by C. D. Gill
For the first time in a long time, the repressive weight against his chest didn’t overwhelm him as he opened his email. Being a business owner had taken its toll over the past few months. The constant pushing and hustling, moving money around, watching the books, making decisions, trying to figure out the best way to move forward exhausted him in a way that doing all of the same things as a soccer coach hadn’t.
Three new orders had come into his inbox. He packaged up the items that had sold and sent them off. Reggie’s work seemed to attract more buyers than anyone else’s. He made a note to get permission to feature Reggie on his website as a builder. People loved supporting talented kids.
He sat down amongst his materials and tools and put together four new items to sell, complete with Reggie-style finishes that made them look unique. Sure, plain stuff sold, but that eye for detail seemed to go so much further.
Avri stopped by the office an hour before Xander needed to leave for the stadium. She carried in a medium-sized bag with her.
“What is all of that?” he asked as she set the bag on the floor gingerly.
Her giant grin set him on edge immediately. “Well, as you know, I have done the photographer assistant thing before. You have to look the part.” With an unnerving amount of glee, she pulled out a Nuggets t-shirt with a player’s name on the back.
No idea who that was.
Next came a Nuggets baseball cap. Then her black padded camera case went onto the table. And finally from her Mary Poppins bag, she pulled a pair of glasses.
She straightened with triumph. “You don’t want to be recognized so you need to keep your disguise as legal yet effective as possible.”
He wanted to protest the shirt and cap since they’d likely be used this one time only, then stuffed in his closet. But she had a point. With how vocal he’d been about refusing basketball game offers, Lucy wouldn’t expect him to be there and dressed out to support the team. It was the perfect disguise. “Not sure I need the glasses, Av. My face will probably be hidden behind the camera most of the time.”
“Glasses are for when you’re not behind the camera. Like if you have to walk past them to go to the bathroom or get a drink. Or you see them in line for food.”
He rubbed his fingers over his forehead. When had his little sister gotten so smart?
That was exactly what he looked like as he took his stadium seat an hour and a half later. Tucker and Lucy had seats on the short side of the court and his seat was diagonal in the section over on the long side of the court. With his disguise, there wouldn’t be a good chance that Lucy could recognize him.
As they walked in, he snapped a few photos of them carrying their drinks and food to their seats. He could easily take close-up photos with Avri’s camera. He sipped his drink and keeping an eye on Tucker who hadn’t stopped smiling yet. Lucy, however, he caught in a variety of poses.
On his mobile phone, he took a selfie with the court and sent it to Gia who had sent a host of heart and laughing emojis at the fact that Tucker had persuaded him to go to a basketball game by himself for an engagement of all things. It wasn’t so bad. His neighbors didn’t attempt small talk while he had the camera to his eye, so he kept it there especially during breaks.
Finally, two-thirds of the way through the game the overhead screen flashed with a “big announcement” while the in-house cameras landed on Lucy and Tucker. He took a series of shots as Tucker got down on one knee and the whole stadium erupted in a deafening roar. Lucy’s face was a mixture of embarrassment and shock.
Tucker finished his speech and looked up at Lucy with a hopeful expression. Lucy didn’t say anything right away. He snapped away in an attempt to catch her response. But when she started talking, she said…no?
Chapter 17
“I’m sorry. I should have told you earlier. This coaching job isn’t a sure thing. I might not get the offer at all, but I should have told you that I was invited to interview and accepted.” Xander’s expression was remorseful. His handsome face looked tired and pained.
His words were a punch to her middle, taking her breath away. Gia rubbed her chest where the ache grew but still ended up grinding her teeth while thoughts and emotions competed in her head. Oh, she had some words for him. “We’re in a serious relationship, Xander. You’re supposed to be able to trust me with whatever is going on in. Taking an interview is a huge deal. One that we should have discussed together.”
What would she have said? Don’t take the interview? Wait for something in New Orleans? They weren’t engaged or married. She didn’t really have that right to dictate that part of his life, did she? Telling her she couldn’t take a job she wanted was something Bronc would have done while they dated. Once again, Bronc’s past abuse proved that he’d ruined her ability to know what a good relationship looked like.
“To be fair, your life hasn’t exactly needed any more stress than what you are already going through. I was hoping that we could decide what to do together if I got the offer and after you finished the preliminary prints.”
A little bit of her steam disappeared. He’d done everything he could to make this work. Her anger wasn’t solely directed at him. This stalker had everything tied in knots. Her family was hurting in so many ways that she felt like she couldn’t fix. And long distance? She was over it.
“I am almost done with this project. And I want to see you as soon as I’m done and the stalker finds something better to do. Let’s revisit this conversation then. I will think about it some more. If you think we have a future together, Xander, then I have to be a part of the next steps you take.”
“I promise you will be. I’m not sure I can handle us being apart for much longer. It’s making me crazy. Giving me doubts about us that I never would have had in person.” He sighed.
Her lips quirked in a humorless smile. “Yeah, me too.”
