I didn’t bother to look up at the intrusion because I knew who it was. No one else had the balls to interrupt me while I was working.
His heavy footfalls shook the table by the door of my office, and the strong scent of his pungent aftershave reached my nose as I sucked in a breath in aggravation. He didn’t say a word as he approached my desk, but his bulky form blocked the light from the paper I was in the process of trying to read.
“What do you have for me today, Mac?” I asked without looking up.
A thick pile of envelopes landed on top of my desk with a smack. I flipped through them quickly with my thumb.
“The usual … bills, trash, and hate mail.”
I nodded, expecting him to leave quickly the way he usually did, but he didn’t move. Instead, the room around us went quiet and the only thing I could hear was his heavy breathing above me. I gritted my teeth together as I set my pen down and looked up at the giant who engulfed the room around us.
“Is that all? Rosslyn mentioned you stop by earlier looking a little frazzled.”
Macintosh Bentley was my head of security. I’d found him through a friend of a friend, and after a thorough background check and much research on my part, I’d hired him. He was damn good at his job, guarding the doors of Clive’s as if the red-draped walls of my establishment held his life force.
He was everywhere I needed him to be, sometimes taking charge of security detail before I even had to ask, and he did everything I needed him to do and more. Mac went above and beyond for his paycheck, and he’d been doing so for the last year that he’d been working for me.
He was nothing like Vick had been—more friend than employee. I only knew the things I needed to know about Mac. I knew about his two years in Fredrick for almost beating a man to death. I knew about his short stint in county when he was eighteen for drug possession. I knew the important stuff. I didn’t want to know the personal shit, and I think he liked it that way, as well.
Getting emotionally involved with my employees or their lives was strictly forbidden. It was a new rule of mine; one that I’d set firmly into place the second Vick took her last breath. She was like a sister to me—trustworthy, dependable—yet she’d put my life and the life of the woman I loved in danger.
Never again.
Criminal history aside, I trusted Mac to get the job done. Hell, if anything, I trusted him more because of his dark background. Having a black past didn’t mean you couldn’t be trusted. My past was as black as night, and I was an honest man … most days.
He didn’t answer me.
Instead, his shoulders stiffened and his black eyes moved cautiously over my face.
“What’s wrong, Mac?”
“You got another one.”
Confused, I frowned as I tried to figure out what he was talking about. “Another what?”
And then I saw it.
A crisp envelope was pinched between his thick fingers. The white of the starchy paper stood out against his dark, calloused skin.
My shoulders stiffened, more out of annoyance than anything else.
“Are you sure it’s like the others?”
He nodded. “Same handwriting … same everything.”
“Let me see it.”
The letter was addressed to me. Two words stood out in thick, black ink.
Sebastian Black.
There was no return address—not even the address of the club was written on it—just my name—dark and daunting—taunting me from the seemingly innocent, white paper. No addresses could only mean one thing. This letter hadn’t been delivered by any postman.
No.
Whoever was writing these letters was ballsy enough to personally drop them off in my territory.
That thought wasn’t enough to make me overreact irrationally, but it was enough to make me worry more than I wanted. Whoever was responsible for the now four envelopes mysteriously dropped off at the door of my booming establishment was possibly lurking around my club—around my home.
I hated to think that this person was also drinking my liquor or chatting it up with the waitresses just down the stairs from where I slept at night—where the woman I loved slept. Still, I had more important things to think about. At this point, it was nothing more than glorified hate mail, not a death threat. I wasn’t about to lose my shit over something that was probably a stupid prank.
Ripping open the envelope, I pulled out the single piece of paper. It was wrinkled and dirty, so I smoothed it out before reading the short sentence in the familiar jagged handwriting.
I chuckled to myself before folding the paper and shoving it back in its envelope.
Too late.
“Put it with the others.” I tossed the letter onto my desk and went back to work.
He hesitated only a second until he took the envelope from my desktop. My nonchalant nature worried Mac. I could sense that in the tightness of his bulky shoulders and popping muscles in his jawline, but I wasn’t about to let a few fucked-up letters turn me into a paranoid asshole.
I was a rich and powerful businessman, and I didn’t become that by being afraid of words written on paper. I butted heads with the most dangerous men in New York City. I broke bread with mob members and did business with some of the richest men in the country. Fear wasn’t something I understood.
Getting mail of all sorts came with the life I led. I was a man with deep pockets, and everyone knew it. I’d heard it all; from long-lost siblings to women claiming that I’d fathered their children. My favorite, though, had to be the couple who claimed they were my long-lost parents.
It was all bullshit.
On top of those trying to get rich quick with their lies and deception, I got my fair share of hate mail, but no one as persistent as the new guy. Still, I wasn’t concerned. He’d lose interest at some point, and I was a very patient man. Not to mention, I didn’t pay Mac the big bucks for nothing. With him watching our backs, I knew I had nothing to worry about.
