“I wouldn’t worry about it, Trev,” Oscar was saying as he paid for his pastry and then turned back toward the boss. “Trev?”
But Trevor was already gone.
“Thank God!” Carly said as she stood at her secretary’s desk talking with Shirley Nance. “That’s what I call a nice welcome back gift, Shirl!”
Dallas Shephard stepped off of the elevator, and began heading their way.
“I couldn’t believe it myself,” Shirley said. “When the attorney called, and said LaQuan would not be indicted, I rejoiced where I was standing.”
“It’s great news,” Carly agreed. “No doubt about that. I know LaQuan and his family are breaking out the bubbly even as we speak.”
“You know they are,” Shirley said. “A bunch of drunks. I just hope he can control himself.”
When Shirley looked and saw Dallas walking up the hall toward the secretary’s desk, she looked at Carly. “What is she doing here?” she asked.
“Who?” Carly asked. But by the time she turned to see, Dallas was upon them. And Carly was taken aback too. “May I help you?” she asked.
“I need to talk to you,” Dallas said.
“Talk to me about what?”
“My job. I want it back.”
“You were fired, Dallas,” Shirley said. “You don’t get to dictate anything around here anymore.”
“I’m talking to Carly,” Dallas said. Then she looked at Carly. “May I talk with you privately? In your office, perhaps?”
But Carly was nixing that idea. “There’s nothing to talk about,” she said.
“I need to show you something,” Dallas said as she began to reach into her purse. “I need to show to you that I’m no joke. I don’t think you realize what I can offer.”
Just as Dallas reached into her purse, Trevor ran onto the floor from the stairwell and began running toward the secretary’s desk.
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about, Dallas,” Carly said.
But then she heard Trevor’s voice. “Carly, get down!” he yelled, as he waved one hand and pulled out his Glock with the other hand. “Get down!”
Carly didn’t know what he was talking about, but didn’t wait to ask or see. Trevor told her to get down. She dropped to the floor.
And Trevor stopped running, aimed in a crouched position, and fired. He fired just as Dallas Shephard was pulling her resume out of her purse, and just as Shirley Nance was pulling a gun out of her purse. And pointing it at Carly.
Dallas dropped to the floor right along with Carly as Trevor’s bullet sailed up the hall and landed right between Shirley Nance’s eyes. Dallas Shephard and Carly’s secretary, both shocked and dismayed, cried in horror. And Shirley Nance, Carly’s trusted senior consultant, fell backwards. Dead.
Trevor ran up to Carly, who was trembling with fear. “Are you okay?” he asked as he helped her to her feet.
But Carly was stunned. “Shirley?” she asked him, still shocked with disbelief.
Trevor nodded. “Yes,” Trevor said. “Shirley was the one who put that hit out on you. When Hammer took Reggie Dell out of commission, she decided she had to do it herself. She came here to kill you.”
Carly was confused. “But why?” she asked with pain in her voice.
“Call Security,” Trevor ordered the secretary, as she and Dallas Shephard, who had come to show Carly her impressive resume and ask for another chance, began to rise. Trevor pulled Carly aside, moving her out of earshot of the others. “I connected the dots,” he said to her.
Carly frowned. “What dots?”
“Oscar and I were talking in the cafeteria. I see Dallas Shephard in my building, and I’m wondering what the hell is she doing here? Oscar figured it could have been a revenge visit. He was kidding, but it hit me like a ton of bricks.”
“What hit you? When he said revenge?”
“Yes, and Dallas,” Trevor said. “That name made me remember. I pulled up my employee directory. And there it was. Shirley Nance lived and worked out of Dallas, Texas when I hired her to work for me. Ethan Campbell, Carly, was originally from Dallas, Texas, too.”
Carly’s heart dropped. “Ethan?” she asked. Ethan Campbell was once Trevor’s client. Carly was a new employee at the time, and Ethan came to her house and attempted to rape. Carly defended herself and ended up killing him during a horrific night she never wanted to remember again.
