Chris widened his eyes, and I raised a brow. “It does, doesn’t it?” I added.
Earlier when James and I figured out that Chris was responsible for all this shit, I’d predicted that he might try to keep blackmailing me in order to save his ass from the cops. To stop that from happening, I needed something to ensure he kept his mouth shut. Luckily, James had the perfect thing—the Chevin account.
The Chevins were a big family here in the city who supposedly ran a chain of laundromats and cafés, and Chris was their business accountant. According to James, it was pretty common knowledge that the Chevins used their legitimate businesses as a means to launder money from their true business—illegal gambling rings. Apparently Chris helped them launder the gambling cash and funnel it into secret accounts, keeping them under the radar, and the accounting firm turned a blind eye to it because it made them so much money.
“The feds would love to know what you’re up to,” I said. “Half the firm would go down for it, but as the chief accountant for the Chevins, you’d go away for the longest. I think racketeering and fraud charges like that can put you away for a full life sentence. But if you turned me in for the green card marriage… hmm, that only carries a maximum sentence of five years. You’d come out way worse than me, see? So let’s make a deal.”
“What sort of deal?” Chris said through gritted teeth.
“You admit to the cops that it was you who’s been harassing Nora and trashing her house because you’re a misogynistic pig. You’ll probably get a big fine and a slap on the wrist, and a restraining order from Nora. If, however, you try to deny it—or if you ever breathe a fucking word about my marriage to anyone—I’ll tell everyone what I know about your shady work shit. Like I said earlier, you’ll get a hell of a lot more than a fine for that.”
He was silent for a moment. Then he nodded briefly, eyes flashing with a mixture of disdain and defeat. “Okay. I’ll do it,” he mumbled.
“Oh, and one more thing,” I said. I aimed my fist at his face again, cracking him right in the nose, and he cried out as he stumbled backwards, blood spurting all over the lower part of his face.
I could hear a car pulling up outside, and I knew the police had finally arrived.
“Remember our deal, man,” I said, rubbing my knuckles. “Keep your fucking mouth shut or I’ll ruin you way more than you could ever ruin me.”
I stayed until the police hauled him away. They didn’t say a word to me about his freshly-bruised, bleeding face. He told them he’d simply walked into a door.
When they were gone, I triumphantly drove home, ready to fill Nora in on everything that had gone down. It was all over. She wouldn’t be harassed by that asshole Chris ever again.
Part of me felt like shit over the loss of my friend, but at the same time I knew he’d never been a real friend, no matter how close I once thought we were. A true friend wouldn’t have acted like a raging, woman-hating asshole because I finally got a girlfriend and stopped playing the field. A true friend would’ve believed and supported me (and Nora) and been there for us.
When I pulled up in my driveway, I saw Ina sitting in the dark on the marble front steps, her expression downcast. Frowning, I headed over to her.
“Ina, what’s up? Why are you out here so late?”
She looked up at me, and her expression turned furious. “I was waiting for you, you stupid asshole. You couldn’t help yourself, could you?” she said.
I took a step back, confused. “Huh? What did I do?”
She stood up and pushed me, hard. “You couldn’t keep it in your fucking pants, and now Nora’s gone. I told you not to screw it up with her! She was so good for you.”
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. “We know what you were planning, Jake. We know about the other woman. Nora saw her text.”
“What text?”
Ina’s eyes flashed. “The one asking if you’d dumped Nora yet like you promised. Guess your side piece was sick of being kept waiting.”
“I don’t…. oh. Shit.”
I’d completely forgotten about how I sent that bullshit text to the person I assumed was James earlier, pretending that I’d break up with Nora at the end of the day just so I could buy some time.
“Yeah, we caught you,” Ina went on. “I’m so fucking disappointed in you, Jake. Really, I thought you’d changed. I thought you were better than this.”
I held my hands up. “Just wait. Let me explain.”
I filled her in on everything that had transpired over the last few hours, and her eyes widened as I spoke.
