past few months, all I'd wanted was to know she was okay, to beg her to come back to me, but now, seeing her like this, all I wanted to do was show her the pain and heartache she'd caused me. To punish her for leaving me. To show her how much I love her.

  Even though it had only been a few months since I'd seen her, she looked different. I couldn't say what the major difference was, only that there was one. She was smiling. I hadn't seen her smile like that in a long while. Maybe it was her eyes, too; they seemed brighter. I used to make her smile like that. Her eyes used to sparkle like that when she would look at me. I wasn’t sure where we went so wrong, but I would spend the rest of my life trying to get her to smile at me like that again.

  I couldn't help but wonder who was making her smile like that. If I had to guess, there was probably only one person who could be making her smile that beautifully. The man I had an appointment with this afternoon.

  "Let's go," I said, keeping my eyes focused on Emily. I didn't want her to see me or suspect anything. The car moved slowly down the street. I only pulled my eyes away when she was out of sight.

  "HELLO. HOW may I help you?" A petite blond woman smiled as we walked into the lobby. Rico followed me inside but stood off to the side as I walked to
the front desk.

  "I have an appointment with Reed Alexander." I smiled at her as she smiled back sweetly.

  "Okay, and your name?" She glanced down at the calendar on the desk.

  "Mike Brewster," I said. It seemed fitting to give Mike's name since he was the one who helped her get away from me. Also, I wasn't sure if Emily had told anyone about me, especially Reed Alexander. It wasn't Emily's style to open herself up to people like that, but I figured it was better to be safe than sorry. It wasn’t really my style to have to pretend to be someone else. I was Jake Terrell. However, in this situation, I had a plan and I wanted it to work out perfectly.

  "Oh yes, Mr. Brewster, here you are." She looked back up at me through her eyelashes. "Mr. Alexander should be in any moment now. You can have a seat in our lobby or I can show you back to his office." She looked over my shoulder at Rico, who was standing still as a statue. Looking a little uneasy, her gaze met mine again.

  "I'll wait in his office, thank you, but my business partner will wait here."

  "Of course. May I get you something to drink? Maybe water or coffee?"

  "Some water will be nice, thank you."

  She led me down the hall and then inside the corner office. There was a large conference table on one side of the office and she gestured me toward it and then left, telling me she would be right back with my water. Instead of sitting, I walked over to the window and admired the view. His office was on the top floor, overlooking the Hudson River. It was nice, but I still preferred my view of the Vegas strip.

  "Here you are." The blond woman set down a glass of water. "It's a nice view, isn't it?"

  "Very nice, and thank you for the water."

  She nodded and then walked out, leaving me alone again. Slowly, I made my way around his office, stopping only when I saw a picture sitting on his desk. My heart almost stopped. I picked up the picture of Reed and Emily. It wasn't one that I had seen before. In this one, she was giving him a kiss on his cheek and he was smiling. It caused an awful pain in my chest, so I set it back down and glanced back out the window. How am I going to keep from killing him right now?

  A few minutes later, the man I had been waiting to meet walked into his office.

  "I'm sorry to have kept you, Mr. Brewster." The man who was kissing my girl in the magazine photo walked toward me and held out his hand. It took all of my control not to beat him to a pulp in that moment. The pain in my chest worsened when the image of their embrace—him kissing her—entered my head.

  "Mr. Alexander, it's nice to meet you." We shook hands and I squeezed his a little harder than usual, but I couldn't seem to control it.

  "Please call me Reed, and the pleasure is all mine. I've just arrived back in town from London so you'll have to excuse me if I seem a little out of it. I only slept a few hours on the plane."

  Forcing it, I smiled at him. "No problem at all. I've just been here a few minutes and was admiring your office. Great view from up here." I stared out the window again.

  "Yes, it is. So from what you told my assistant, it seems like you've done a lot of research on me and my company."

  Rico made the appointment and did a little research. I did no research whatsoever. I didn't want to spend a minute reading about the guy who was making moves on my girl. He told me a few key points, but other than that, I'd be winging this meeting. It wasn't about his business anyway. I just wanted to get a chance to meet the guy before I killed him.

  "Take a seat and let's talk business." Reed pointed toward the seat in front of his desk.

  I sat in the chair in front of his desk and tried not to stare at the picture he had next to his phone, although I could still see it clearly. I could clearly see Emily's lips on this asshole’s cheek. My insides twisted and I fought the bile that rose in my throat.

  Over the next thirty minutes, I entertained the fact that I was interested in one of Reed's properties. He was overall very polite and informative, seemingly believing that I was really an investor, but he really had no reason to think otherwise. In reality, I couldn't give two shits about it. I spent most of the time thinking of how I was going to kill him. Slowly, I had finally decided. Our conversation came to a close and I reluctantly glanced at the picture again. I guess I wanted to torture myself.

  "Is that your girl?" I asked, pointing to the picture. I couldn't even look at Emily. My eyes were glued to the man that was with my girl. The same man who was sitting in front of me.