Trevor didn’t want to remember it either, but he was grateful that he had. “Ethan is the connection,” he said.
“But how can you draw that conclusion just because they both were from Dallas?” Carly asked.
“In the official directory, I saw Shirley’s maiden name. She has a hyphenated name. She’s Shirley Campbell-Nance. She doesn’t use Campbell, but she did on the employee information I always keep in my phone. And Pauline Stemple, your friend who introduced Douglas McCarren into your inner circle? Pauline is Shirley’s sister.”
Carly was floored. “Her sister? But how did you know Pauline and Shirley were related? Pauline went by Stemple, not Campbell. Not Nance.”
“I told you I keep all the relevant info on all of my employees in my phone. I keep a mobile directory of all of my employees. It lists their full names, position with my firm, contact information, and next of kin. Shirley listed two people under next of kin. Ethan Campbell, her brother, and Pauline Stemple, her sister.”
Carly leaned her head back in anguish.
“Ethan was their brother,” Trevor said. “Shirley came to work for me, not because she wanted to, but because she needed to position herself for revenge. Pauline wormed her way into your circle of friends for the very same reason. They were all outstanding siblings with an ax to grind. You were the one they intended to slowly, methodically grind.”
Carly shook her head. Would her past ever stop haunting her? Then she looked at Trevor. And decided that one day it would, with Trevor by her side.
And as the commotion of security guards, curious consultants, and Trevor’s men took over the scene, Carly kept her eyes on Trevor, and Trevor kept his eyes on her. The darkness that surrounded them became muted background noise because of the bright, brilliant light they saw in each other’s eyes. And in that moment, they fell into the kind of undying love they knew would be required to beat back the darts of wickedness their enemies would try to throw their way. They were completely and unabashedly in love.
“Don’t worry, baby,” Trevor said as he pulled her into his arms. “We’re going to be just fine. Whether this world likes it or not.”
EPILOGUE
She stood back from the full-length mirror and looked over the dress, the earrings and necklace, the hair and makeup, once again. Everything appeared to be just right. Then she smiled. Just right. Just like her and her man.
“Carly?” her man yelled from downstairs. “Come down here now. We’re going to be late. Don’t make me come up there and get you!”
“I’m coming!” she yelled back, smoothed down the sides of her dress, and shook her head. Just right sometimes, she thought with a wry smile. And then grabbed her purse, turned off her bedroom light, and hurried downstairs.
Trevor Reese stood at the bottom of the stairs, in his dark blue Armani suit, with both hands in his pockets. He pulled out one hand, looked at his Rolex, and was about to call Carly again. Or, better yet, run up those stairs and carry her slow ass down. Until he saw her coming down all on her own.
Trevor’s heart stopped. The lights from the chandelier caught her just at that perfect angle as she began walking down the stairs, and he had to remember to breathe again. She wore a beautiful form-fitting white dress in gold trim that sexily hugged every curve of her body. And her hair was filled with big, rich curls that draped across her shoulder and dropped along her back. And her face. That wonderful smooth, brown face that was consumed by her big, hazel eyes and her unshakable bright-white smile. She used to look so young to him; so much so that he found himself almost overly-protective of her. But r
ight now, as she descended those stairs in heels high and back straight, she looked like the very definition of sophistication and elegance.
“Wow,” he found himself saying as she walked down those stairs.
But when she made it downstairs, and Trevor took her by the hand, Carly was equally impressed by the view as his dark-blue suit brought out the deep purplish-blue of his eyes. They looked brilliant blue at that moment. “You look amazing, Trevor,” she said with a satisfying smile.
Trevor smiled too, which wasn’t easy for a man like him. He was ready to fuss her out about her tardiness, reminding her who was waiting for them at the restaurant, but just her presence changed his entire mood. “You look like a word they haven’t even invented yet,” he said.
Carly laughed that booming laugh he loved. “A word they haven’t invented, hun? Very smooth, Trevor. Very smooth!”
