Derrick was uncomfortable now realizing what he said. “I... I... just thought that maybe you two broke up and you know... she was on the rebound or some shit. Dude I’m sorry. I didn’t know. She didn’t say anything to anyone. What do you think is going on?”
“I don’t know but I’m going to need to check out the security cameras in that hall. Is Grayson in his office?”
“Um, yeah he is here. I will radio up to the security room and have them pull the feed from the hall.”
“Thanks Derrick. And thanks for letting me know. I appreciate it.” I didn’t wait for a response as I bee lined it up to the security offices where Grayson was already waiting.” I don’t know if I should be pissed the fuck off or concerned. There are so many thoughts going through my head at this moment.
When I went into the security office, Grayson squinted his eyes in confusion. “Hey. Derrick just asked me to pull the feed from the bathroom hallway. What’s going on?”
“I don’t really know. Just that Chloe was having a heated conversation with a guy, he kissed her and then they left in separate cabs. But not before she texted me to say that she wasn't feeling good and was heading home.”
Grayson gave me a knowing look. “I don’t fucking want to hear it man. Just pull the feed so that I can see it for myself.”
Grayson pulled up the image of the camera feed from the bathroom hallway and my heart stopped. There was Chloe talking to some lanky guy in a ridiculously made suit that clearly did not fit in with the usual clientele of the club.
At one point, I saw her jab a finger into his chest like she was arguing with him and the next thing I know he is kissing her. But she isn’t pulling back. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, but she didn’t try to stop him.
I watched him walk out of the hall and Chloe followed shortly thereafter but not until I saw her texting someone. Me. She was texting me.
The cameras followed the guy as he left the club and then Chloe followed shortly after. “And that is where we lost them. There aren’t any good camera angles at the street level. You are just going to have to take Derrick’s word for seeing them leave in a cab.”
What. the. fuck. What was going on with Chloe and why would she lie to me?
“Grayson. Who is that guy she was with? I have never seen him here before. He doesn’t fit the look your normal clientele.”
“Well every so often, we let prospective members have a one-night pass to check out the club and see if it’s something they are interested in. Tonight, we had five guys here on a trial pass. He was one of them. Are you going to tell me what is going on?”
“I just don’t know why Chloe would lie to me. It’s not like her to just take off with some guy, if that is what she was doing. But I guess I really don’t know her that well after all.”
“Aidan, I’m sure that there is a really good explanation. Maybe you should just head over there and see for yourself. You know you won’t be able to let this go until you have some answers.”
As I was at the curb of Chloe’s apartment building getting ready to go inside, I had my answer. The same many that I saw Chloe with at the club was coming out of her building. He had a smug expression on his face and appeared pleased with himself.
I sat there frozen in the back of the chauffeured car. I wanted to confront the guy, but I was angry. Angry at myself for believing Chloe’s sob story of how she has been incapable of having a relationship since her ex, yet here she is with another guy. I was angry with myself for having real feelings for her. All I wanted was to settle down and have an amazing woman by my side. And most of all, I was angry at myself for thinking Chloe was that woman.
Chapter 16
Chloe
The emotional toll that the encounter with Mark had on me was palpable. I couldn’t sleep that night. I was stressed beyond belief that he would follow through on his threat. To add to the stress of it all, Aidan had not returned any of my calls or texts. It had been three weeks. Three weeks of him blowing me off and I was starting to panic. I knew he was in his office this week because I called there too. But his assistant told me he wasn’t available to take my call. Just my call or any call?
Was he breaking up with me and just didn’t know how to tell me? Was he mad that I left him so abruptly at the club? He couldn’t have known that Mark was in town and confronted me at the club. I didn’t tell Aidan my suspicions that it was Mark that he bumped into outside of my apartment. He doesn’t know what he looks like or even what his name is.
These insecure thoughts were swirling like a tornado in my head and I could not concentrate. I was sleep deprived from worrying and stressed about a case that I was still working on. I needed to get it together or my case and my life were going to suffer.
But I couldn’t take it any longer. I had to call Crystal at the club to see if Grayson had heard from Aidan. When she answered the phone, she had an odd tone to her voice.
“Hey Crystal, it’s Chloe. I was just calling to see if either you or Grayson have heard from Aidan.” There was a long pause on the line and I thought maybe we were disconnected.
“Actually, yeah. Grayson has heard form Aidan and he filled me in on what you did to him.” Chills ran up my arms and my heart dropped in my stomach.
“W-w-what do you mean? I texted him that I wasn’t feeling well, and I left him upstairs in the VIP room. That’s all.” The dreaded feeling of what she was about to say started to make me nauseous.
“Well from what Grayson told me, you were seen on our security cameras kissing another man and then left the club. It appeared as though you were leaving with this guy.”
FUCK! That is why Aidan wasn’t calling me back. He thought I was cheating on him? I can’t believe that after everything I told him, he would think that of me.
“Crystal, that is NOT at all what happened. That man was my ex and he was threatening me. Did anyone happen to see that on the security camera? How did he even get into the club anyway?” I was so livid that I had to defend myself and that I was automatically the bad guy in this scenario.
