“Sandra, can you show Mr. Jameson into the conference room? And bring all of the files. I’ll be there in a moment.”
I opened my mouth to tell her I absolutely could not do that but she was too fast. Emma turned and headed to her own office, apparently needing to retrieve something.
I swallowed, holding back a curse before slowly lifting my gaze to Randy, who had the audacity to step closer. I gave him a scathing look, to which he halted his forward movement.
Those brown eyes of his moved from me to my desk, glancing around.
Without a word I turned and grabbed my tablet and the papers that I figured I’d be needing for the meeting. When I looked back to Randy, I saw his gaze was transfixed on something behind me. Curious, I glanced over my shoulder to see what he was staring at and my heart plummeted.
Moving quickly, I lowered the picture that I kept of Monique and I so that it was face down. I turned back to Randy who’s eyes had squinted as he glared at me.
“How old is she?”
“None of your business,” I responded through gritted teeth but kept my voice low enough so that only he could hear. “The conference room is down the hall to the left.” I moved to the side and held my arm out for him to move ahead of me. I didn’t trust him standing behind me. I didn’t trust him anywhere near me, to be honest, but I was forced to work with him for now.
“You can say more than two words to me. It would be the professional thing to do,” he had the nerve to say once we entered the conference room.
I glared at him from the opposite side of the long, shiny, wooden table. “Keeping my commentary to as few words as possible is the most professional thing I can do right now. Trust me.”
“Sandra, we have a history together. No matter how things turned out between us, we—”
“Just don’t talk to me. Don’t say my name. Don’t even look at me. I am not who you’re here to meet with anyway. Emma will be in shortly.” God, I hoped she hurried up. I did not want to be alone with him for one more second.
“She looks just like you. Your daughter.”
His eyes got wide when I slammed the files I’d been holding down on the table. “You don’t ever mention her.” I parted my lips to tell him I’d stand over his dead body before I let him speak any further about my daughter, but Emma entered the room, effectively ending that confrontation.
“My apologies, Mr. Jameson. I trust that Sandra was able to keep you company while you waited. I was on the line with another client. So, from our earlier correspondence, I gather you’re here to make an offer to my clients,” Emma began as soon as she entered the room.
I settled in a chair on the opposite side and farther from where Randy sat. That was the only way I could keep enough distance between the two of us so that I wouldn’t try to reach across the table and throttle him. He easily towered over me by nearly a foot and he likely outweighed me by more than fifty pounds, but when he’d talked about Monique, my size no longer mattered. I wanted to rip his throat out just because.
“I’m sure you’re aware that I need to discuss all of this with my clients, right, Mr. Jameson?” Emma asked once the meeting began winding down.
Though I’d typed notes throughout it all, I hadn’t taken in anything that was said. I kept having visions on how I could take someone’s life and get away with it.
“Sandra will be able to send over the notes from this meeting. And once I speak with my clients and they make a decision we will get back to you.” Emma stood, holding her hand out to Randy.
More bile filled my stomach when he took her hand in his then looked across the table as if he was expecting me to reach out my hand for him to shake.
Fuck him.
That was the one reigning thought in my head, but I managed to keep the curse from flying out of my mouth.
“Sandra, can you show Mr. Jameson out?”
I opened my mouth to refuse but it was cut off by Randy’s reply.
“That’s fine, Ms. Leslie,” he said to Emma. “I know the way.” He nodded in my direction, which I didn’t even acknowledge, and then sauntered out of the room.
“What are you thinking?”
I blinked and turned my attention to Emma. “What was that?”
“About the case? What are your thoughts on the meeting? The offer they gave.”
I rolled my eyes upward, trying hard to remember what was even said during the meeting. Apparently, the diner was ready to make an offer to stay out of court.
I shrugged. “It’s a decent offer I guess,” I hedged.
