by CJ Thomas
Dropping my head into my hand I pinched the bridge of my nose, thinking back to how I demanded she make herself come.
I feared she would lose control of her emotions afterward once the sweat dried and the labored breathing calmed. But she never did. Though choosing to remain quiet, she never curled back inside herself like the times before that kept me on edge, waiting to see another relapse. And that was something to smile about. Because if I was the cause of her trigger, I didn’t know how we could go on and make this thing we had work.
But it wasn’t me. It was something else.
Lifting my gaze back outside, I wondered how things were going. The searing kiss I left her with early this morning still tingled on the tip of my tongue and left my lips feeling numb. There wasn’t any way she was leaving without me first making sure she wouldn’t forget who cared about her most. I was carving my place in her life, and it was important she knew that I was serious about her.
But that didn’t come without first setting up a couple necessary precautions. That was why I had Maxwell be her driver, be the one to look after her. Kendra was my prized possession. And past all the filth of my job, I had only her to fall back on.
I let my desk phone ring twice before spinning around to pick it up. “Kelly Black.”
“Kelly, its Mike, from the gym.”
Mike Ricci was my personal trainer and the man I’d first called when arriving at the office early this morning. “Thanks for returning my call.”
“Of course. What’s up?”
“I have a friend who I’d like you to start working with.”
“Great. What can you tell me?”
“She’s a woman I just started dating—”
“You want me to tone her up? I can do that.” He laughed.
“Yes. But more importantly, she is dealing with lots of stress and I know you can put her through a program to help her relax a bit.”
“I know just the plan,” he confirmed without hesitation. “My schedule is flexible for you, Kelly. You know that. Just send her over or have her call me and I’ll get to work on her.”
“Thanks, Mike.”
“Anything for you.”
“She’s important to me so, please, treat her with care.”
“Goes without saying.”
Hanging up the phone my lips tugged at the corners, knowing the kind of magic Mike was sure to create. Between his workout regimen and me continuing to ease Kendra into a more submissive role, it was only a matter of time before she’d relax and realize that as long as she was with me there wasn’t anything to worry about.
Glancing at the clock I saw that it was almost eight. Giselle would be arriving any minute.
Maria Greer’s case file laid open and I started to think more about her; what she was like, how she’d spent her final days, and how Colin should be meeting with Mario now. But beyond Maria and Stone and all my other work, I had to be sure to get this right with Kendra. I couldn’t live through another ordeal like the one Kaycee and I just relived.
Reaching out to the far corner of my desk, I took the framed photo of Nora into my hand and brushed the tip of my finger over her happy face.
She had been gone five years and it never got easier. Time continued to pass, but the raw ache of her absence carried on. The memories Kaycee and I shared were there—reliving tales of how the three of us once lived a more carefree life before shit got real. I would never forget, even if somedays I wished I could. Her photo was a simple reminder to not take the good in my life for granted because, without warning, one day it might disappear.
Setting the image of Nora down on the desk in front of me, I wondered how Kendra knew I was with Kaycee. I could only assume that the Madam told her as a way to control our relationship from the sidelines.
I heard the front doors open, and soon after Giselle was dropping her things behind her desk. “Morning, Giselle,” I called.
She peeked her head into my office. “Hey, Kelly.”
“How are things at home?”
She cast her gaze to the floor and frowned. “Not good.”
The way her shoulders drooped reminded me of Kendra. “If there’s anything I can do to help you’d let me know, wouldn’t you?”
Her eyes flicked up to me as she nodded. “Yes.”
It seemed like we were both battling our own relationship troubles. Though neither of us would admit how much it truly bothered us—for fear of it interfering with our work—the fact remained. We both had an important decision to make and, with it, we were deciding between having a career or being with the one we loved.
“You miss her, don’t you?” Giselle’s eyes were locked on the photo of Nora.
“More than anything.” I stared at the image and swallowed down the stone that had formed. “Love isn’t easy,” I glanced up at Giselle, “nor is it easy to find.”
“No,” she folded her arms over her chest and leaned her shoulder against the doorframe, “it’s not.”
I kept my eyes on Nora when I shared a story from my past. “She didn’t like all the hours I put in, and, truth be told,” I lifted my gaze up to Giselle, “even after what she did to me, I deeply regret not stepping away while we still had a chance.”
Giselle’s eyes rounded and watered.
“Don’t lose John. If he’s worth fighting for, do whatever it takes to make him stay.”
She blinked and a tear fell from the corner of her eye when she nodded. “I love what I do, Kelly.”
“I know you do,” I said solemnly.
“You can’t do it alone. I won’t let you.” She laughed, wiping her cheek dry.
I chuckled, appreciating her loyalty to the practice, but her response made me question if she hadn’t already given up on him.
“I better get that,” she said when her desk phone started ringing.
I clasped my hands together and rested my elbows on my desk. Keeping one ear on her conversation, I thought about what she said and I wondered if we’d both die alone. This business was demanding, brutal, and unforgiving in its constant demands. It would put a strain on anybody’s personal life and had ruined many marriages along the way. I could only hope that Giselle wouldn’t follow in my own footsteps—having to live with regrets every day.