“My lawyer hasn’t heard about when the next date will be for our settlement case. He’s getting nervous about the delay when the mediator very clearly wanted to wrap this up quickly.”
Another delay in their plans to reunite. She was ready to hit something.
They finished up their conversation as Gia pulled her car into the parking garage at Joey’s office again. Andy said he was already waiting for her near her usual parking spot. The dead animals had been cleared and the offices cleaned since they had to bail last week.
Gia had a few final touches to put on the prints before she sent the final preliminary rounds. The double monitor and open drafting table offered her an easier time than her home office. Today was going to be the day she cleared this off her plate.
She swung her car into the spot next to where Andy stood against the trunk of his car on the phone. A warmth spread through her chest. In the desert of long distance, it felt good to have a kind, fearless guy paying attention to her, even if it was his job. She shoved those thoughts down deep.
He offered her a small wave as he followed her to the stairs and up into the building. Not until she swiped her key card and opened the offices’ back door did he move the phone from his ear. As was custom, he entered the room first to clear it of any surprises.
But this time he didn’t move. He stood in the doorway immobile and muttered a curse. Her heart lurched. She bent her knees to look past his side.
“Oh my gosh.” Her breath caught in her chest. The office had been ransacked. Cubicle walls lay on their sides. Papers littered the floors next to open file cabinets. Someone destroyed the place.
Andy brought his phone back to his ear. “Amos, the office has been torn apart.” He listened. “Yes. No. Yes.” He glanced back at Gia. “We’re going to grab a thing or two and head back to the house. Okay. See you there.” He took a few photos of the disaster and stuffed his phone into his pocket. He pulled the gun from his ankle holster and stuffed it in his waistband. “We came for a second monitor. Let’s see if we can grab one and head back.”
Wading through this mess seemed like asking for more trouble. G
ia balked at the door. “I can connect my computer to one of the television screens at home. They won’t be side by side but it’ll work okay.”
He tilted his head to the side. “Aren’t you curious about what Joey’s personal office looks like?”
She closed her lips and nodded. He chose his steps with painstaking care, choosing only to walk on hard surfaces not covered in papers. She placed her feet where he did. “Amos is sending over the detective team to investigate before the police get here. He’ll contact the office manager to have her run point on this.”
“What a nightmare,” she mumbled as they passed where Andy had been sitting each day in front of her and Joey’s office door. Joey would lose his mind if he knew this was going on in his absence. How serious did it need to get before they tracked him down to ask him to come home?
Knowing her parents, the business would have to be on the verge of folding and they’d never let that happen under their watch for any of their family.
Andy snapped a picture from the doorway of Joey’s office and stood back. A tornado had blown through. Shreds of paper and ripped up books topped everything. There on the floor under shattered glass lay the picture of Joey’s family on the beach in Rio. She bent to pick it up.
“Don’t touch anything.” Andy touched her arm. “We might get some evidence from this room if we’re lucky.”
“The one thing that isn’t a mess is his extra secure file cabinet with all the past plans of every project he and his dad had worked on since beginning the firm.” Sure, there were dents in it and probably a load of scratch marks where someone wanted to get it open, but it was still intact. It had done its job.
She made a mental note to buy herself one of those for her firm. Uncle Angelo bragged on it back when he’d upgraded to it years ago. Fire proof. Water proof. Virtually impenetrable. It had seemed excessive at the time, but now the wisdom in his security had paid off in dividends.
“We’ll have the team bring the cabinet to the house while this mess gets cleaned up.”
A loud bang echoed through the room, interrupting their conversation. Andy whipped his gun into place, his body shielding Gia in the doorway. Nothing but silence greeted them.
“This must have been recent. Let’s get out of here,” Andy said, motioning to the back door. Gia led the way with Andy at her back, his weapon still drawn. When they reached the back door, he typed out a quick message on his phone, and then exited the office first. “Our guys are already at the front door of the office. I just told them we are cleared. Someone will come this way to make sure if anyone is in there they don’t get away now.”
Chills prickled her neck. Someone could have been in there watching, listening, the whole time. She glanced above them in the stairwell. Nothing was up there. The building had another five floors above them which hadn’t vacated.
Oddly, none of this felt quite as personal as the chaos Bronc had created in her life in Colorado. Perhaps she would be free from personal security after the prints were sent over. But how would the stalker know when she’d sent them?
None of that was announced publicly or within the firm until the end of the quarter when Joey sent out an update on the projects that were live and those they’d finished and how they affected quarterly bonuses.
The end of the quarter was in seven days, but Joey wouldn’t likely be sending that email out. Like Uncle Angelo, he took that part of the job on for himself as a way of keeping his finger on the pulse of the firm.
In the parking garage, Gia walked next to Andy with her head up, scanning the cars. “Do you think if we somehow spread the word that the design is finished and out to the engineers that these attacks will stop?”
“You think whoever is doing this is just trying to slow or halt the design progress and not trying to shut the firm down completely as retribution for the design?” Andy asked.
She shrugged. When he put it like that, she felt she wasn’t seeing the bigger picture that he was looking at. “Would it be worth a try? Or would that aggravate the situation?”