“Oh my god…” she said softly. “Oh, shit.”
“You said Nora’s gone. Gone where?” I asked.
Ina looked stricken. “I’m sorry. She was so upset. She came to me for advice, but I agreed with her. I thought there couldn’t be any other explanation for that text other than you cheating. And then she said she had to get out of here. I’m so sorry, Jake. I should’ve tried harder to keep her here. I did suggest that she stay, because I thought she should at least confront you about it, but she wouldn’t listen. She was too heartbroken.”
“What are you saying? Where exactly is she?”
Ina’s shoulders slumped. “She dropped Oscar off with Angie and left for New York early,” she said, casting her eyes down at the ground. “She called me from Angie’s place about forty-five minutes ago to tell me she found a flight that was leaving soon. So by now, she’s probably already on a plane.”
“What?” I said, aghast. “You can’t be serious!”
She nodded miserably. “She’s gone, Jake. She’s really gone.”
33
Jacob
Fucking LA traffic.
Even at this time of night, it was still shitty on a lot of roads. It didn’t help that the airport was so damn far away—it would be at least half an hour till I got there.
On the way, I called Angie on my hands-free phone set, desperate to hear any updates on Nora’s situation. She didn’t answer my first few calls, but she finally picked up on the fourth after nearly letting it ring out again.
“What do you want?” she asked, her voice stiff.
“Has Nora left yet?”
“That’s none of your business.”
I explained everything to her, just like I’d done with Ina. I heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line.
“Shit, I had no idea. I’m sorry, Jake. I guess we’re all kinda used to Nora attracting the worst kinds of men, so I didn’t even think—”
“It’s fine, I get it,” I said, interrupting her. I didn’t mean to be rude, but I needed to know exactly where Nora was. “I just need to know if her flight left already, or if there’s still time for me to find her.”
“Hold on a sec. She used my laptop to book it.”
Angie was quiet for a minute while she searched. Then she came back onto the line. “Her flight hasn’t left yet. It takes off in twenty-five minutes from Terminal 2. Gate 23.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. I was only five minutes away from LAX now. If I found parking quickly enough, I’d hopefully be able to intercept Nora before she boarded the flight.
Unfortunately, parking was a bitch. It took me over ten minutes to find a spot, and it was about as far as fucking possible from Terminal 2. My stomach filled with dread with each and every moment that passed by, and soon I was counting the seconds down with each frantic beat of my racing heart.
I finally arrived at Gate 23. I saw two flight attendants standing at the gate desk, checking a man’s ticket. Thank god. The flight was still boarding, even though it was meant to be departing in just two minutes.
“Hi, how can I help you?” one of the attendants said as I dashed up to the desk. The other giggled and batted her eyelashes, obviously recognizing me immediately.
“I need to reach someone who just got on this flight,” I said. “Is it possible for you to call her and get her
off the plane before it leaves?”
She tapped something on her keyboard. “Flight KL56 to Florida?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No. Flight AM17 to New York.”
The attendant frowned. “To New York? Oh, sorry, sir. That flight was changed to another boarding gate. You’ll need to go to Gate 26.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake…
I thanked the attendant and dashed across the airport to Gate 26. My heart sank as I looked up and saw the flight status announcement sign above my head. Nora’s flight was no longer in ‘boarding’ status. It said ‘departed’ in big red flashing letters.
Shit.
I swallowed a hard lump in my throat and tried to think of my next move. This was okay. It was just a minor setback. There would surely be some other flight leaving for New York within the next few hours. All I had to do was buy a ticket for that and then wait here for a while, and when I finally got to New York, I could track her down and tell her how I—
“Jacob?”
I whirled around at the familiar voice. Never before had something looked and sounded so sweet. It was Nora, standing behind me with two enormous suitcases and a puzzled expression on her pretty face.
“You’re here. You’re still here,” I said, unable to believe my own eyes.
She gave me a weak smile. “I couldn’t leave. I booked the ticket, but as soon as I arrived at the gate, I realized how hasty and stupid I was being.”