I angled my head when I heard the urgency grow in Giselle’s voice. Something had happened. “I’ll transfer you to, Kelly,” she said.
Giselle peeked her head in my office just as I was placing the receiver over my ear. “This is Kelly.”
“Kelly, it’s Colin. I’m afraid I have some bad news.”
I swallowed with pinched brows.
“Mario refused my counsel.”
My eyelids closed as I hung my head, wondering what we were going to do now.
“He wants to go this alone.”
28
Kendra
It was awkward sitting at the same table as him.
He kept one eye on me and I couldn’t look at him without wanting to duck my head.
I’d dragged me feet when coming here. Hundreds of possible excuses played out inside my head on my journey downtown. But like everything else, it wouldn’t go away without first confronting it.
“They’re supposed to have the best burgers in town.” My uncle’s voice was much softer than I remembered from my childhood.
I glared at him out of the corner of my eye before lifting my iced tea and curling my lips over the rim. The cool drink moved over my tongue but did nothing to settle my uncomfortably dry throat. Setting my glass down, I picked up the menu to decide what I wanted to eat. After a quick browse, nothing sounded good. “The Tower Tavern has the best burgers.” I folded the menu and set it off to the side. “Not this place.”
“Then I guess I should have done my homework.” He lifted his gaze up off the menu he was reading and snickered. But I didn’t find it amusing.
When I knew he wasn’t looking, I took a minute to study the clothes he was wearing. He was dressed in a maroon button-down w
ith an open collar. It wasn’t tucked into his blue jeans, and his leather shoes could use a quick polish. But other than those minor infractions, he presented himself better than I would have thought.
“Not funny?” His smiled touched the corners of his eyes.
Rolling my eyes, I refused to play into his hand.
My uncle was a large man and in his prime, had muscles to prove it. Though he wasn’t the same youthful man I remembered. His muscles that once stretched his shirts were now replaced by soft fat. He still had a shaved head, though I imagined that his jet-black hair—the same color as my own—would be salt and pepper now if he ever let it grow out.
“It’s in Beverly Hills. You probably didn’t even think to look past the city.” I rolled my eyes and turned my head away, annoyed by my having to be here. “Look,” I turned back to find his amber brown eyes waiting, “I know you’ve been in town for a while.”
Setting down his own menu, he lowered his gaze and nodded.
This time it was my turn to stare into his face without the fear of him looking back. His facial features reminded me of my grandfather, his lips and ears the same as his sister—my mother. “If you knew I lived here, why didn’t you come to me sooner?”
Glancing up at me from under his brow, I knew he was taking his time, choosing his words slowly. Resting one hand on top of the other, he sighed. “It’s been so long. I just wanted to make sure that the woman I was seeing,” he turned his head away, breaking eye contact, “was actually you.”
I leaned back into my booth, casting my gaze down at my fumbling fingers. “And now that you found me?”
He grinned hard enough to deepen his dimples. “It’s you.”
“No shit,” I mumbled under my breath.
The waitress came to take our orders. My uncle insisted that I order first. Not sure I was even hungry anymore, I ordered a regular cheeseburger with a side of fries. And as my uncle ordered his bacon cheeseburger, I felt sick to my stomach as I watched him be so kind to the woman—like he was free from the guilt I knew he should be feeling.
As soon as it was just us, he turned his attention back to me. “Your mom has been asking about you.”
Scratching my forearm with my nails, I let my gaze travel from table to table, looking for my way out. “Is that your reason for being here?” I turned to meet his wide gaze.
“They miss you, Kendra.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “You have no idea the kind of anguish you have put them through.”
My eyelids hooded as I fought back the urge to scream in his face. It was difficult for me to believe the bullshit he was feeding me. If my parents really missed me they would have come themselves. “Did they send you to come find me?”
His forehead twisted as his eyes pleaded with me to calm down. My blood boiled and my heart pumped the anger I was feeling through my entire body, spreading the fire threatening to explode on him. After what my parents did to me, they were the last people I wanted to see.
He turned his eyes to the same tables I was just looking at. Then he rolled his neck back to me and said, “I live here now.”
My eyes widened as I openly stared at him. He was serious. He lived here. In LA. The city I called home. How long? And why was I was just learning this? So many questions raced through my brain, it only scrambled the confusion I was already experiencing. This couldn’t be; was he serious?
He nodded as if seeing my own disbelief spread over my face.
My chin tucked back into my neck and I shook my head, feeling my last breath of air catch in my throat. Recoiling back inside myself, my brows pinched and my heart beat erratically as I thought that not only did he know where I lived but, now we both lived in the same city. LA wasn’t big enough for the two of us—let alone just me.
“Kendra.” He reached out and went for my hand, balled on top of the table in a tight fist.
Pulling it back before he could touch me, I held both my hands against my pounding heart. The diamond ring Kelly gave me caught the light and sent rainbow prisms scattering across the nearest wall. It was strangely beautiful despite the betrayal I was feeling inside.