No one was bound to push Mac’s buttons anytime soon. He was a beast who stood, at least, six-foot-five and weighed close to three hundred pounds of muscle. He had the steely glare of a man who dared you to give him a reason to crush something. His bald head gleamed under the overhead lighting and the sprawling tattoo that climbed up the side of his thick neck was a direct contrast to the starched black suit he wore while in my employ.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to follow up on this, Black?”
I didn’t answer.
Instead, I asked a more important question. “Is everything set up for tonight?”
My pen slid across the final page of the contracts, my name jagged and broken across the signature line. Setting my pen down, I leaned back in my chair and cracked my neck to relieve the pressure.
“Just the way you asked. Do you want me to make the call?”
I shook my head. “No. I’ll do that. Just make sure Martin’s ready to pick her up at six.”
“He’ll be there. Anything else?”
“Yeah. Come find me if I’m not downstairs by four.”
He nodded then turned to leave my office. The door opened, letting in the sounds of the workers downstairs who were prepping for the night ahead. Instead of leaving, Mac stood in the doorway, his thick fingers wrapped around the doorknob.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to look into it? I got a real bad feeling, Black.”
“The envelopes? No.”
“But Black-”
“They’ll get bored, Mac. I don’t need you sitting around worrying over these letters. I need you on security detail. I need you watching over Rosslyn.”
“And if they don’t get bored?”
I looked up at him, his steely glare cutting me from across the room. He was worried when I knew there was no reason to worry. “They will. Drop it.”
He didn’t say anything else as he turned and left the room. Mac understood my word was law. I’d said my piece on the subject of the letters, and I wasn’t going
to sit around dwelling on nothing. If someone wanted to threaten me, then he or she could grow a pair and approach me in person.
Until then, I had more important things to think about. Things like haunting green eyes and pouty lips. Things like juicy thighs and long, shapely legs. Rosslyn Harris—my Jessica Rabbit and soon-to-be wife—was the only thing I could ever seem to think about.
I LISTENED TO THE PHONE ring as I waited for her to pick up the line. I was anxious to hear her voice. It’d been a week since I’d officially proposed to Rosslyn. For the first year of our relationship, I had bounced the idea around. I knew I wanted her. She was mine, and I wanted to make it official, but every time I reached into my pocket to pull out the ring, I choked.
Commitment didn’t come easily for me. My past made sure of that, but after two years, I reached into my pocket sure of what I wanted, pulled out the ring, and dropped to my knee for her.
Only her.
She was the only woman in the world who could make me feel anything. The only woman who could see me—the real me and not just the wealthy carefree business owner or the playboy who couldn’t feel—Rosslyn saw me, and better than that, she loved whatever it was she saw. I could be myself; she would look at me with a love-struck look in her eyes, and she’d smile and melt away any bad I ever knew.
I was never letting that go. Nothing in the universe could make me leave her side.
Nothing.
However, over the last few months, things had slowed. Between the club and opening a new business, I was away often. Rosslyn stayed busy with her classes, and when she wasn’t enlightening her mind, she was giving my money away to every cause she could think of.
She used the things she learned in her classes interning at the local social service agency to make a difference. She was making sure that children without a family never had to go through the things she or I went through growing up.
I loved her for it. Her heart knew no bounds, but the truth was I missed her. I was starting to feel as though something inside me was missing. She held me together—made me feel whole—and I was slowly losing that sensation the longer we went without spending actual time together.
Sure, I enjoyed her body during many nights, as well as mornings when I could taste her, but no matter how long I spent inside her body, I wanted entrance into her mind. I needed her mentally, and I felt her absence with her new busy schedule.
It felt as though we never talked anymore. By the time I climbed the stairs to our condo, she was usually in bed. And in the morning, when she was up and leaving for the day, I was still in bed sleeping off the night before.
Running a nightclub meant late nights. It was an adjustment for both of us, but we’d always made it work. But slowly, I was adding things to my plate and she was doing the same, and as I sat there waiting to hear her sweet voice, I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t handling the changes in our life very well.
She had changed me for the better, and I wanted her by my side as much as possible. So far, that wasn’t happening.
“Hello?” she answered, her voice breathless.
She sounded different.
“Rosslyn?”
It was embarrassing, but I wasn’t sure if I’d dialed the wrong number.
“Yes, Mr. Black?” she teased.
My body responded to her teasing, tightening in all the right places and begging for her.
“I’m so hard for you, baby.”
I hadn’t meant to say that. I’d wanted the call to be sweet, to flirt playfully with my wife-to-be, but the things she did to me, even over the phone, meant I couldn’t seem to control myself.
She chuckled softly, her breathing still hard and rushed. “Did you call just to talk dirty to me?”
“No, but now that you mention it … what are you wearing?”
She laughed, the sound lightening my heart and taking away the stress of all the work and papers I’d been dealing with. “Nothing you’d find sexy. Trust me.”
“Impossible. I find everything about you sexy.” A peculiar noise sounded in the background, and her breathing accelerated. “Where are you?”
“The gym,” she huffed.
