The door opened. A small flock of teenage girls rushed in and stopped.
I scrambled up off the floor, scrubbed my tears away as I bolted out of the washroom. Back in the movie theater, I lowered myself beside Brent. I didn’t look at him, just took his stiff, frozen hand in mine and waited for the movie to end.
On the way home, Denny kept glancing over at Brent in the front seat, who stared out his window with his hands balled in his lap.
“Everything okay, guys?” Denny asked after a few minutes of silence.
My brain, half melted from my encounter with Richard, scrambled to find a lie I could live with. “Brent ran into an old boyfriend. They exchanged a few words. He’s just upset, leave him alone.” I cringed under the harsh tone of my voice. “Sorry, Denny. It’s been a long night.”
“Yeah, yeah, no big.” Although his focus went back to the road, he kept sneaking concerned peaks at me in the rearview.
How would I get through the next day? The thought of Ben watching helplessly as Richard groped me put a squeeze on my stomach. I knew Ben wouldn’t come to help me, and that made everything that much worse.
At Denny’s, Brent and I shuffled through the hall as Denny went on to his room.
“Can I sleep with you tonight?” Brent asked in a small voice.
Not the least bit surprised at his request, I nodded, took his hand, and led him into the spare bedroom. We stripped off our pants and crawled under the covers in our T-shirts and underwear. I spooned along his back and held him close. His body shook with sobs, but I held mine inside.
His shaking dwindled after a while. “What are you going to do, Eva?”
“I have no choice but to do what he says.” A tug brought the covers higher around my shoulders, though it didn’t help the chill in my bones. “And hope to hell Ben doesn’t change his mind about giving Richard what he wants.”
What if Richard hurt me anyway? What if he came armed? I squeezed Brent tighter. Richard could do anything he wanted to me right there in Ben’s office and nobody could do a damn thing. He might rape me just to spite his brother, even if Ben did give him what he wanted.
I stifled a shudder and forced the thoughts away by recalling the image of Dad’s smile. At least I’d done everything I could to avoid what would come tomorrow, even though it didn’t work out the way I’d imagined. The rest was up to Ben.
If I died, I was so haunting his ass for the rest of his miserable existence.
Chapter 25
I followed Denny out of his place red-eyed and bushy-haired with Brent at my side. His ghostly pallor reflected our restless night. The two of us had tossed and turned for hours before we gave up trying to sleep and had watched an old vampire movie on TV until we had to get up.
Denny drove us to work in silence. When neither of us had answered his questions at breakfast, he gave up, but kept a closer watch on us than normal.
The three of us trudged up the stairs to Ben’s building. My legs burned by the time we reached the top. We shared a group hug before Denny took one last scrutinizing look at me and loped back down to the car, his pants riding low enough his butt crack emerged. Brent and I watched him until he disappeared into traffic.
“I don’t think I can do this.” Brent’s fingers clutched the strap of his attaché case as he stared across the street toward the crowded Tim Horton’s across the street.
“We have to.” My eyes pleaded with his profile. “If anything happens to tip off Ben that something’s wrong, Richard might hurt my parents.” When he didn’t respond, I shook his arm. “Please, Brent.”
His gaze shifted to mine and back out to the street. “Okay. I’ll do my best not to freak out or pee myself again.”
Despite the danger looming at the end of the day, a laugh came from my depths and rushed past my lips. After a moment, Brent joined in and we had to hold each other up so we wouldn’t tumble down the stairs. The early morning coffee drinkers loading up on caffeine eyed us like the lunatics we must have looked like.
Brent spoke through sporadic giggles. “Okay. I can’t believe we’re laughing, but I so needed that. Let’s go.”
We rode up in the elevator, and I gave him a squeeze before stepping out onto the second floor. I turned as the doors pinched off my view of his cute wave and halfhearted smile of encouragement. The instant he disappeared, my courage dropped a few notches.
After a darting glance in every direction, I sped down the hallway toward the safety of the IT office. I hoped the boys weren’t in at that early an hour so I could have some time to gather myself and plaster on what I hoped to be a normal work face.