  "Yes, it is," he said, a large smile spreading across his face. I couldn't believe I wasn't wiping that smile off his face right now.

  Taking in a deep breath through my nose, I forced down my temper. "She's beautiful, Mr. Alexander. You're a lucky, lucky man."

  "That I am. Now if you don't mind, and if you don't have any more questions for me, I'm taking that beautiful woman out for dinner tonight and I don't want to be late."

  I clenched my jaw and forced out a fake smile before standing up.

  "Well, it all sounds very interesting, Mr. Alexander. I'll have to take a few hours to discuss it with my business partners. May I call you with my answer this evening?"

  He nodded. "Of course. That would be fine."

  "Have a nice dinner and hang on tight to the girl you have. Girls like that don't come around very often."

  "She's very special, and believe me, I don't plan on letting her go."

  The pain in my chest felt like someone was sticking a hot branding iron directly on it.

  Turning around, I headed toward the door. I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

  "How'd it go, boss?" Rico asked when we were back in the car.

  "Just as planned." I glanced out the window. "It won't be long now."

  It was just a few minutes after our appointment ended that Reed walked out the front of the building. Rico had done some more digging and found that Reed only lived a few blocks from his office.

  Before long, we were parked on the sidewalk across the street from his building. Reed went upstairs and twenty minutes passed before he came back downstairs. This time he wasn't alone. Emily was there. His arms were wrapped around her waist and she was pressed up against him, like she was trying to keep warm. Her long, brown hair was blowing in the wind. He ran his hands through it as he kissed her softly on the lips. It felt like a knife had been stuck in my gut and twisted around.

  Rico cleared his throat, and I drew my eyes away from them to his eyes in the rearview mirror. "What do you have planned, boss? This is kind of weird. It doesn't seem like you. You're a little too cool and relaxed. It's kind of making me nervous."

  "I have a plan." I seethed. "I'm trying to keep my cool so I don't ruin the surprise. I don't want any interruptions tonight."

  My eyes floated back over to them as they entered a black suburban and drove away.

  "Follow them," I said, never taking my eyes off the car.

  EMILY

  WE HAD just sat down for dinner when Reed's phone rang. He sighed and glanced back at me, giving me an apologetic smile.

  "I'm sorry, but I have to take this. It's the investor I met with this afternoon. Will you be okay for a minute? I'll be quick."

  "It's fine." I smiled. I hadn't expected to see him for a few more days, so I could part with him for a few minutes. "I'll order us an appetizer and some wine."

  "Sounds good." He bent down and kissed the top of my head. "I'll be back soon."

  My eyes followed after him until he was out of sight. It was in that moment that it hit me. Really hit me. I was starting to fall for him. I wasn't sure if it was love yet, but I was pretty sure he felt the same. This feeling was different from what I ever felt with Jake, even in our early years. This was more real. It was nothing like the love Jake had for me, or thought he had for me. His sick and twisted love wasn’t love at all. It was all about control.

  My cell phone rang, causing my thoughts to dissolve. Reaching down into my purse, I frantically tried to end the annoying ringing sound. I pulled it out and silenced it be
fore I even saw who was calling. After putting it on vibrate, I was about to drop it back into my purse when the screen lit up and it vibrated in my hand. A strange number that I didn't recognize popped up on the screen.

  It must have been something for work, but whatever it was, it was going to have to wait. When I ended the call, it began to vibrate again, almost immediately. Even though it was probably for work and it was a Saturday night, I figured it must have been important. I was handling my own clients now and Christine did tell me they could call me morning, noon, and night.

  "Emily Anderson," I answered. The restaurant was fairly loud so I pressed the phone hard against my ear.

  "And here I thought you were ignoring me," a dark yet familiar voice spoke. In a matter of seconds, it felt like the room dropped twenty degrees. My body went rigid and every hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Blood rushed to my ears, causing a ringing sound, and fear pressed on my chest, making it difficult to breathe.

  It was Jake. He had found me.

  "I have to say, Emily. You are even more beautiful than I remember. You look simply stunning, but I've always said blue was your color."

  My stomach turned and I tried to find a breath. He was here. In the restaurant. Close.

  I was too scared to speak, breathe, or move. A tiny voice in the back of my head told me to get up and run, to get out of there while I still had the chance, but I knew I couldn't leave without Reed.

  My head remained still, but my eyes stretched right and left, sweeping the room. People were happily enjoying their meals. As my eyes moved around, I couldn't spot Reed or Jake.

  "All these months I've been looking for you. All these months I've been missing you. I've yearned for the moment when I would be able to touch you again." He spoke in a low, quiet tone, and to most, it would be described as sweet, but I knew better. I could hear the underlying anger in it as well.

  My mind went to a dark place, remembering all the scariest moments in the last few years of my life. This was definitely the scariest of them all. I knew the consequences of running away from him. I knew what he would do to me when he got me alone. He would kill me.