“You’re not stupid.”
She shook her head. “No, but I was being stupid. I was running away instead of facing things like I should have. Just like I did that time up in Santa Barbara when I found out those things about my parents. I couldn’t run away again. I knew I had to stay and confront things head-on like you told me to that night. So I never got on the flight.”
“You never got on the flight,” I repeated. “Shit, Nora, I thought you were gone. I thought.…” Emotion welled up in me as I stared at her, and I cleared my throat. “Let me explain what happened. I—”
She cut me off. “Ina and Angie both texted and called me to tell me what happened with Chris, and they told me what that text I saw really was. Now I feel even stupider,” she said, glumly staring at the carpeted floor. “I’m so sorry. I know you were just trying to sort the whole situation out and protect me.”
I pulled her into a tight hug and took a deep breath, taking in the sweet scent of her hair and perfume. “You’re not stupid. That text made me look dodgy as fuck,” I murmured. “And after the shitty experiences you’ve had with other men in the past, I’m not surprised you ran like hell.”
She pulled back, her eyes shining. “But you aren’t other men. You’re you. I should’ve trusted you. So I’m never running away again. Not from you. If you’ll still have me after this stunt I pulled,” she said, casting her gaze down.
I pretended to think about it for a second, scratching my chin. “Hmm….” I began, before breaking into a grin. “Of course I’ll still have you, you silly woman. I love you. It’s gonna take a lot more than you dashing off to an airport to get rid of me.”
She smiled. A tear slipped out of the corner of her right eye, which she quickly dabbed away. “Thank you. I’ve been so foolish. I promise I’ll never do something like this again.”
I grinned. “So are you just gonna leave me hanging again?”
She laughed. “I love you too!” she replied, throwing her arms around me.
Our lips pressed together, and her taste filled my mouth. I inhaled deeply as I drank in her sweet lips, and my hands gripped her waist, pulling her body against mine as we kissed deeply. The noise and bustle of the airport around us quickly faded away to nothing. It was only us here right now. Only us in our own little world.
Finally we pulled away from each other, electricity still sparking between us. I grinned down at her. “Come on,” I said, capturing one of her hands in mine. “Let’s go home.”
34
Jacob
Eight months later
“Are you awake yet?”
I prodded Nora gently on the side. She moaned and rolled over in our spacious bed. I grinned and let her sleep for a while longer. It was only five in the morning, after all. I’d just returned after a particularly lengthy filming session for the sixth and final season of Code Grey, and after the six cups of coffee I had earlier, I was wired.
And horny.
I settled in next to Nora while she snored gently next to me—yes, snored. She was wrong about me and Oscar being the snorers in our house. It was totally her.
As I lay there listening to her, I stared up at the ceiling, contemplating our life together. It was pretty fucking great, all in all.
Ina and I were officially divorced, and Nora had returned from New York two months ago. Her gig with Hartwell had proved to be a major coup for her career, and she no longer worked for Delos. After parting with the small consulting company on good terms upon her return, she’d started her own little consulting business. It was all brand new and up in the air at the moment, but she was working hard, and I knew she’d be successful when it was all set up.
Ina was offering her business savvy and advice to Nora whenever she had time, and Nora’s best friend Angie was also helping out when she could. She’d recently started seeing a talented software developer and web designer (a guy named Yuri) who was making the consulting website for Nora for a decent price. So it was all coming together quite well. We all liked to tease Angie about her taste for supposedly ‘boring’ men, but Yuri was a great guy, and at least he wasn’t a damn accountant. After all the crazy shit we’d gone through last year with James and Chris, we all thought it was best to steer clear of accountants as much as possible.
Speaking of Chris, he actually reached out to me a couple of months ago to apologize for everything he did. He said he was in therapy to deal with his obvious issues with women. I was glad he was getting help, and I told him as such, but I’d never be friends with him again. He’d caused far too many problems, and he’d hurt and frightened Nora. At least I knew she was safe now, though—no crazy stalkers out to get her anymore. But even if there was, I’d protect her till my dying breath. She was my whole world, and things wouldn’t be the same without her in my life.