“Decent, yes. Enough? Considering what those women have been through for years? I’m not sure.” She shrugged. “We’ll have to take it to them and see what they think. Send me and Jameson those notes as soon as possible, please?” she requested just before exiting the conference room.
I nodded but didn’t verbally respond. I followed behind Emma and passed her as she entered her office. Going back to my desk, I placed everything I had in my hands down and moved to reboot my computer when something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I turned to glance over at the right side of my computer where I kept the picture of Monique and I. I distinctly remembered lowering the picture facedown so that Randy couldn’t see it. I’d left it like that as I’d walked off to the conference room. However, as I stood there, the frame was staring me in the face, in its upright position.
I turned to see nobody around, save for the usual paralegals in this section of the office, and they all were engrossed in their own work. An uneasy feeling of dread that’d been with me for so long that it had begun to feel as if it were a part of my being started to well up in my stomach.
****
Damon
“How did you know something was wrong with Kayla when she came back?” I questioned as I paced back and forth in Joshua’s office. I couldn’t even stand still long enough to look at him as he stood behind his desk. Joshua’s office was located inside of the Townsend Industries building since he ran the real estate division of the company.
“What happened?” he questioned, his tone sharp.
“I don’t fucking know. I knew for a long time that she was hiding something. She was skittish and shy and …” I paused, not willing to tell Josh that in the beginning of our sexual relationship she was too damn shy for a woman that’d carried and birthed her own child. That hadn’t ever sat right with me, but I chalked it up to the fact that Monique’s father, whoever he was, had impregnated her and left her alone to raise a kid. I’d imagine that’d make a woman at least somewhat hesitant about becoming sexually involved with another man. But hell, that didn’t make sense either seeing as how Monique was ten. The idea that a woman as attractive and put together as Sandra was hadn’t had any relationships over the past ten years led me to conclude that something was off. Because it’s not like Sandra didn’t have a sexual side. That fear had long since been dismissed after our first night together.
“Look, Kay hasn’t told me anything, but—”
“But what?” I questioned anxiously, pausing for the first time since I’d entered his office.
“Last year. One day I came home from work and found Kay in the kitchen cooking and she was upset. So pissed that she cut herself with a knife due to negligence. I asked her what was wrong, but she said she couldn’t say.”
I squinted, wondering what this had to do with Sandra.
“She wouldn’t say but she did ask if I knew of any law firms that were in need of a paralegal.”
I angled my head at Josh who stared at me, waiting for me to put the pieces together.
“You helped Sandra get the job at Mansfield, Duvall & Mason,” I stated, remembering the conversation from the day of the baby shower.
Josh nodded. “Kay passed me her resume and said that it was important she find another job quickly. She remained tight lipped about why, and I didn’t ask seeing as how I didn’t know her at all back then. Her resume checked out, and soon after I passed it along to one of
the partners at the firm she was hired.”
I clenched my teeth. “And you don’t know why she was in such a rush to leave her old job?”
“Not at all. I’d ask Kay, but—”
I waved my hand. “That won’t be necessary.”
“Look, I don’t know what happened or if something happened to Sandra …” Josh paused when I gave him a hard glare. “Okay, probably something did happen to her. Trust your gut. What I know is that when my instincts were telling me what yours seems to be telling you, I trusted them. I used everything at my disposal to root out the piece of shit who hurt her.” Josh’s eyes narrowed, and I could tell he was taken back to thinking about the ex-police officer that’d assaulted his wife.
A muscle in my jaw jumped. It wasn’t the same thing. Kayla had been living in Portland, Oregon at the time of her assault, and only moved back to Williamsport after it happened. I knew Sandra and Kayla had only met once Kayla moved back to her home city. But maybe …
“Whatever you’re thinking, go with that feeling,” Joshua stated.
I glanced up at him.
“What I’ve learned is that if she’s keeping something from you, it’s not because she doesn’t trust you enough. It’s because she’s ashamed of whatever went down.”