On my desk, I found another giant bunch of fire and ice roses overflowing a blue Asian-style vase that probably cost more than I earned in five years. I closed my eyes and took a few breaths before snatching up the card. It read: I miss you. Everything will be okay. Yours, B.
I sank on my chair. At the memory of Richard’s hands on my body, a shudder tore through me. As much as I wished I could believe Ben, I just couldn’t.
After checking the job list, I opened my e-mail. The first one marked priority by Cam said he’d be busy the whole day and had handed the reins to me.
Jeremy trooped in with his laptop bag and stood behind me as my gaze scanned the text on my screen. “Hey, dude. Any emergencies yet?”
I narrowed my eyes at the screen, and the lump of dread sitting in my empty stomach expanded. “Apparently, Cam’s spending the entire day in B—I mean, Mr. Hathaway’s office. He said if we call him, something had better be on fire.” I held my breath to see if Jeremy noticed my almost slip.
“Huh. What do you suppose he’s doing?”
I exhaled and twisted my neck so I could look up at Jeremy. “He didn’t say, and I have no idea. Whatever it is, we’re on our own today.” What the hell are you up to, Ben?
Paul lumbered through the door, toting a lunch bag half the size of Toledo. He and Jeremy occupied themselves with conversation about the previous night’s Big Bang Theory, sniggering in a huddle by the water cooler.
With them occupied, I pulled my iPhone from my desk, put it back down, sighed, and picked it back up. If I didn’t know what he had Cam doing, it would chew at me all day.
I sent Ben a text: What’s Cam doing in your office today?
Only a few moments passed before a chirp preceded his response: No hello? How are you? He added a smile at the end.
I didn’t have the patience to play games. Don’t be cute. I’m worried.
You think I’m cute?
Ben!!!!!!
Trust me, Evangeline. All is well.
Trust is earned and you’re running a negative balance. Are you going to tell me or not?
No.
I closed my eyes while my internal rant roared in my head.
The cell rang Pink’s “Trouble.” Scowling, I turned it off. A moment later, my office phone shouted a shrill tone into the room. After confirming Ben’s number appeared on the display, I pressed the Do Not Disturb button, picked up my toolkit, and headed for Human Resources to fix a blue screen of death on their assistant’s computer.
I checked items off my work list while the hands on my watch spun much too fast for my liking. Three o’clock, then four. I bought a bag of Doritos and a Coke from the machine in the kitchen and stuffed my face over the counter.
Something tapped my shoulder. A tiny scream escaped me. I whirled to face who my mind already had me convinced must be Richard. Instead, I found Greg from Quality Control.
He stared back at me, mouth half-open.
I set my crumpled bag of chips on the counter, held on to the granite so my wobbling legs wouldn’t drop me to the tile, and gulped in air. “What’s with you guys, always scaring the shit out of me? Christ!”
“Sorry, Eva. Just wanted to ask if you’re okay. You look a little…” His gaze darted to the exit and down to his shoes.
“I’m fine.” I rushed to the door, stopped. “Sorry I yelled at you.”
O
n my way to my last call of the day in research and development, my BlackBerry rang. I answered without thinking.
“Hello?”
“Why are you so nervous today?” The demand in Ben’s tone snapped me to attention.
“I’m not, I … wait—I thought I told you not to spy on me.” I growled at the phone, shut it off, and returned it to the clip on my belt. Why did he have to be so fucking observant? For once, I just needed him to go away and work.
Brent found me on the sixth floor fifteen minutes later. His blond hair fell over his eyes, and he sucked wind as if he’d sprinted down the stairs the whole way. “There you are. I’ve been looking all over this floor for you.”
I crawled out from under the desk where I’d just finished connecting a new printer to the back of a computer. When Brent offered me a hand up, I grabbed his arm and pulled him down to me. I glared and lowered my voice. “Tell me Ben didn’t send you.”
He hung his head. “Don’t yell at the messenger. You know I have no choice.” Brent’s sigh held barely contained fear. “He wants you to come to his office, right now.” His gray eyes lifted to meet my gaze. “He knows something’s up, Eva. I swear I just sat at my desk all day like normal so I don’t know how he knows.”