Crystal was calm, and a bit concerned when she spoke next. “That guy was your ex? The one that was abusive to you? Oh my God Chloe! I had no idea. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
I too calmed down realizing that Crystal wasn’t mad at me. She only had half of the information. “Crystal, this has been a complete misunderstanding. But now Aidan isn’t answering my calls and now I know why.”
“Um, yeah. He was pissed off when he left. He thought the worst. But I can assure you, he just needs time to process all of this.”
“I hope you’re right. I can’t believe this is happening. I thought he would have trusted me by now and know enough about me to not walk away like this.”
“Chloe, sometimes guys lead with their emotions too. They really are a complex creature.”
That at least go me to chuckle. Despite everything going on, Crystal knew how to cheer me up. “Well let’s just hope he comes to his senses soon and calls me back.”
“Oh, I have a feeling he will. I see the way he looks at you and how his face softens when he talks about you. There is something special between you too. Don’t give up on that Chloe.”
“I don’t plan on it!”
After I hung up with Crystal, my desk phone buzzed, and it was my assistant Lisa telling me that I had a call. “Can you take a message Lisa? I really have a lot of work to do still on this case.” And my mind was still reeling from the conversation that I just had with Crystal.
“I tried to tell him that, but he is insisting that he speaks with you ASAP. It sounds important.” Did she say HE. My heart leaped in my throat hoping that it was Aidan.
“Thank you, Lisa, put him through.” My heart was beating so fast that I thought I would pass out.
I heard the line click over and I blurted out. “Baby! I’m so glad that you called. I have been trying to reach you for weeks. This was all a big misunderstanding…. “
And then I heard his voice cut
me off. It wasn’t Aidan. It was Mark. “Baby huh? I knew you would come to your senses eventually. Do you want me to come over there and show you what you have missed in the years that we have been apart?”
I grinded my teeth together and was appalled at his last statement. “Mark, why are you calling? I thought I made it clear when we were at the club that I would be in touch with you. Texting me incessantly is not acceptable either!”
“Chloe, sweetheart. And I thought I told you that I’m calling the shots here and that I would be in touch. So, that is why I’m calling. Where is my money?”
That was it! I was really pissed now. “Mark you are really more delusional that I thought if you think that I can come up with that kind of cash on such short notice. I need time!”
“Yeah, well I don’t have time Chloe. I need to be getting back to Georgia soon and I’m not leaving until I get that money. Unless you would rather I pay a visit to your boyfriend and spill your secrets.”
“You need to leave him out of this Mark. Maybe I will just tell Aidan everything and then you won’t have anything to blackmail me with. I have been honest about everything else, so what do I have to lose?” The thought of that scared the shit out of me but maybe it was for the best.
“You have everything to lose Chloe. Because I will always be a part of your life whether you like it or not. I will always be lurking around the corner and watching you.”
Had he lost his ever-loving-fucking mind. Did he just threaten me again and admit to stalking me? “Mark, I no longer want to be a part of your sick, mind fuck games. If I tell Aidan everything, you will no longer have anything to hold over my head.”
“We will just see about that!” And with that he hung up on me. What did I just do? Poking the angry bear was not part of my plan but blurting out that I would tell Aidan everything was something that I had not planned on doing… yet it felt right.
Now if I could only get Aidan to answer my calls, maybe I could finally tell him.
Chapter 17
Aidan
I was blowing Chloe off. I don’t know what to think about all of this, but I can’t talk to her right now. I can’t bear to hear her make up excuses as to why she was kissing this man or why I saw him outside of her apartment that night. I thought we had started an amazing relationship and now I just don’t know.
I haven’t been able to focus on work, I haven’t been eating or sleeping well, but the boxing bag at the gym has taken a good beating. The anger that I had from that night, fueled my obsession for finding answers. How could I have been so blind to have fallen into this web of deceit. I followed up with my private investigator friend Jonathan about pulling our phone records. I still wanted to know who the Unknown callers were that both Chloe and I were getting. Especially now. I’m reliving every conversation we had, suspicious of everything she said and did. I shouldn’t be like this, but I just can’t be too careful.
I also got the list of the prospective names of the guys that were at the club that night. Grayson gave me a hard time about that one too. He said I was just asking for trouble but also asked if I wanted any help. I told him that my investigator would handle it for me and he was surprised I was taking it this far.
“Either you like this woman more than you are letting on or remind me to never lie to you.” I didn’t think it was funny at the time. But he was right. I was falling for Chloe, despite what I was finding out about her. And it was about to get worse.
Calling up my investigator, I was holding my breath and unsure if I wanted to hear the news. “Jonathan, do you have anything for me?”
“Well ironically enough, I was just going to call you. I do have a few interesting things that I pulled from yours and Chloe’s cell phone records. It seems like you both were getting calls from the same unknown number. And, on a hunch I cross-referenced the list of club names that you gave me and found a match. Do you know a Mark Robinson?”