He laughed too, and they headed out of her condo and downstairs, to the waiting limousine.
Once in the limousine, and once their driver/bodyguard began driving them to their destination, Carly was about to smooth down the edges of her hair. But she realized Trevor held her hand and did not appear, by his grip, to be interested in releasing it. She forgot those edges and held tight too.
“It was a tough month last month,” she said. “But now it looks as if everything is falling into place.”
“That’s how I feel too,” Trevor responded. “Sometimes we can get caught up in bad moments and fail to see the full picture.”
Carly looked at Trevor. “You believe your brother about Reggie Dell then?” she asked him.
Trevor nodded. “Yes. She didn’t realize how I felt about you. If she had she would have never come after you. Ham has labeled you untouchable. She won’t come near you again.”
But Carly seemed doubtful.
“I know you want to put a period to it,” Trevor said, tightening his grip. “But sometimes, in my world, you can’t. Reggie Dell will always be elusive because my brother has made her untouchable too. But just in case her ass doesn’t follow the edit, I have my men searching for her. When they find her, they’ll keep tabs on her. And if there’s any inkling that she’s up to her old tricks again, I’ll step in. Don’t you worry about that.”
Carly smiled and snuggled against him. That was what she wanted to hear. Trevor would handle it. She didn’t know Hammer Reese. But she knew Trevor Reese. She trusted Trevor.
And then she thought about something else, and looked at him. “But what about you?” she asked. “Now that those operatives are all dead, does that mean you’re off limits too?”
“On that end, yes,” Trevor responded. “But I’m not going to lie to you, Carly.” He looked at her. When she looked her big, hazel eyes up at him, his breath caught. He now had a reason to live. Not just to exist. But to live. It was a wonderful feeling. “I may be called to handle situations every now and then,” he said. “I’m still an agency man, and once in you’re always in. When I’m called to account, I have to perform.”
“Your brother can’t get you out of it?”
Trevor smiled. “It’s my brother I’ll have to perform for. He’d never admit it, but he pulls the strings of every black ops that would employ me. The only reason he killed all of those operatives was because they went behind his back and tried to kill me. He had to send a message.”
Carly smiled. “My uncles are always caught in situations where they have to send messages too. I always wondered what the message was?”
“It’s all the same,” Trevor said. “Don’t fuck with me. That’s always the message.”
Carly laughed. “Okay,” she said. Then she added: “Speaking of messages, JoAnna told me she got a call from Pauline, if you can believe it. Pauline said she was in jail in Hawaii and wanted her to bail her out. Jo told her to take a hike.”
“She was in jail in Hawaii,” Trevor said. “And you’re right, JoAnna didn’t bail her out. I did.”
Carly looked at him. Pauline was, she thought, a friend of hers. She had been a member of her friend circle. “And?” she asked. “What happened when you did?”
“Let’s just say her and her sister, that Shirley Campbell-Nance,” Trevor said, “are together again.”
Carly shook her head. “I’m sorry to hear that. I thought she was my friend. I know she wasn’t.”
“Damn right she wasn’t. I believe her sister, Shirley, hired Reggie Dell, not those operatives like my brother believes. And I believe Pauline hired Douglas McCarren. Fuck them. Both of those sisters deserved daisies on their plates.”
“But for what? I killed their brother in self-defense,” Carly said. “He tried to rape me. Besides, I was never convicted of Ethan’s murder.”
“But they didn’t care. He was found in that house you used to rent. You were guilty regardless of the circumstances, in their eyes. Don’t shed any tears for either one of those fuckers.”
Carly smiled at Trevor’s certainness. “What about your men on those two details?” she asked. “Are they eating daisies too?”
Trevor looked at her. “What do you think?” he asked.
“Knowing you? I would bet on it. Daisies with a touch of sour lemon.”
Trevor smiled. “You’d win that bet,” he said. Then he frowned. “Yeah, my men tracked them down one by one. And took them out one by one. I had to send a message too.”