“The gym?” A deep frown tugged at my smiling lips. “We seldom spend more than twenty minutes together, yet you’re finding time to spend at the gym?”
The night before and our morning together had been a rare treat.
“Sebastian,” she moaned. “If I plan to fit into a wedding dress in six months, I need to go to the gym. With all my finals, graduation, and everything else, I’ve been stress eating like nobody’s business. My ass is huge.”
“How dare you speak that way about one of my favorite parts of your body? I love your ass.”
She giggled. “I love that you love my ass, but I need to work out.”
“Well, we’re at an impasse because I need to see more of you, Rosslyn.” I didn’t necessarily like the man I was being, but if it got me more time with her, I’d do whatever it took.
“I know. Believe me, I feel the same way. But in six months, I’ll be all yours. We’ll be married, and then you’ll be begging for time without me.”
“Don’t count on it,” I promised. “Also, you’re already mine. Remember?”
She laughed. “I remember. And you’re mine.”
“Always.”
I said that single word with so much meaning it made my chest ache. More words came to mind, but they lodged in my throat. Somehow, though, she always knew what I wanted to say without me having to say it.
“I love you, too, Sebastian.”
Her words soothed the ache in my chest, and I was able to swallow my unspoken words.
“I hope you don’t have any plans for tonight.”
“Of course, I do. I’m spending the night with the sexiest man alive. ”
I smiled so hard my cheeks ached.
“Good because I have a surprise for you. Can you be ready by six? I’ll have Martin pick you up from the condo.”
“A surprise?” The excitement in her voice made my smile grow even wider. “I can’t wait.”
“Me either. I’ll see you tonight, beautiful.”
“I’m looking forward to it, Mr. Black.”
AFTER MY CONVERSATION WITH ROSSLYN, the rest of the day seemed to move in slow motion. I had a million things to do, but all I could think about was seeing her beautiful, smiling face and wondering what her reaction would be to my surprise.
I was out of my office and done with my rounds for the club prep in record time. I made it upstairs to our condo an hour earlier than usual, leaving my employees to run the place for a few hours. It didn’t take me long to shower, get dressed, and get out the door to set up for the night.
After I had arrived at my destination, Mac called to see if I needed him to do anything. He was hovering since I’d gotten another letter. As long as he didn’t overstep his boundaries, I couldn’t be angry that he was looking out for me, even though I was positive there was nothing to worry about.
It took me less than an hour to set up my surprise for Rosslyn, and when all was finished, I stood in the large room feeling a sense of pride. I couldn’t wait for her to see the new place. It was a big deal to be opening another business. It reminded me of how far I’d come in the world. From a poor boy on the streets—a thief who had to fight to survive—to the successful businessman I’d become. If only the parents who threw me away like trash could see me now.
Once again, I was on the verge of growing yet another successful place of business. It wasn’t much now—just a rundown building in the nice part of the city, but soon, it would be the hottest new restaurant in New York. I could hardly wait to build the culinary empire I envisioned it to be, and I’d be doing that with Rosslyn by my side.
It was going to be ours.
No.
When I was done, it would be hers.
I bought it for her.
I listened when Rosslyn talked.
I knew her desires.
>
Her dreams.
Her wants.
Her needs.
And it was my job to make sure she never wanted for anything. It was my job to make sure she was fulfilled in every aspect of her life.
Memories of our nights talking in bed moved over me. The nights I’d held her while she spoke of her mother and her love of cooking. Spending time with her mother in the kitchen were some of her favorite memories. I could almost see the little girl she used to be—sticky from sugar dusted on her cheeks—and the radiant smile she kept as she grew.
I’d somehow made her memories my own. Using her parents and her love for them as a replacement for my own absent family. I never knew that kind of love and I always longed for it.
Rosslyn secretly wanted to open a restaurant in her mother’s honor, and since I was the reason she needed to be remembered in the first place, I was going to make that happen. I wanted to make all of Rosslyn’s dreams come true.
And so, I’d turn this new venture into something amazing for her, as well. It was a bigger commitment than marriage in my eyes. It was my way of showing her how committed I was to our future together. I wanted her confident enough to let go with me completely.
Without doubt.
Without worry.
I needed her to know that I’d always catch her—always hold her in the safety of my embrace—whether it was emotionally, physically, or financially.
Looking around the empty room, I had placed a few candles to provide a romantic glow in the sparse space. I sat with the delicious smell of our dinner taunting me, as I waited for my fiancée to show up.
The word fiancée was foreign to me. Still, a week later, the word felt strange on my tongue. But no matter how many times the old Sebastian tried to scare me off my path of happiness, I knew I was making the right decision.
Our car pulled up at twenty after six. I saw her climb out of the backseat from the floor-to-ceiling windows at the front of the building. She had paused on the sidewalk outside, taking in the splendor of the brick exterior, before she moved toward the entrance. The large industrial door groaned when she opened it and the sounds of the cars on the street just outside filled the room before the door slammed heavily into place.
Little Black Box Set Page 23