Spying on me, that’s how. I released Brent’s arm and slumped against the side of the desk, resting my forehead on upturned knees. The tapping of shoes on the tile silenced me until the two men in white lab coats passed by. “Ben’s been watching me over the surveillance, and I’ve been … jumpy, to put it mildly.” I looked at my watch. Four forty-five. “Shit.” Although I drew in an enormous breath, the sudden drowning sensation didn’t subside. I fiddled to unbuttoned the top of my shirt, but opening my collar didn’t bring oxygen to me any faster. How had the day gone by so fast?
“I can’t go to his office, Brent, you know that. Just stall getting back up there and then tell him I wouldn’t come.” I rolled my shoulders, the tension weaving around every bone and muscle, pulling them tight enough I thought they’d snap. “By then, I’ll be with Richard.” With the help of a grunt, I climbed to my feet and started for the door. “I need to get down there. I can’t risk someone stopping me along the way and making me late.” My hand reached for the door handle.
“Eva…”
I peered back at Brent over my shoulder. “Yeah?”
He wrung his hands in front of him, rocked from heel to toe. “I want to tell you it’s going to be okay, but I know you hate it when people say that. I-I don’t know what to say.” Arms wide, he jumped at me and hugged me with one big squeeze before pulling the door open for me.
I kissed his cheek. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. Thanks for everything.” Mind fixed on my task, I walked into the hallway and pushed the button for the elevator. The doors opened to reveal a heavy load of people. By the jackets hung over arms and lunch bags in hand, most of them were headed for the main floor.
Keep it together. You can do this. I stepped inside and turned to face the mirrored doors, unable to look myself in the eye. It’ll be okay. Ben will give Richard what he wants and we’ll all go home. So why didn’t the knot in my stomach believe it? Would Richard come for me again? I considered not fighting Richard when he kissed me, but the thought of Ben misinterpreting our interlude stopped that idea dead in its tracks. He’d be angry either way, but the part of me that cared for him didn’t want it to be directed at me.
On the first floor, while everyone else turned left and headed for the lobby, I turned right toward the back of the building. Shallow breaths rasped in my chest. I cast my eyes down and took tiny steps to the door that would bring me to Richard. Even the rubber soles of my shoes echoed around me like thunder, reminding me I was alone, awaiting a predator. I paced back and forth between his door and the exit, twenty steps one way, twenty the other. The minutes ticked by with a painful slowness.
My legs turned to jelly and shook after a few minutes. I stopped and feigned interest in a glassed-in message board on the wall, fiddling with the buttons on my left sleeve. Tears stung the corners of my eyes, but I pressed my lids together and willed them away. Not now. Damn you, Ben.
A door clicked behind me. Jolts of electricity traveled the length of my spine, up into my head, and along my arms. Panic grabbed me by the throat. I pressed my palms against the wall in front of me, forced air in through my nose, and exhaled until the initial surge of adrenaline passed. A check of my watch confirmed the time: 5:00 p.m.
I turned, straightened my back, and walked toward the door. My heart crashed against my ribs as if trying to escape and run like I should have done. Silence met my ears as I reached for the knob. A twist. A push. The door swung inward with a squeak to a darkened office, the only light spilling in from the hallway behind me. The silhouette of a desk loomed to my right. A chair behind it had a jacket hung across the backrest. The sickening odor of Richard’s cologne assaulted me.
Summoning will from the deep, I cleared my throat, steadied my voice. “Hello? Anyone in here?” I stepped inside the room, my gaze scanning left and right. My hand didn’t want to release the doorknob, but I yanked it away and shoved it into my pocket to prevent the shake. The door swung shut and clicked behind me, locking me in with the beast.
Richard grabbed me around the waist from behind at the same instant he flicked the light switch. Although I knew he’d be there, a scream pealed out of me all the same.
He nuzzled my throat, his right hand sliding inside my shirt to my bare stomach. “That’s my good little kitten.” His snicker made me want to smack him. “Showtime.”