She rolled over and muttered at me, still half asleep. “How was work?”
I stroked her hair. “Great. The season is almost done.”
“That’s good,” she said, stifling a yawn. “And you still have that meeting with Beaumont later today?”
I nodded. Nora wasn’t the only one doing well in her career. Things were booming in mine as well, and Beaumont was a studio that had asked me to come in and audition for an upcoming action thriller movie.
They weren’t the only studio that had asked me to audition for movies, either. Starring in Fourth Down had put the spotlight on me even more so than usual, so the offers were flowing in thick and fast despite the fact the movie hadn’t even been released yet. It had finished filming about three months ago, and it was now in the post-production phase, which took even longer than filming—editing, advertising, test audiences and so on. I couldn’t wait for it to premiere, though, because when it did, Nora was going to get a very special surprise.
And speaking of special surprises… Nora’s hand was reaching down my chest and abs, stroking in slow lines till it finally dipped below the waistband of my pants.
“I thought you were asleep,” I murmured before letting out a low groan as her small hand finally found my stiff cock.
“Hard to stay asleep with you around,” she replied, hazel eyes turning dark with desire as she stared at me. “Operative word being ‘hard’.”
I grinned, bent my head and slammed my mouth down on hers. Nora met the kiss with every pent-up need inside her, opening her mouth to take what I offered. She made a dark, hungry sound at the back of her throat as I slanted my lips across hers, the kiss raw and intense and hot as hell. Her hand kept stroking over my dick as we embraced, and heat rush
ed to my groin.
I slowed the ravenous pace of our kiss and licked at her lower lip instead, a seductive caress. Nora mewled in frustration, needing so much more from me. My hold on her tightened, and my left hand moved down and slipped beneath her silk nightie. My mouth absorbed her gasp as my fingers gently dipped within her, teasing her slowly, and then I pulled back from her lips as my other hand swept down her back to grip the curves of her ass before concentrating on removing her nightie altogether.
Inch by inch I eased the silky material upward, revealing more and more of her soft skin. I caught just a glimpse of the neatly trimmed triangle of hair between her thighs before I drew the slip over her abdomen and up her ribcage to her breasts. Fisting the wad of material against her sternum, I lifted my head to gaze at the pert flesh I’d revealed, topped with pale brown nipples. They were stiff and pebbled, a fine scattering of goosebumps covering her silken skin. Unable to stop myself, I slid the hand at her hip upward until it rested between her shoulder blades and dipped my head to taste her.
She gasped when my lips touched her nipples, her muscles tensing beneath me. I placed teasing, reverent kisses over the velvety curve of her breasts, then let my tongue play with the stiffened center, rubbed my bristly cheek against her tender skin. She hissed in a breath and grabbed the back of my head, holding me close. I didn’t need encouragement. I took her into my mouth and slowly sucked, rolling her nipple against the roof of my mouth. Nora moaned and squirmed in my arms, and I took turns pleasuring each breast, letting my hand slowly trail down the center of her body to the apex of her thighs. My fingertips brushed light patterns against her inner thighs, coaxing her to open for me. She did, slowly, and when I slid my fingers across the slick, swollen flesh between her legs, she whimpered.
The feel of her wetness made my cock throb and the heady scent of her arousal made my heart pound. I wanted to be inside her so bad I could barely see straight. Gliding my fingers through the wet folds, I stroked over the taut bud of her clit, drinking in her soft cry. I eased one finger into her, then a second, pumping gently before withdrawing to stroke her clit again. Within minutes she was trembling, her breaths coming in short, sharp gasps. Her fingernails dug deep into my shoulders, her eyes glazed as she stared into mine and moved her hips in time with my hand. She buried her face into my neck. “I need more… please, Jacob.”
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