Redeemed: Book Two of the Love Seekers Series

by Maria Vickers

  I scoffed. “Don’t bring my mama into this. You aren’t exactly a welcomed guest. What was that bullshit about setting me up?”

  He narrowed his eyes, leaned back on my white leather couch, and rested his arm along the back of it. He appeared at ease and comfortable. The bastard. “What if I told you there are people who want to see you fail, and others who want to see how you will react in certain situations?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I huffed and then flopped down into my high-backed arm chair situated on the side of the couch. I didn’t have much room in my living room, but this chair had been my grandmother’s—my dad’s mom—and I could remember climbing into her lap while she read me stories. When she passed away and I inherited it, I kept it regardless if the pink velour went with anything else in my house. I refused to recover it and never planned on getting rid of it.

  Chad sat there for a moment, not saying anything. I felt like I sat under a microscope, and had to remind myself not to trust anything he had to say. He wanted to set me up, only to see me fall. More silence passed and the butterflies in my stomach started to flutter. I suddenly felt hot and sweaty under his intense perusal of me. Unable to handle it any longer, I shouted, “Well?”

  He chuckled arrogantly, scratching at his day-old stubble. For some reason, I found myself imagining what his stubble would feel like between my legs. Stop! I couldn’t handle any more of those thoughts.

  He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together contemplatively. He looked serious and determined; the lump that had settled in my stomach between the butterflies told me whatever he had to say wouldn’t bode well. “Preston and Santo have been gaining popularity, but they lost their top designer to a bigger company in New York. Ergo, they’re struggling a bit to keep up with demand, especially since they’ve been after bigger clients with more cash flow. It’s no secret that they want to compete with New York. That said, they haven’t forgotten about their other clients. Don’t you think it’s weird that they would put you on the backburner when they had a contractual obligation?”

  “You’re the one who said they did that!” I screeched, at my wits end with him. If he didn’t give me a straight answer soon, his life would be in danger…at least then I wouldn’t have to deal with him.

  “I was, but didn’t you ever wonder why they would do that?”

  “You said it was because they couldn’t keep up and had no time for us.”

  “It’s true, but it’s bad business form to do that. Their reputation can either be made or destroyed by smaller businesses like yours. If they want to compete, they can’t ignore the little guy.”

  “Then I’m completely confused and don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. At this point, I think you might be making up shit to get under my skin, and if that’s the case, you can leave.”

  His eyes were a lighter blue almost the color of the sky, whereas mine were darker, the shade of sapphires. And his blue gaze became almost harsh as it locked with mine and would not let me turn away. “Someone in your office told them that the project you sent to them was put on the backburner and would not be needed for another year at least.”

  “But I never, and Justin—”

  “He wouldn’t either. I know.”

  “I don’t understand how he got word and I didn’t.”

  “He assumed you were the one that changed the parameters of the contract.”

  “I didn’t,” I stressed, suddenly feeling like I was under attack.

  He held up his hands in surrender before dropping them again. “I know you wouldn’t. I’ve heard you and Bryan brag about how much you love your job, so I know you wouldn’t risk losing it. Before one of our sessions at the gym, Justin ran into Karen Santo and she thanked him profusely for giving them extra time on the project. Naturally he was confused, and by the time she told him everything and left him standing in the lobby of the gym, he was turning purple. Before he could explode, I pulled him into my office and we talked about what happened. I offered my services since it seemed like something he wanted done sooner rather than later. You weren’t told because he wanted to test you and see how you reacted. On top of that, the changes had your signature.”

  “Everything is a fucking set up. One wants me fired and one wants to test me. Un-fucking-believable,” I mumbled,

  “Yes.”

  “I didn’t do it,” I repeated. I honestly didn’t know if I could believe him or not.

  “I know you didn’t.” His expression almost looked pained. But that couldn’t be. He was trying to set me up, playing with me to teach me a lesson. Telling me the truth now doesn’t make sense.

  “How do you know?” My chest felt tight and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears.

  “If you had done it, you wouldn’t be reacting this way and you wouldn’t have been so surprised when you saw me in Justin’s office.

  “And the new HR person? Is that your doing?”

  “New…oh. Justin did say he hired someone.”

  “You knew all of this? Why…?” I stopped, unsure of how to proceed.

  He glanced down briefly, and then met my gaze again. “Don’t you think there is something else you need to be focused on?”

  “Like what?” I felt confused and lost, while he looked decided more uncomfortable.

  “Someone at the office is setting you up. Who? Do you know anyone that has it out for you?”

  My mind searched for a name or face, but at the moment it was still swimming with all this new information. And then it stopped. “Regina.”

  “Who?”

  “Regina Ortiz. She hates me. She says Justin plays favorites with me and that she could do a better job than I can.”

  “Is she the only one?”

  I laughed bitterly, “No. She has about three others in her pocket.”

  “Is that all?”

  Narrowing my eyes at him, I sneered, “You may not believe me, but I’m actually well liked at the office.”

  “I’m just trying to help you.”