I had no fucking clue who that was and I’m not sure if I wanted to hear the rest of the report. “No, I don’t. Who is he?”
Jonathan continued to run through his findings. “Well it appears as though he has been calling and texting Chloe for a few months now. Although the texting just started after the night that you saw them at the club. He was the one that was in the hallway and kissing her. I ran his face through a facial recognition program that I have, and it linked it back to DMV records in Georgia.”
Shit. Georgia. Chloe is from Georgia. A thousand thoughts were running through my head at this moment. Was this her ex-fiancé from Georgia, the one that abused her? I didn’t know if I should run to her and yell at her for not telling me the truth or hold her in my arms and never let her go. I needed to know more though. Something still wasn’t right.
“Georgia. Chloe used to live there before she moved here to get away from her abusive fiancé. What else do you have on them?”
“Well, according to the bank records, he is on the verge of losing his house. From the text messages that I could hack into, he is blackmailing her for money. That led me to dig into her past to see what he could possibly hold over her head. Aidan, did you know she used to be a stripper?”
“No, I didn’t.”
All the air from my lungs was gone. I didn’t care that much that she was a stripper but that she didn’t tell me. She confided in me with so much about her past relationship with her ex that I don’t see why this was a hidden secret. The fact that she couldn’t trust me enough with this information just didn’t make sense. Maybe it’s shame.
She mentioned that she was raised by her grandmother and they struggled financially. Maybe this was when she did it. She must have been so young and desperate. She told me that It wasn’t until her grandmother died did she learn just how much her grandmother appreciated her sacrifices. I understand now what she meant.
“Aidan, I know this is a lot of information to drop on you at once, but you know me. Once I get a hunch, I run with it. I also found the name of her grandmother’s attorney who wrote her will. It appears most of the money Chloe earned stripping was used to put her through college, and the rest was put into a trust for Chloe when her grandmother died. Combine that and the life insurance, Chloe ended up with a nice nest egg. That is probably the money that Mark is after.”
That infuriated me. The thought that the scumbag would put her through hell and then try and extort money from her. It also infuriated me that she didn’t immediately come to me for help. She has tried to call and text me. But at the time, I thought…...well I don’t know what I thought. I was still trying to process everything that happened.
“Jonathan, I really appreciate your work on this. I will take it from here. Thanks.” I hung up the phone and just stared at it. It was a lot of information to get all at once. I felt like such a dick for blowing her off and for thinking the worst of her. I should have known better.
I knew one thing. I needed to see Chloe.
Chapter 18
Chloe
I struggled to get through the rest of the day after my phone call with Mark. On the one hand, I was relieved that I made the decision to tell Aidan everything so that Mark couldn’t blackmail me anymore. But on the other hand, that meant that I had to tell Aidan all the details of my sordid past. I was not looking forward to doing that.
And to add more insult to injury, Aidan was not taking my calls.
As I made my way up to my apartment in the elevator, my thoughts were all over the place. How did I get to this point in my life that I was still running from my past and that Mark was still trying to control me? I was done being manipulated by that man. I was a smart woman dammit! But, I should have known he would find me one day.
My thoughts were still spinning in my head as I stepped into my apartment and locked the door behind me. My foyer blocks the sight of my living room, so I didn’t see that it was ransacked until I walked around the corner. My couch cushions and my lamps were on the floor. The only pictures I had of my grandmother and I, were smashed
in their frames on the floor. Everything, including my dining room table was turned over on its side.
I stood there frantically whipping my head around in complete shock at what I was seeing. Then I heard the voice that makes my skin crawl. “Where is it bitch? Where are you hiding the money?”
I stood there frozen in fear as I slowly turned and saw the crazed look in Mark’s eyes. In the years that we were together and after the painfully hurtful insults that he spewed at me, had I never seen that expression before. It was pure rage and desperation.
“Mark, I don’t exactly have five hundred thousand dollars tucked away in my seat cushions!” I quickly realized that yelling at him in this rage was not a smart move. He quickly lunged at me and grabbed me by my hair, freezing me in place.
Rage surged through Mark’s eyes and if he could have killed me with his glare, he would have. I was never so scared as I was in that moment. “BITCH! Who the fuck you think you are talking to me like that?”
“I didn’t know you were coming over, is all. You startled me, and I wasn’t thinking.” I thought if I changed my tone and kept my voice even, it would hide my fear. Maybe it would calm him down and distract him. My hand was still firmly grasped on my cell phone in my pocket. Thankfully Mark couldn’t see it. If I could only dial 911 without him knowing.
“Chloe! I don’t know what mind games you are playing with me, but you don’t want to fuck me over on this! I need the money and you are going to give it to me!”
I must have hesitated too long, and he was getting impatient. His rage took hold and he was hell bent on taking it out on me. He released the grasp on my hair and threw me to the floor. Somehow, he must have lost his balance too and he fell on top of me. Out of nowhere, he pulled a knife and held it to my throat.
I pleaded with him to let me go. “Mark, please. Just put the knife away. We can talk about this. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
Club Manhattan: Parts One and Two Page 9