Andy raised his hands. “I’ll bring it up to Amos as a possibility. Everything is getting run through him as well as the Venha public relations team.”
Once again, Gia closed herself into her car with her head reeling. If it were her offices, she’d be in there cleaning every inch of that office by hand, finding the correct folders for each paper and receipt.
Two days before Christmas.
Grabbing her phone, she dialed up Lucy. The morning rush would be over by now. The ringing was replaced by a high-pitched squeal. Laughing, Gia scrambled to turn down the Bluetooth volume.
“I’m engaged,” Lucy shouted into the phone.
Gia grinned as she drove home. She’d completely forgotten to drill Xander about last night after he sprung his interview confession on her, first thing. “Congratulations, girl! I’m so happy for you. Tell me the whole story.”
“So I dressed for the game in my Nuggets t-shirt and cut-off jeans with my fancier hen necklace. Thankfully, I did my hair this time instead of my usual baker’s bun. Edith convinced me to take the afternoon off to go get my nails done.” Lucy gasped. “She must have known. Well, anyway, I was really feeling down about appearance recently. We’ve just been so busy at the shop that I haven’t had any time for more than a quick shower and falling into bed. Because I got my nails done, I went ahead and did some basic makeup to class myself up a bit. It’s been a while since Tuck and I have had a date. We got to the stadium and he bought me nachos, a slice of pizza, a drink, and cotton candy for dinner.” Which was pretty much Lucy’s love language. “And then, on one of the commercial breaks the whole stadium was looking at us as he got down on one knee and said he’d loved me for a long time and would always love me. Promised to do his best to give me a good, safe life and would I marry him?” She sniffled.
“And what did you say?”
“Well, I said there would be no secrets and absolutely no toleration of abuse and if he could promise me that, then yes I’d marry him. And everyone around us cheered so loudly Tucker dropped the ring under the seats and had to fish it out to put it on my finger.”
They laughed.
“His hairline to his collarbone was almost purple with embarrassment. We are thinking maybe a summer wedding here in Colorado. Maybe at sunset.” Her voice got all dreamy. “I’ll make my own cake, of course.”
Gia’s heart ached. “That sounds perfect, Luce. Like a fairytale. You deserve it.”
“Oops. I just looked out the door and Edith is swamped. I will talk to you later, okay?”
“Send me a picture of the ring.” Gia called as Lucy said goodbye once more.
In her driveway, Gia rested her head against her steering wheel. She missed Colorado, but more importantly, she missed her quiet little life and the amazing people she met out there. New Orleans almost had her feeling claustrophobic in a way she’d never felt before when she called it home.
Xander was right. Their life was out in Golden for the next half of a year, at least. She had contracts still open, and commuting to Colorado for meetings really wasn’t feasible, not when she could stay there until she’d given them warning that she’d be moving out of state. Her contract with the government that she’d won this past summer had listed her residency in Colorado as a way they were keeping the work local.
There really wasn’t a good reason for Xander to not take that coaching job if they offered it to him. And being there this summer would give her a chance to wedding plan with Lucy. Tucker had been slowly making his moves for a couple of years, deciding what he wanted. This year, he’d made up his mind.
Bolstered by her new decision to return to Colorado, Gia grabbed her bag and made a beeline for the library. It was time to get these prints off her plate and out of her hands. She dragged the desk closer to the wall to connect her computer to the TV set hanging on the wall. With her things spread out in front of her, she set to work finalizing, checking, rechecking, redrawing, colo
ring in, and making the final adjustments the engineers had requested. She had to crane her neck to see the TV up on the wall when she dragged something from her computer screen, but it was worth it to see the final in colorful, large dimensions in front of her.
She took a screenshot of the final mock-up to send to Xander. It was a huge miracle this had come together in the past few weeks as it had. She wrote out the email, copied Joey, and attached the plans. This feeling of pride and relief was what she’d chased those long hours—the euphoria of a completed draft.
Nothing could beat it.
With a click of the button, the email disappeared. She sat back in her chair, tempted to call and text everyone she knew to say she’d finished. Instead she emailed the picture of the final to Xander and opened her text string to Andy.
Prints are officially sent off. Ball’s in your court.
He replied immediately. Roger that. Can you come to the security room?
The security room was a converted music room on the first floor. The piano Gia had learned on now sat pushed off to the side and a half dozen tables with cords and monitors coming out everywhere took up the center of the room.
Three guys sat at monitors and Andy stood over the shoulder of one. His brow was furrowed and his jaw set. Nothing changed when he saw her and motioned her over.
On the screen, they watched the footage of a black-clothed figure destroying Joey’s office space. With each cabinet drawer opened, the person grabbed handfuls and tossed them into the air like confetti at a celebration. A few dance moves in between each cabinet, then more celebratory destruction.
“What is going on?”
The guy at the monitor snorted. “This person has been very odd with behaviors. Nothing has been gender specific yet. It doesn’t take a very strong person to tip over an empty file cabinet. I have seen plenty of women strong enough to wipe a desk with a chair.”