Shame was a powerful and ugly emotion. I knew it well. I knew the shame of a thirteen-year-old boy who’d listened and did nothing while his own father was murdered.
“Let her know she’s not alone in whatever it is. If you’re serious about her.”
“I’m fucking serious,” I growled.
“Then make sure she knows that.”
I didn’t respond verbally to Joshua’s words. I didn’t need to. Actions spoke louder than words. It was a concept we both understood.
“You feel like getting into a fight tonight?” he questioned after a brief period of silence.
I rubbed my hand through my beard. “More than you fucking know. But not with the Underground.” I needed to take this fight to the source. And to do that, I needed to find out exactly who or what the source was. That required I talked to one person and one person alone. Getting her to answer questions wouldn’t be an easy feat, however.
“I may need some of your connections to help with this one,” I told him.
Joshua lifted an eyebrow. “Which connections?”
I pondered the question for a moment. “Not sure yet, but when I find out whoever has kept that ghosted look in Sandra’s eyes for so long, I may need you to call on every connection you have. The bastard won’t get off as easy as Russo did.”
Joshua let out a low whistle. “Just say the word.”
I nodded. “Bet.”
Chapter Nineteen
Sandra
“This isn’t too much?” I questioned, turning to the side again in my full-length mirror, eyeing my body in the sparkling, long, black gown I wore. The dress was sleeveless, displaying my toned arms, pulled in waistline, and the expansion of my hips.
“You look beautiful,” my grandmother stated from behind me as she stared at me in the mirror.
“You look perfect, Mommy. Almost like Princess Tiana when she got dressed up. You just need a tiara,” Monique added.
I giggled before turning back to the mirror. I could admit that I looked damn good in the dress. I’d pulled my hair up into a high topknot with a few curls hanging to give myself that alluring look I thought it provided. I’d even opted to wear red lipstick which was something I never did, because as a child my grandmother had taught me that red lipstick was for loose women and girls, as she called them. But now, watching her smile at me through the mirror, I couldn’t help but feel a little vindicated somehow.
“That’s him,” I stated hearing the telltale knock on the door. I could always tell when it was him.
“I’ll get it! Coming, Mr. Damon!” Monique called as she hopped off my bed, running out of the room for the door.
I didn’t even have time to reprimand her for running before she was out of the door. I looked toward my grandmother, who was babysitting her for the night.
“I’ll go. A lady should always make an entrance. Wait a few minutes and then come out,” my grandmother suggested.
I nodded and smiled as she hugged me from behind and made her way out of the room to catch up with Monique. If someone would have told me even a year ago that not only would I have a second chance at a relationship with my grandmother, but also be completely in love with an amazing man, I would’ve had no problem calling that person a liar and a cheater. But here I was, my grandmother seeing me off on a date as if she were sending me off to my high school prom.
That thought had me shuddering just thinking about the person I went to my actual high school prom with. I began to bite my bottom lip as my stomach sank, realizing that unfortunately that same person was back in my life due to my job.
“I’ll get Mommy!” I heard Monique yell. Her little footsteps were soon halted.
“Your Mommy’s probably still getting ready, short stuff,” his deep voice moved down the hall and sent chills down my spine—in a good way. Thoughts of any other man were replaced instantly.
I fixed one of the hanging tendrils of hair and then smoothed the sides of my dress, giving myself one final look over. Thankfully, I’d worn no smear lipstick so I didn’t need to re-apply any. I grabbed the small, black clutch I’d chosen for the occasion and went out to meet my date.
I rounded the corner and stopped short, just staring at Damon’s back in the black and white tuxedo he wore. Even from behind he was the stuff that fairytales were made of.
“I promise next time I’ll bring some more brownies, short stuff. But that’s if you promise to keep your room clean like your mommy asked you to. She told me someone was having trouble keeping her clothes off the floor,” he lightly scolded in that deep yet sensitive tone he always took with Monique.
“But—” Monique started, but was interrupted by my grandmother.