  “Why? Why are you trying to help? You don’t like me. You’re in love with Emma, whom you can’t have because the bitch married my brother. Admit it, you’d rather see me in hell than to succeed, so why are you helping me?” Tears flowed down my face as I yelled at him. “Just leave.” I pointed toward the door. “I want you gone.” I stalked down the hall to my bedroom and fell upon my bed. I heard my front door open and shut soon after.

  Tomorrow I was going to have to go into the office knowing what I now did. How was I supposed to act knowing people there were out to get me…that was, if I could believe Chad.

  I didn’t know if he could be trusted, but I also didn’t know who hated me enough to set me up. Not only were they putting my job at risk, they were also risking the company.

  I cried myself to sleep without any answers to my growing list of problems.

  Chapter 18

  Chad

  S eeing Rayne so upset soured my gut, but I got the reaction I hoped to get. She was going to go into work tomorrow, where she would see I spoke nothing except the truth, and she would then inch closer to that line I needed her to cross over. I wasn’t delusional enough to think this one thing would make her fall into my arms and profess her love for me. Eventually, but not yet. It would happen slowly. That was the plan anyway.

  But watching her cry as tears fell down her face made me feel like a total ass. I hated it when girls cried, and while I knew sometimes they did it on purpose, this wasn’t one of those times. The information I held onto for weeks hurt her. I should be rejoicing, but I couldn’t. Not even when the victim was Rayne.

  Something deep inside wouldn’t allow me to find pleasure in her pain.

  I shouldn’t feel pity, but happiness and victory were nowhere to be found. Instead, my gut twisted and my conscience told me I fucked up. I had done nothing wrong, therefore, I wouldn’t feel guilty for breaking the bad news to her.

  And then
she had to bring up Emma. There might’ve been one tiny point when I believed I loved Emma, but it wasn’t real. I liked that she saw me for me, that she looked past the façade and didn’t accept less than the real me. Emma was an angel on earth, while Rayne was the devil who hated her.

  Rayne tormented anyone she disliked. She was the woman who looked down her nose at my sister and Emma, at anyone who she thought less of. This was the woman who called Emma a liar and swore she was faking her disease, and said if she wasn’t faking, Emma needed to be put away so that society wouldn’t have to see her.

  That was the true Rayne. And if I needed a daily reminder to get through this, to make sure she learned that she was the one lower than the dirt beneath my feet, then I would give myself a pep talk every damn day.

  The news hurt her like I knew it would and I couldn’t allow her emotions or tears to hinder anything. I had to push forward.

  Even with the reminder, I still felt like an asshole. Girls’ tears had the power to turn the hardest of men to mush. They were just tears and could be used as a tool to manipulate others. Something else I should keep in mind.

  I left her crying in her own apartment, gently closing the door behind me. Slowly, I walked down the stairs, my mind replaying the sound of her crying on a loop. My chest ached and I thought about storming back into her apartment and holding her tightly. But I didn’t. I remained steadfast, my feet feeling heavier with each step I took away from her door. I only felt like that because of her tears. No other reason.

  Getting into my car, I glanced up to where I knew her apartment was located and sighed. I couldn’t abandon ship, and yet, I was starting to wonder if I could follow through with my plans if it meant hurting her even more.

  I pulled out of my parking space, drove to the exit, and took a sharp right, almost getting hit by a car as I crossed the busy street of traffic. Fuck them all. I needed a drink, and I knew exactly where to get it. My foot pressed the accelerator toward the floorboard, forcing my car to fishtail a little on the slightly wet road. It must’ve rained while I’d been inside Rayne’s and until now, I hadn’t noticed that my windshield was covered in drops.

  It only took me about fifteen minutes to get to the Recovery Room. A lot of my friends didn’t like it because it was a dive bar that locals tended to frequent more than anyone. It looked a little dated and rundown, but it suited me.

  Outside there were some weathered gray picnic tables for people to hang out, smoke, and to eat on if they really wanted to. Inside, it was dark, smoky, and the smell of sweat and alcohol lingered. Those smells had probably permeated the walls, floors, and furniture, and no matter how well anyone cleaned, it would always be the after note anyone smelled, much like some good wines left behind a hint of oak and floral long after swallowed. Would Rayne turn her nose up at this place like many had before her, or would she walk in as if she owned the place and make it hers? No, I couldn’t imagine her in this place, and besides, she was the last person I wanted to think about.

  The joint was only half full as I sidled up to the side of the bar and took a seat on one of the round bar seats. The vinyl was torn and patched with tape, but they were still comfortable…even if they had been there since I was legal to drink a decade before. Actually, I believed they had been torn and taped up back then as well.

  “What’ll it be?” a tall brunette asked from behind the bar as she threw a couple of empty bottles into the trash behind her.

  Leaning back, I peered around her to look for Buzz, the normal bartender and owner of this fine establishment. Whenever I came in, he was always behind the bar. I didn’t see him. I took stock of the person before me. She was only a couple inches shorter than I was and her tits overflowed her white tank top. My guess was, she cut the little v at the top to show a little more cleavage to earn a few more tips. I couldn’t see her bottom half, but her face was sprinkled with freckles and her eyes were a bland brown, as was her hair. Nothing special about her, which was weird because usually I could find something spectacular about almost any woman. “Where’s Buzz?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and smiled. “Long time no see, Chad.”