I watched my uncle stare at the kaleidoscope of colors dancing over the wall before turning back to settle his eyes on the ring. “Someone special give that to you?”
I dropped my hands, hiding them beneath the table. I didn’t want to discuss Kelly, or anything about my personal life for that matter. He didn’t deserve to know—at least not until I understood what it was he was truly after.
Then his gaze moved to my neck.
This time it was the black diamond white gold necklace his eyes were after.
Feeling exposed, I lifted my hand to touch the necklace. But it was a mistake. I failed to remember that I was also wearing a family heirloom bracelet on that wrist. One given to me by my grandmother—his mother—and something I knew he would most certainly recognize.
“Well, regardless of who gave that to you,” he leaned back but kept his forearms on top of the table, “it looks like you’re doing well.”
Glancing down my front, I regretted not dressing more conservatively. Though I was wearing clothes that I would have worn any day of the week, my open shoulder collared shirt wasn’t enough to keep him from making me feel uncomfortable.
“What do you do for work?” His eyes were warmer now that they had traveled over every inch of my body.
Looking around, I knew that I was safe. We were in public and there were too many other people around for him to do anything. Yet I still closed the top button of my shirt, wondering if he even knew I’d gone to law school. “If it’s money you’re after you can go look somewhere else.”
His lips were wrapped around his straw when I said it, but as soon as he swallowed down his drink he began laughing. “That’s not why I’m here.” He wagged his finger at me. “Though, with our family history, I could see why you would think that.”
My body tensed as my mouth curled with distaste.
He continued to laugh, each one getting louder than the last.
Pulling my cell phone free from my clutch, I checked the time and said, “You know what, I’m busy, and can’t stop my life when you just show up out of the blue like this.”
He leaned back with a rosy face and wide grin.
Gathering my things, I scooted out from behind the table and said, “Don’t worry about lunch. I’ll pay for it on my way out.”
His cold hand clamped around my elbow, catching me before I got too far way.
The room spun as I stared into his beady eyes.
A glass fell from a table behind me and shattered when it hit the floor.
My feet jumped off the floor as my heart lurched up my throat.
Time all but stopped.
My heart pounded.
I tried to jerk my arm free but his grip only tightened. “Let me go,” I said through a clenched jaw. Black spots began filling my eyes. I felt claustrophobic, like I couldn’t breathe. Panic started to settle in and just as I was about to scream for help, he let go of my arm.
“It’s your parents,” he said sharply. “That’s the reason why I’m here. Kendra,” his brow wrinkled, “they’re in trouble.”
29
Kelly
“Fuck!” I tossed the stack of papers I was reading on Stone against the far wall.
Giselle came hurrying inside. We both shared a look of concern.
“I’m all right.” I held up a hand. “I can’t think straight.”
Giselle followed my gaze to the papers scattered over the floor. “Let me help, Kelly.”
Rubbing the back of my neck, I was left with scrambling to find a solution. Mario’s decision to refuse Colin’s counsel threw me for a loop. I hadn’t seen that one coming. I needed to get Mario to listen, to recognize that Colin was the lawyer who would get him off.
Giselle knelt on the floor and picked up a paper on Stone, beginning to read it.
“I have the rough draft already written.”
Giselle gathered the rest of the papers and stacked them into a neat pile before standing. She didn’t look at me, only stepped to my desk, setting the stack she had gathered on the corner. “Let me handle this,” she said, plucking my request to represent Stone off the top.
“I can’t represent them both.” I blew out a heavy breath of frustration. “This was our plan, the plan we all needed,” I murmured.
Giselle finished reading what I had written and when she looked up, she fixed her eyes on me. “We’ll work through this.”
I held her gaze. “What is Mario thinking?”
Her eyes widened as she sucked in a deep breath. “He’s confused. Probably feels betrayed by us.” The power in her voice lost steam. “What we did,” she flicked her gaze back to mine, “walking out on him after earning his trust, it wasn’t cool, Kelly.”
I wished it hadn’t happened like that either. “Did I make a mistake?”
She shook her head. “There is only one way to go, and that’s forward.”
I inched my way to the edge of my desk and plopped enough of my bottom down to sit comfortably on its edge. “It was the only way if we’re going to represent Stone.”
“I know,” she said solemnly, just as my desk phone started ringing. “I’ll finish writing this up,” she held up my request to represent Stone, “and after reading it, Stone will be begging for you to represent him.” She winked.
I mouthed a quick thank you and answered my phone. “This is Kelly Black.”
“Today was the day your friend was meeting with Mario, wasn’t it?” Wes asked.
“It was.” I closed my eyes, not looking forward to explaining this one to Wes.
“Have you heard anything?”
Convinced I could fix this, I said, “Still waiting to hear.”
I knew Wes was afraid Colin wasn’t the right person to handle the job. I couldn’t tell him what I knew without talking to Mario first.
“Hit me on my cell,” Wes said without any kind of emotion attached to his words. “I’ll be waiting to receive a confirmation.”