The room spun in a dizzying blur. When my brain registered that Richard had spun me to face him, his hands gripped my upper arms so tight I winced and blinked at his nearness. He pushed me against the desk, lifted me off the floor, and shoved me across the surface until only my lower legs hung over. Just like the night before, he forced his way between my knees and grabbed a handful of my hair.
My hands instinctively pushed against his chest.
He bit along my throat. “Squirm for me, baby.” Richard raised his face, a shadow of deranged glee clouding the depths of his green eyes. He crushed his lips against mine, his tongue filling my mouth.
My whole body stiffened and tiny, pathetic sounds escaped past his lip-lock. I pounded on his chest, kicked my legs, but only met air.
The phone on the desk rang.
Richard paused, lips still pressed against mine as laughter bubbled out from between them. Whiskey flavored his breath. Oh hell, he was drunk? “There’s Benjamin, right on cue.”
I swallowed a retch. Why is he calling? Why doesn’t he come?
Still sniggering, Richard yanked me from the desk and turned me to face the camera in the corner. The phone ceased its shouting. His teeth clamped down on my shoulder hard.
I cried out in terror, and my body seized like a cat held by the scuff of the neck. The pain and pressure of his bite limited my movements while his fingers ripped open the bottom of my shirt and played along my abdomen. Tears poured out in a steady stream, airy gasps spurting out from my gaping mouth in a rhythmic pattern.
Richard’s teeth released me, and he pressed his cheek against my ear. “Looky, looky what I have, brother. Your play toy is quite exciting, isn’t she?” His singsong tone entered my ears like broken glass, slicing through me to the core.
“Fuck you.” My voice came out as a growl.
“Oh, I love it when you talk dirty to me.” He drew my earlobe into his mouth and sucked.
My skin crawled. A rush of angry heat consumed me. “Stop this!” I looked up at the camera, and mouthed, “I’m sorry.”
The shuffling of many feet sounded in the hallway, along with the low murmur of voices.
“We’re coming up now, brother. Be a good boy and clear the security team I hear assembling outside my door.” Richard withdrew his right hand from my shirt and reached behind. A swish of fabric. A click of metal against metal. A moment later, something cold pressed
into the side of my neck. His other hand slipped up to the front of my throat. “The paperwork had better be ready, or the rest of the show will happen on your boardroom table while you watch.”
I froze—heart, lungs, brain. Everything ceased to function as I realized Richard had a gun trained on me.
Oh God.
Chapter 26
Richard removed the gun he held to my neck and walked to the door with the barrel pointed to the floor. Looking far too smug for my liking, he held out his hand. “Let’s go, kitten.”
His nonchalant smirk sent a shudder through me. Stiff from shock and terror, I put my shaking, clammy hand in his sweaty one.
After straightening his clothes as if the paparazzi waited for us, he tugged me against his body, opened the door a crack, and peered out. With one arm locked around my waist and his other hand pressing the gun into my side, we entered the hallway. I stumbled to keep up with Richard’s brisk pace. From my tour of the security cameras, I knew there wasn’t one in that section of the building. Unfortunately for me, he wasn’t as stupid as I needed him to be.
Men in blue uniforms—the only occupants of the small corridor—stood beyond the stairs, shifting their feet. Watching. Waiting. Their hands hovered around holsters on their belts, and all gazes locked on to our approach.
We arrived at the elevator a moment later. Richard pressed the Up button and smiled. “It’ll all be over soon, Evangeline.”
Over? As in, over-over? I swallowed and closed my eyes. What did he mean by that?
The doors slid open. Richard shoved me in front of him with such force I slammed against the back wall, bracing my forearms in front of me. That was gonna leave a mark. I whirled around, rubbing my tender elbows as he stepped in and pressed the button for the twentieth floor. When men approached the opening, Richard gripped my arm and positioned me in front of him, the cold barrel of the gun once again kissing my cheek, halting their progress. The mirrored panels closed us in and them out. My breath hitched.
Crossing Hathaway Page 22