“Don’t fuck with you?” Carly asked.
“That’s always the message,” he said.
Then he looked at her and smiled. But when she smiled back, and gave him that look of love, he exhaled. “You remember Miss Flannigan? She went by Sharon when she moved to Jericho. I knew her as Rachel, her middle name, when she worked for the diocese.”
Carly was surprised to hear that name. “Of course I know Sharon. She’s still the head mistress at Saint Catherine’s in Jericho. She and my brother Tony are close friends. What about her?”
“She was demoted from a similar position when she was involved in a scandal with a married man. She didn’t know he was married, but it still rocked the church. I was hired by the diocese to control the negative coverage. I was the one who suggested they relocate her to Jericho.”
Carly looked at him. “You? But why little Jericho, Trevor?”
Trevor looked out of the window.
Carly was concerned. “Why, Trevor?”
“To keep an eye on you. That’s how far gone I was. You came to work for me, then, after Ethan Campbell’s death, you quit. I needed to know that you were okay.”
Carly smiled.
“To Rachel, I mean Sharon’s credit,” Trevor continued, “she refused to spy on you or your family. To her credit.”
Then he exhaled, as the limo pulled under the portico at the restaurant. Here goes. “I said that to say this, Carly,” he said. “I love the way you have embraced your life despite your past. Your father gave me the greatest compliment. He said, since you’ve been with me, he’d never seen you so alive. That alone, he said, is worth it to him. But what he didn’t know was that the same could be applied to me. I’ve never been more alive than when I got enough sense to hook up with you.” Then he pulled out a small box and handed it to her. “Will you marry me and become Mrs. Trevor Reese?” he asked her.
Carly’s heart must have stopped and started three times before she could even speak. She was too busy staring, not at the box, but at Trevor. She had not expected a proposal so soon. He said they were going to take it slow. She could not have been happier.
She jumped from her seat and threw herself into his arms. “Oh, Trevor!” she said. “Yes, I’ll marry you. Of course I will!”
Trevor smiled grandly and kissed her hard on the lips. She was in tears and he was near tears. He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped her tears away. They continued to hug, and stare at each other.
“We’re here at the restaurant,” she said. “Our driver is now waiting at our door. They expect us to get out of the car.”
Trevor smiled. “Aren’t
you going to open the box?” he asked.
“Oh!” Carly had completely forgotten about the ring. She opened the box, and looked at it. “This is beautiful, Trevor.” It was a forty-carat marquise-cut diamond ring. He placed it on her finger, and her tears returned.
By the time they got out of the limo and made their way inside the restaurant, Carly had to excuse herself. With Trevor’s handkerchief still wiping her eyes, she went to the ladies’ room to get herself together.
Trevor, however, made his way to the table where Mick Sinatra, their dinner companion, was waiting. Mick looked up when he arrived. He looked concerned when he didn’t see Carly. “What happened? She turned you down?”
Trevor smiled and sat at the table across from him. Trevor had informed him, Big Daddy and Jenay of his plans. They all approved. Mick was going to be in town on business and would have dinner with them tonight. Trevor was going to drive Carly to Jericho tomorrow so that they could have dinner with her entire family. “No, she didn’t turn me down,” he said. “She’s in the ladies’ room.”
“Ah,” Mick said. He understood.
Mick continued to look at, study, stare at Trevor as the waitress took his drink order, and then, when she left their table, he leaned forward. “Work for me,” he said.
Trevor looked up at him. “What?”
“I can use a man like you in my organization. I’ve seen what you can do.”
Trevor was still processing it. “You want me to work for you?”
“That’s right.”
“In which organization exactly? Sinatra Industries? Or?”
“Or,” Mick said. “That one.”
“But what about Teddy and Joey. What about your sons? I would imagine they have dreams of heading up the Sinatra Crime Family in the event you decide to step down. Which will be never, by the way,” Trevor added with a smile.
Trevor Reese: His Secret Love Page 18