  I studied her intently, long enough for her to shift from side to side and huff as she threw her hands up in the air. It was that impatient reaction that finally jogged my memory. “Kit-Kat?”

  “No one’s called me that in years.” She winked.

  “Well, it’s been years since I’ve seen you.” My eyes traveled from the top of her head down to her hips, where the rest of her disappeared behind the bar. She had certainly filled out. I didn’t remember her having tits like that when I saw her the last time. My gaze trailed back up to her eyes, where she gave me a knowing look. Busted, but I didn’t care. “Buzz never mentioned you coming back to town.”

  I hadn’t seen her in over a decade, and she’d done a lot of growing up. She was almost unrecognizable from the kid she used to be with red hair and lack of curves. If I remembered correctly, her name was actually Catherine or something like that, however, she hated that name, and always said it belonged to an old person. I could never remember her real name and always called her Kit-Kat because everyone else called her Kat and she loved Kit-Kat bars. When we were teens and she got one, she inhaled it as if it would be the last thing she ate in her lifetime. For her twelfth birthday, I bought her a box and they were gone before the sun went down that same day.

  She barked with laughter. “Dad didn’t know. I kind of showed up on his doorstep a couple days ago.” Hearing her say that, reminded me that although Buzz looked like a grizzly old codger of a man, he was actually in his mid-50s and one of my dad’s best friends. Years of drinking and smoking had aged him, of course, his surly personality didn’t help. When my dad and Buzz got together, I was forced to come and hang out with Kit-Kat.

  “How long you in town for?”

  “Not sure. I might be here for a while…” she let her words taper off and gave me a come hither smile. I had taken this girl’s virginity when she was 17 and I was 18. A month later, I left for college and never looked back. I never wanted to. After we had sex that one time, she became clingy and started planning our wedding. I wanted as far away from that mess as possible. Thankfully, Buzz never found out or he’d have cut off my dick with a dull dirty butcher knife.

  “Sorry, but I can’t.”

  Lifting one of her eyebrows in question, Kit-Kat asked, “Can’t or won’t?”

  I chuckled. “It doesn’t really matter that much, but there is someone.” Thank God Rayne was good for something, even if it was a paltry excuse.

  This grabbed her attention. She leaned forward and crossed her arms on top of the bar. “And who’s the lucky girl?”

  “No one you would know.” Something about her expression made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, but other than that, I showed no reaction to her interrogation.

  “Is it serious?”

  “We’re feeling things out.”

  “If that’s all, then how about a night out with me?” Her attempt at a sultry voice made her sound like she was having an asthma attack. Instead of sexy, it made me want to gag. Had she turned into a smoker over the last several years?

  Other than that, Kit-Kat’s tits were amazing. Her body was killer. But I didn’t like her, and while I did sleep with some girls more than once, she would be toward the bottom of the list. I didn’t want any part of her or what she had in store for me. “Sorry, but I think she could be the one.”

  “The one?” Disbelief tainted her words, and I even had to admit that I was surprised I’d been able to get those words out with a straight face.

  “Yep. So uh…where’s Buzz?”

  “It’s Mom and Dad’s 33rd wedding anniversary, so I gave dad the night off and am running the bar for him.”

  “Tell them ‘happy anniversary’ for me.”

  “I will.”

  “Well, I guess I better be heading out then.”

  “Did you need to talk to d
ad or something?”

  “Uh…yeah, I did. Just tell him I’ll catch him the next time I come in. It wasn’t super important,” I lied. There was something about her I didn’t trust. I could be overreacting to our shared past, but I would not take the chance that I would find myself in a situation I didn’t want any part of.

  “Will do. You sure you don’t want to stay for a beer?” She smiled coyly.

  Shaking my head, I grinned and gave her a small wink. “Nah. Thanks anyway, Kit-Kat.” I shifted off the stool, gave her a small salute, and casually walked out of the bar as if I had all the time in the world. I needed to stay cool and aloof.

  I didn’t want any more problems, Rayne was enough of a handful.

  Chapter 19

  Rayne

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept as poorly as I had the night before. When I finally slept, it was fitful with my mind playing every possible scenario from beginning to end. Someone at work had it in for me, my boss hated me, I was about to lose my job, and at least a dozen more thoughts kept me awake throughout the night no matter how often I closed my eyes.

  Dragging myself into the office, I wondered for the thousandth time if calling in for the day and pretending to be sick wouldn’t be better for everyone concerned. With little sleep, I had a short fuse and anyone could be my next victim, like the cop from earlier this morning.

  I had pulled out of my apartment’s parking lot and turned right to begin my trek to work. Along the way, I decided I needed to stop for coffee, and a block down the road, I pulled into a Dunkin Donuts drive-thru. Coffee and breakfast in hand, I noticed there wasn’t any traffic thanks to the red light on the corner. Instead of stopping to look, I immediately pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street. Too bad for me, a cop had been waiting for someone to miss the stop sign there, and flipped his lights and siren on. Fuck my life.

  I tried to be polite, I really did, but he was an asshole.