“And speaking of your mother …”
Slowly Damon turned around and his eyes widened. “Goddamn,” he stated airily.
“Ohhh, Mr. Damon cursed!”
“Shit!” he cursed again. “My bad. Does she have to hear every curse?” he questioned, looking at me.
I giggled as he moved closer, pressing a kiss to my lips. “You …” he lifted my hand to his lips, “look …” another kiss to the corner of my lips, “amazing. This is that no smear lipstick, right?”
I smiled and said, “Yes.”
“Good. Otherwise you’d have this red all over your face when I’m done with you. And I can’t promise I’m going to wait until after this damn fundraiser to get my hands on you.” That was said low in my ear so that only I could hear him before he pulled back to stare down at me, taking me in.
I went to push a stray curl behind my ear but found my hand was wrapped up in his hold. He obviously had no intention of letting it go either, as evidenced by the fact that he continued to hang onto it even as he spun around to face my grandmother and Monique again.
“Doesn’t she look beautiful, Mr. Damon?”
My heart melted at my daughter’s words.
“She absolutely does, short stuff.” He stooped low to get eye level with Monique, though still clutching my hand in his. “And thank you for letting me spend time with your mama tonight. I promise I’ll take good care of her.”
Monique nodded. “Diego says that it’s a man’s job to protect women and children.”
Damon’s lips quirked up. “Lucky for that little boy he was actually right about that. Maybe his daddy is teaching him something after all.”
I laughed and swatted Damon’s shoulder with our conjoined hands. “Leave Diego alone.”
Damon stood. “I’m not worried about that little boy. As long as he does right by my short stuff, he’s cool.”
I gave Damon a look. “He’s ten.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “You don’t want to know what I was doing at ten.”
&nbs
p; I laughed. “You know what? You’re right. I don’t. How about we head out instead?”
He nodded. “Sounds good to me. But short stuff better not be up late facetiming that little boy tonight either.”
I laughed, shaking my head. He was dead serious. I couldn’t tell who he was more protective over. Me or Monique.
We hugged and kissed Monique goodnight, as she’d be long asleep by the time we got back. I would’ve stayed the night at Damon’s but my grandmother had an early morning appointment the next day, so I’d chosen to be brought home instead of having to leave his place extremely early.
We said our good-byes and Damon escorted me to the front entrance of my apartment building. I was surprised to find that he’d chosen to have us driven to the fundraiser, which was held at the Williamsport Museum of Natural History instead of the hospital as it had been in previous years.
He waved the driver off and held the door open for me while I entered, climbing in behind me. As the driver went back around to the driver seat, I asked, “Why did you choose to have a driver tonight?”
Damon gave me a mischievous grin as his hand slid over to the door and he pressed the button to raise the partition. The Beyoncé song immediately came to mind as I watched his eyes glow with mischief. He slid closer.
“So I could do this instead of driving.” He reached behind me with one hand, cupping the back of my head and pulling me closer to him.
I willingly moved in and let his lips capture mine. He slipped his tongue into my mouth, and my entire body grew heated. The feel of the hairs of his beard also turned me on, as they always did. I rose my left hand to cup his beard and run my fingers through it. He pulled back, chuckling.
“There you go. You’re going to fuck around and have me make a seat out of this thing before we even get out of this car.”
I laughed, lowering my head to his shoulder. “You started it,” I retorted, moving closer to wrap my arms around him. I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes, bathing myself in the feeling of safety that his strength afforded me.
It’d been over a week since my last face-to-face encounter with Randy Jameson, and that haunted feeling I had once I’d seen that the picture of Monique and I had been turned over on my desk, had stuck with me. I hadn’t told anyone about it. There was only one person I could tell, but I feared Kayla would try and push me to go to that counseling group she’d given me a card for. I didn’t want that. I’d endured this thing on my own for so long, I just needed to figure out a way to make it through this particular case at work and I’d be fine.
Just Say The Word Page 24